Do you wonder if you are focusing on the right things or getting distracted by the wrong ones? Where should my focus be?
It’s difficult in a busy and complex world. How can we avoid distraction? What should we focus on?
Am I missing the things that I actually want to be part of?
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Ferris Bueller
The problem of distraction
Distractions are everywhere. Right now this is most evident in my reading. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with reading. It’s great, and I get a lot of enjoying out of it. Yet, I’m realising, it can also be a distraction.
Philosophy is an interest of mine. I want to understand more about traditional Stoicism. I also like to collect general book recommendations, so I’ve always got books on hold at the library. When they come in though, it turns my focus away from philosophy. I have to focus on the library book because it has a timeframe. Right? Right?
There needs to be a balance. The books I have been ready have been interesting. I’ve made notes and have different perspectives. Importantly, I now have increased knowledge that I can apply.
A book about why empathy may not be a great thing is not a book about Stoicism. But it does provide knowledge around how we interact as human beings and the various lens we look at life. We are social creates and we have a duty to be a member of our community. Having knowledge on both the good and bad of empathy is important. I understand the appropriate way to have dealings with others, which is compassion. That’s good knowledge to have to live out a philosophy.
So knowledge of Stoic theory might have been put on hold. But the application for me to apply knowledge in real life has increased.
Perhaps it’s not a distraction after all.
Well, not in that example.
But I do need to spend time with Stoicism. At least now I’m aware of this and can structure time to do that. Perhaps it is a bit less time with my fantasy books at night, or better utilisation of morning reading. To split it better between Stoicism, non fiction, and my studies.
Scrolling the time away
Where I have gotten distracted is with X (Twitter). Not that it’s bad, per se. I spend a small amount of time producing daily thoughts, which are helpful. Yet I’ve stopped writing articles. That just, slipped away. I moved away from my daily focus on spending time fleshing something out. I was marking off the to-do each day without a second thought. Make progress on article became quick X post.
I have to remind myself that X is a platform to get people interested in your work. To want to read your longer form content. To subscribe to your newsletter so they can see my fleshed out ideas.
What we need to focus on
Writing longer articles is a focus for me. Learning more about Stoicism is up there.
Then we need to attach all of our duties of life.
In a few months I’ll be a dad. There are classes to attend, books and articles to read, more knowledge to obtain.
Plus there is all of the learning and uncertainty along the way. The time when I will feel like I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Which I’m sure will be always frequent.
Let’s add in the basics of being an adult and owning a place:
- Mow the lawn
- Clear the gutters
- Vacuum and mop the house
- Make dinner
- Clean, put the dishwasher on, unpack the dishwasher
- Do the laundry
- Put things away so the house is clean and uncluttered
- Pay the bills
Repeat. Every day for some of these tasks.
Now let’s talk about keeping ourselves healthy:
- Go for a walk
- Go to the gym
- Eat healthy meals and don’t overindulge
- Take regular breaks
- Read
- Learn and share
- See family
- Connect with friends
- Be a part of your community
What about our duties towards the community? I’ve got body corporate meetings to attend. Meetup groups to be a part of.
Then there is catching up with quality face-to-face time with friends and family.
Anyone else feel that they need a 100 hour day?
Get distracted, or focus on the wrong thing, and there goes your day. Sometimes even your feeling of accomplishment.
Where the answer lies
Intuitively I know where the answer lies. Where my time goes. How it’s wasted. Scrolling on X. Watching TV. A long commute. Reading email newsletters I’m not that into (I should follow my own advice and unsubscribe from a few). Persevering with a book I don’t enjoy.
We have to take the time and decide where we want to go. Who we want to be. What duties and responsibilities we want to attend to.
We know what needs to be done. We need to go and do it. Start. Make progress. It’s not about having the best gear, or the best systems, or thinking about the best way to do something.
You have to just do it.
Distractions can seem so appealing. Another podcast to get more knowledge. Another article to read.
Start.
Just start.
Keep focus.
Do the thing.