WEBVTT - 8 Strategies to Remove Distractions to Improve Focus and Productivity 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.080 We think of a distraction as something that has to 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:13.000 be negative, but a distraction can be positive. Hey, everyone, 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:16.360 welcome back to Our Purpose, the number one health podcast 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:23.280 in the world, where we're talking about your personal, emotional, psychological, physical, 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:27.600 and financial health. And I love diving into different topics 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:33.239 with research, science, practical takeaways, and real insights that you 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.400 can start to create an impact in your daily life. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.360 I take you on a journey through stories, through science, 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.920 through strategies, and through steps that you can start applying 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.000 right away. Thank you so much for being here. I 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.360 love expressing my gratitude to you because I remember when 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:54.960 I used to do events and maybe five people would 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.520 show up. And the fact that we have millions of 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.640 downloads per episodes now if makes my heart feel so 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.600 much joy. And I appreciate each and every one of 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:07.959 you because you are helping me live my purpose and 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.560 I hope I'm helping you live yours as well. Now, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.120 one of the things that gets in the way of 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:18.679 our purpose, of our passion, of our potential. One of 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:25.240 the things that disturbs our relationships, our productivity, our effectiveness, 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.280 and the biggest thing that takes away joy in our 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:36.560 life is distractions. We talk a lot today about the 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:42.600 importance of presence, the importance of actually being where we are, 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:48.440 of actually being in the moment. We talk about things 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.320 like mindfulness. How can we be mindful of where we are, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.280 who we're with, and what we're talking about. But the 0:01:56.320 --> 0:02:01.360 truth is all of us in some way. Another face 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:07.880 distractions study show that seventy to ninety nine percent of 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:12.720 office employees feel distracted. And I want you to take 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:17.360 a moment to just reflect on how many times a 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:23.280 day you think you get distracted? Is it zero to 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:28.640 ten raise your hands unless you're driving. Is it ten 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:33.840 to twenty keep your hands up? Is it twenty to 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:41.680 thirty keep your hands up? Is it thirty to forty 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:46.280 keep your hands up? Is it fifty? So we could 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.160 go on and on, but I want to share with you. 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:54.000 Study show that we have around fifty six disruptions per day, 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.800 and we spend a couple of hours every day trying 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:02.000 to get back into focus, trying to get back on task. 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.600 How many of you can say you have felt that 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.600 and what are some of our biggest distractions? Fifty five 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:13.800 say their phone right, thirty nine percent say gossip, which 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:19.480 I find fascinating. Another one is emails. Of course, meetings 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.680 are even considered a distraction. So we have all of 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:29.000 these distractions, and psychology shows that there are a few 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:33.120 types of distraction. The first is a distraction that is 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:37.640 caused by your own mind. This is a Vedic idea 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:42.080 that some of our challenges in pain are self inflicted. 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.520 You've been working too hard, you're burnt out, you're burning 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:50.920 the candle at both ends. The second is challenges in 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:57.640 pain caused by others. Someone brings you a challenge or 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.040 an issue. And the third and finalist, something's going around 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:05.640 in the world, something's happening outside of that space, but 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:11.040 that's affecting you. These are called adi artmaka, adi botica, 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:15.240 and adidavika. These are three things that we all experience. 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:18.840 Pain and challenges inflicted within our own mind, pain and 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.640 challenges inflicted by others, and pain and challenges inflicted by 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:25.320 what's happening in the world around us. Now. Of course, 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:29.000 we know something here that ultimately the pain that is 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:33.440 received from layer two and layer three can be responded 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.920 too differently and can change how we feel. We can 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.000 change how we feel by the perspective and story we 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:45.800 tell ourselves when we receive information For example, let's say 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.080 you receive the information that you didn't get a job. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:52.240 You can either look at that and say, Okay, well, 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.000 I guess that job wasn't for me. I'll go find 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.080 the right one. Or you can look at that and 0:04:56.120 --> 0:05:01.480 say it's over. I've failed. I don't have any skills. Now, 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:05.760 notice that neither of those reactions of the truth. Neither 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:10.240 of those responses are reality. You could not say that 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.320 either of them are fact. They are simply subjective responses 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:18.279 to a piece of information that you've received. So the 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:25.719 first principle for removing distractions is to recognize that you 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:31.520 have the power to redefine the story to ask better questions. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.120 If I receive someone telling me this needs to be 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:39.880 done today, that can be quite alarming. It can feel 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:44.440 quite stressful and create pressure and anxiety within me. But 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:46.279 then I know that I have the ability to ask 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.440 the question, when is it due? What does it truly entail? 