WEBVTT - Second Cup: Don't distract yourself 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to not distract yourself. The world offers

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<v Speaker 1>plenty of distractions during work hours, whether you're working in

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<v Speaker 1>an office or as many of us are, at home.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't necessarily control other people, but you can control yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>and you want to make sure you aren't adding to

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<v Speaker 1>the problem. We all know that it's important to focus.

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<v Speaker 1>We also know that this is easier said than done.

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<v Speaker 1>When you work in an office, colleagues can stop by

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<v Speaker 1>the chat, or you can be pulled out of deep

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<v Speaker 1>work by other people's conversations. At home, you can add children, partners,

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<v Speaker 1>and pets to the mix, to say nothing of your

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<v Speaker 1>neighbor's lawnmower or leaf blower, or the time necessary to

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<v Speaker 1>direct the guys who stopped by to deliver the woodchips

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<v Speaker 1>from mulching to your driveway. You probably can't do much

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<v Speaker 1>about your neighbor's ten am lawnmowing, but let's face it,

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<v Speaker 1>those aren't the only distractions. I just saw my phone

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<v Speaker 1>sitting on my desk next to me. I picked it

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<v Speaker 1>up and glanced at the comments on my Instagram feed.

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<v Speaker 1>Did I need to do that hardly? I checked my

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<v Speaker 1>inbox too while I was there, Nothing urgent, which isn't

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<v Speaker 1>surprising since I was in there fifteen minutes ago. There

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<v Speaker 1>are also the distractions that seem productive, you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>moving the laundry over to the dryer or taking meat

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<v Speaker 1>out of the freezer for dinner. And yes, those things

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<v Speaker 1>do have to happen at some point, But if you

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<v Speaker 1>have been fortunate enough to carve a spot of time

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<v Speaker 1>without your kids needing something or the neighbor mowing his lawn,

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<v Speaker 1>you definitely don't want to distract yourself so to a

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<v Speaker 1>few things. First, phone off or an airplane mode or

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<v Speaker 1>in the next room. Nothing will happen in the next

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<v Speaker 1>twenty minutes. If you want to make it seem like

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<v Speaker 1>there is a plausible reason for not having your phone on,

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<v Speaker 1>you will go plug the phone into an outlet that's

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<v Speaker 1>in the next room. Now, if you get an urge

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<v Speaker 1>to look at something, you'll probably think twice since it

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<v Speaker 1>will involve standing up, shut anything on your laptop that

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<v Speaker 1>you are not actively using, and then make what I

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<v Speaker 1>call a later list. As you are engaged in deep

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<v Speaker 1>work and thoughts, like I need to move the laundry

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<v Speaker 1>pop unbidden into your head. Right These on the later list.

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<v Speaker 1>You will get to them later. I'm guessing you'll take

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<v Speaker 1>a break in the next hour or so we generally do,

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<v Speaker 1>which would be a great time to move the laundry.

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<v Speaker 1>It will still be there, but you won't have chopped

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<v Speaker 1>up your focus. You should use this later list even

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<v Speaker 1>if the thought that pops into your head is work related. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>you might need a statistic your colleague emails you for

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<v Speaker 1>this report. Yes, you know that statistic is in an

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<v Speaker 1>email that your colleagues sent. But here's the problem. If

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<v Speaker 1>you head into your inbox to retrieve that statistic, you

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<v Speaker 1>won't exit immediately. You will stick around to see what

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<v Speaker 1>else is in your inbox, and whoops, there goes your

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<v Speaker 1>focus time. So instead, just work around it. You might

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<v Speaker 1>write to come as the journalists say, t K for short,

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<v Speaker 1>and yes that is misspelled, don't ask, or put X

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<v Speaker 1>goes here or some such. Put the thing you are

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<v Speaker 1>searching for on your later list and you can get

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<v Speaker 1>it when you take a scheduled break. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>you can push through and get a lot more done.

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<v Speaker 1>The world is already very distracting. Do yourself a favor

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<v Speaker 1>and don't make the problem worse than it already is.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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