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.800 Here's what I'm working on. Do you still want me 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:58.640 to prioritize this? Notice how I can either respond in 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.360 a panic and try and get it all done, or 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:07.760 I can process it effectively and discover more information. So 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:09.400 when I used to receive that from some of my 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:11.719 bosses and managers. I would respond by saying, well, here's 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.720 what I have on today. Would you like me to 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.159 prioritize this task over all of these things because I 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.080 believe that some of these things will not get completed. 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:22.000 And at the same time, how long do you think 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.680 this should take? Is there anything I should know about 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.800 the task? You're now saving yourself time and energy, So 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:33.480 panic versus process? The energy we waste in panicking based 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.280 on the distraction. If that was engaged in the process, 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.640 it would make a huge difference. The second thing I 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.000 want to share with you today is I want you 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:49.640 to think about how you can actually structure how you 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:57.280 work so our attention span is better when it's twenty 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.680 five minutes or fifty five minutes. We've got in the 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:04.080 habit of setting thirty minutes sixty minute meetings. We don't 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.839 realize that we can actually set a fifteen minute meeting. 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.000 We can set a twenty minute meeting. We could send 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.920 a twenty two minute meeting. But we know that our 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:16.080 attention spans works better in pieces of twenty five minutes 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:20.440 or fifty five minutes. Our max's capacity for our attention 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.600 is ninety minutes roughly, and so you'll see even on 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.880 purpose episodes, our podcast episodes Friday episodes are generally between 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.280 that twenty five to thirty five minute mark, and you'll 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.600 notice that our guest episodes a fifty five minutes to 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.720 ninety minutes mark. We are trying to make it easier 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.320 for you to digest, to absorb, to immerse. I want 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.160 you to be able to take out so much from 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:47.520 these episodes, so I design them specifically so that you 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.320 can get more value out of them. Are you doing 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.800 that with your tasks? You may be putting two hours 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.320 aside for something, but you can't work for two hours straight. 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.320 You might be putting four hours out for something or 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.680 fifteen minutes, and you can't get that right. So I 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.720 want you to divide up your work into twenty five minutes, 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.160 fifty five minutes, or ninety minutes. I also want you 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:14.000 to think about meetings as being more flexible than these 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:19.440 hardwired thirty minute sixty minute meetings as well. Now, the 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.000 third thing here is what you do in that five 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:28.240 minute break. It is unbelievable what is achievable in five minutes, 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.600 and what a difference five minutes makes between tasks usually 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.640 what we do is we don't have any time between tasks. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.880 We're rushing from one meeting to another, and we're multitasking 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:40.679 at the same time by scrolling on our phone, on 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.280 social media, on you know, looking through our emails, our messages, 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:48.319 whatever it may be. Take that five minutes instead of 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:50.800 having a meeting that ends at ten thirty and another 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.160 one that starts at ten thirty, make the next one 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:55.120 start at ten thirty five. And in those five minutes, 0:08:55.160 --> 0:09:01.680 you stand up, you walk, you stretch, you hydrate, and 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.800 you look into the distance. You stand up, you stretch 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:08.400 and breathe, you walk, you maybe even go outdoors, and 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:12.959 then very importantly, you hydrate and you look into the distance. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:15.840 We're so prone at the moment to just be absorbed 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.120 things that are close to us. We're looking at our screens, 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.600 we're looking at our phones, and I feel quite trapped 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.439 in I want you to take an opportunity to expand 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:29.760 your vision. Now. This third one is really really interesting. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.960 And whether you live at a partner, whether you live 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.960 with family and you're working from home, or whether you're 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.440 in an organization and you're working around a team, I 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.360 want you to think about something. I want you to 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:49.640 start creating a teach me how to treat you routine. 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.400 Some people have called this a user manual or a 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.040 user guide. So what I mean by this is, if 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.840 I'm working with RADI my wife in my house, I 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:03.360 will say to her, please do not interrupt me between 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.680 this time and this time, because I'm on a really 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.760 important call and I won't be available, but I will 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.600 be available at this time. Now. If you do distract 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:13.040 me at this time, I won't be able to give 0:10:13.080 --> 0:10:17.280 you my full attention because I'll be preoccupied. Right. When 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.120 we educate others on how to connect with us, when 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.679 we educate others on how to behave with us, we 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.640 give them a user guide, a user manual, or teach 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.480 me how to treat me right, teach you how to 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.320 treat me. Where I'm saying, this is how I feel 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.600 when I'm in a low mood, when I'm tired. This 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.520 is what I'd love and appreciate it. And by the way, 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:39.560 what would you like? So this is a two way 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.839 thing because what the Journal of Experimental Psychology found when 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:48.760 they covered three hundred participants is that being interrupted, even 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.760 on simple tasks, leads to people making errors more frequently. 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.000 And the length of the interruption also has its effect 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.840 on the error rate. As little as two point eight 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.839 seconds of interruption doubles the error rate. As little as 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:08.880 four point four seconds of interruption triples the error rate. Right, 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:11.160 and it says there's so much. The employees usually spent 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.160 about eleven minutes focused on a project in one go 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:18.920 before being interrupted. Afterward, they need about twenty five minutes 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.960 to restore their full focus on a project task at hand. 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.880 Just think about that for yourself. And we may get 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.400 upset when people distract us and we think they don't 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.040 know how busy we are. Have we educated them? Have 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:36.280 we informed them of what kind of silence we need, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:39.040 what kind of distance we need? Have we actually given 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:44.000 them an opportunity to gain an understanding of how to 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.520 operate with us, right of how to actually deal with us. 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:52.160 This can make a huge, huge difference. So create a 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.760 user guide for how to work with you. Create a 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.439 user manual of how to work with you. You may 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.280 be someone who says, I don't like getting lots of notifications. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.800 I prefer setting up a time to meet, or I 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.440 prefer a phone call. Or you may say, you know what, 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.040 Actually I don't have times for phone calls and meetings. 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:12.120 I prefer a really well thought out email or actually, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.600 you know what, just paying me. I love sorting stuff 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.880 out straight away and that makes it very very easy 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:22.040 for me. This also helps with the idea of helping 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.040 make your schedule be shared, having a shared schedule with 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:29.320 your partner. Having a public schedule in your workplace allows 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.120 other people to be aware. Now you've got to be 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.440 careful with that because sometimes if you don't time block out, 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.880 people just start putting time in your calendar, so they 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.880 shouldn't be able to edit it. But sometimes the visibility 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.200 is what helps with clarity. Right visibility can really truly 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:49.040 help with clarity. Have you ever had one bad moment 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.720 spoil your entire day or felt overwhelmed for no reason? 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.120 What about stress or anxious over that big moment or 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.720 difficult conversation? You should try meditation. And I know what 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:02.200 you're thinking, Jay, you used to be a monk. I 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.120 don't have time to sit in the woods for hours 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.720 doing nothing, but really all the time you need to 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.800 start your own mindfulness practice is seven minutes a day 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.440 with the Daily j my Daily Guided Meditations on the 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:15.920 car mapp. You don't need to close your eyes or 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.400 find a special seat. You can try it while you 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.120 brush your teeth, do the dishes, or walk your dog. 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.440 My goal in seven minutes a day is to help 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.600 you find a calm and feel grounded in your busy world, 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:30.480 plant beautiful intentions for an abundant life and simple steps 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:33.280 for positive actions to get you closer to the life 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.680 of your dreams. Here's what one of the listeners of 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.480 the Daily JA had to say about their meditation. Wow, 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.200 I just had a super hard day at work and 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:45.080 couldn't get my boss's comments out of my head. Then 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.920 I did the Daily J which related to my work issues, 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.360 opened my eyes at the end of the session and 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:54.880 felt renewed again. Previously today would have destroyed my whole weekend. 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.840 Meditate with me by going to calm dot com forward 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.240 slash jay to get forty percent off Calm Premium membership. 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.040 That's only forty two dollars for the whole year for 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:10.199 daily guided meditations. Experience the Daily J only on Calm. Now. 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.560 I've really been talking a lot about how to manage 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.439 your time, but also how other people affect you. One 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:19.480 of the things I find is that when you look 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:23.400 at the distraction of social media, phone, TV, streaming, whatever 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:27.000 it may be. Often that happens because we're trying to 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.080 read a book or you're trying to listen to an audiobook. 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.080 You're trying to do something that you think makes you 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.600 more productive, it makes you happy, it makes you focused. 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.320 But then naturally you get a bit bored and you think, oh, well, 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.280 I might as well switch on that show. I might 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:43.600 as well scroll on TikTok or Instagram and see what's 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.880 going on. Here's something that I want you to consider. 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:55.080 Cheat on your book with another book. Right, you could 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.920 be reading multiple books at the same time, or listening 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.800 to multiple books at the same time. You can listen 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.200 to multiple episodes of On Purpose at the same time. 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.880 This really changes the game because what happens is we 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:18.520 think that the substitute for our reading is TV. So 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.720 we go, so I need I'm tired of education, let 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:22.960 me go to entertainment. Well, what if you cheat it 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.400 on education with more education? Right? What if you were 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.400 able to recognize that you can read multiple books at 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.880 the same time, why and how? Because you may be 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:34.720 bored of this topic, you may not need to learn 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:36.240 more about it, but there may be another book that 0:15:36.280 --> 0:15:39.080 you really want to read around sport or entertainment as well. 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.960 So cheat on education with more education. You don't need 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.680 to cheat on education with entertainment. So sometimes people say 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.040 I'm so distracted by my phone, I'm so distracted by this, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:51.320 But really what they're saying is I got bored of 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:54.080 doing this thing and instead of finding another thing as 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.480 a backup. This is why I'm constantly probably around. You know, 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.640 I'd say probably about two to three books per that 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.120 I'm dabbling in at the same time. And when I'm 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:06.080 dabbling in two to three books at the same time, 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.160 I may read one chapter of each per night because 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:11.840 I want to rotate and move around, and that allows 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.120 me to not really keep my brain moving, it allows 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:19.360 me to stop feeling distracted because I'm distracting myself with 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.840 something that's beneficial for me. We think of a distraction 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.120 as something that has to be negative, but a distraction 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.320 can be positive. And that's where the fifth one comes in, 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:35.480 which is this idea of planning your own distractions. Plan 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.960 your own distractions. Allow yourself to watch a YouTube video, 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:44.600 allow yourself to listen to a song. And music is 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.280 really interesting actually because you can listen to music in 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.400 the background and it almost acts as a distraction. Or 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.560 you can listen to a podcast in the background of 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.760 your work and it acts as a distraction because your 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.640 mind hooks onto it. It feels like it's distracted while 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.200 you're doing something, and it allows you to even get 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.200 into a state of flow. I'm sure many of you experience. 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.240 That's why people love working out to music. The music 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.080 kind of becomes the soundtrack of your life and you're 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.040 kind of lost in it as you're doing this activity 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.560 as well. So it's really fascinating when you can play 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.439 music in the background to keep the mind preoccupied, or 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.920 play a podcast in the background to keep your mind 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:25.800 preoccupied as well. Now, principle number six, I read from 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.880 the American Society for Training and Development that the probability 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:34.280 of achieving a goal listen to this ten percent. If 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.760 you have an idea. How many people do you meet 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:41.040 that have the most brilliant ideas and they think that 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.600 that idea is worth something, that that idea is going 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:48.480 to get them there because their idea is fantastic. The 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:52.080 probability of achieving a goal if you have an idea 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:58.200 is ten percent. Now that improves to forty percent if 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.040 you decide you will do it. So it shows that 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:05.080 that thirty percent gap is the decision. So often we 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.280 have a good idea. I've had so many good ideas 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:10.600 for a new app, a new delivery service, a new website, 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.720 a new web three platform, but you have to make 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:17.120 a decision to do it. So for those of you 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.680 that feel like you're procrastinating or you're distracted, it's because 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:23.680 maybe what you're trying to work on it's just an 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.640 idea and you haven't even decided on it. And even 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.440 if you decide on it, the probability of achieving a 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.560 goal is still only forty percent. That's less than half 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:37.480 even when you've decided. Now that increases to fifty percent 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.120 if you make a plan to do it. We've heard 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.640 this before. You need to make a plan, right. An 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:47.359 idea needs to have implementation behind it. But that's only 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:51.000 a halfway there. That's only halfway there. So if you 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:52.359 want of those people that are saying, Jay, I keep 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:55.640 getting distracted, but I have a plan, then there's still 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:57.600 fifty percent of growth left. So I don't want you 0:18:57.640 --> 0:18:59.639 to get discouraged by that. I want you to be 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.399 in corriged that you're not doing anything wrong. You're just 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.000 halfway there. And so if you're saying I have a plan, 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:06.919 I'm ready to go, I've made a decision, I have 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.720 a great idea. That's still only fifty percent. Probability of 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:14.920 achieving a goal. That goes up to sixty five percent 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:18.960 if you promise someone else you will do it. You 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:23.400 may promise a family member, you may promise your partner, 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:28.359 you may promise your child. Promises make us more focused. 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.080 Right when we promise someone I would definitely do that. 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.760 We feel the pressure. We have the fear that we 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:35.479 don't want to let them down, we don't want them 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.359 to think we're flaky, and that pressure is positive. We 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:42.840 use it to focus, we use it to overcome distractions. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.720 But here's the part that blows my mind. This number, 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:52.639 the probability of achieving a goal, skyrockets to ninety five 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:59.680 percent if you have a specific accountability appointment with the 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:04.320 US into whom you commit. This is why personal trainers, coaches, 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:09.320 therapists make such a big difference in our life, because 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:13.960 that is an accountability appointment. A class at the gym 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:18.359 is an accountability appointment, and art class is an accountability appointment. 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:23.320 A mastermind with entrepreneurs and CEOs and networking is an 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.840 accountability appointment. If you are not doing something as an 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:32.920 accountability appointment in your calendar, it won't reach ninety five percent. 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:36.679 A lot of the distractions we have is we don't 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:41.240 become accountable to someone else. You may say, well, Jay, 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:44.720 how can I be accountable to someone else when I'm 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:46.960 working from home and working digitally? Maybe I work on 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.960 my own. Well why don't you work online with a zoom? 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:51.960 You can have a zoom open with a friend who's 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.800 also working in their home. You're not talking, You're just 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.199 working together, even if you're virtual. And every time you 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.639 get distracted, you just say hey, I'm getting distracted. Did 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:02.480 and you have the ability for both of you to 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:04.080 remind each other, well, let's get back to it, or 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:06.440 let's get distracted for five minutes, let's read a book, 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:08.919 let's pick up a page. The idea is that you 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:13.919 have an accountability appointment to help you grow. I recently 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:17.160 spoke at this amazing company called at Lassian, and they 0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:20.119 had a survey that shows that employees lose about thirty 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.480 one hours per month in meetings. I think it's even 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:27.080 a lot more but that seems like a fair number 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:30.960 because that's numbers lost. And it goes on to say 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:34.080 that as much as seventy one percent of people define 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:38.360 meetings as unproductive, they're still compelled to spend from fifteen 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:41.960 to fifty percent of their work time on meetings. Right, 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:45.960 And what distracts meetings is fifty four percent of people 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:50.400 say small talk and office gossip, side discussions about other 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:55.360 projects forty five percent, late arrivals and early departures that's 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.600 thirty seven percent say that. And problems with technology or 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:03.520 connectivity that's thirty say that. So what does that mean? 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:05.600 It goes back to the point I made earlier that 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:07.720 we have to be really careful about how much time 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:11.320 we place in appointments and meetings versus how much we 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:18.560 place on accountability appointments. Now, the next principle is to 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:23.040 take a social media fast for a week seven days. Now. 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:26.280 I don't often recommend this, and the reason I'm recommending 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.000 here is maybe you're just burnt out. Maybe the distractions 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:32.560 are just overwhelming. You feel stuck, you feel like you 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.720 can't move, You just feel like you're grappling with the 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:38.560 stress and pressure of having to respond, having to reply 0:22:39.440 --> 0:22:44.320 and in that scenario, in that situation, I want you 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:48.760 to consider that you don't need to put that pressure 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:52.119 on yourself, that it is okay to let go. And actually, 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:55.000 if you let go for seven days, you notice how 0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:58.080 life improves and you notice how little you needed it. 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:00.440 I think that's more what it is for me when 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:02.640 I lived as a monk. It's not that I don't 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:05.000 do all the things that I stopped doing during those 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:07.520 three years. Now I do. Like we didn't watch TV 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:09.919 for three years, we didn't listen to other music for 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:11.920 three years. Of course I listen to those things now. 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:15.120 But when you've gone to one extreme, you can actually 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:17.919 find the middle better. And I find that's what happens. 0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:20.400 We're so extremely obsessed when you look at your screen 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:23.600 time and you see twenty hours, hopefully not maybe you 0:23:23.600 --> 0:23:26.000 see eighteen hours, Maybe you see sixteen hours on your 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:29.520 screen time, ten hours on your screen time, and you go, well, 0:23:29.560 --> 0:23:31.320 wait a minute, I'm at one extreme. Maybe if I 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.159 go to the other extreme of zero, I'll end up 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:35.240 at five. Whereas when you try to get to five, 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:37.240 you're still at seven and a half or eight, which 0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:40.080 feels high. Right if you're at ten hours of screen 0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:43.560 time a day and you go to zero. When you 0:23:43.600 --> 0:23:46.159 come back, you can find that healthy middle ground at five. 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:48.440 And I think that's what happens when you go from 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:51.280 one extreme to another extreme in any habit is you 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:54.120 gain the ability to come back to the middle ground. 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:56.720