Indistractable: How to Master the Skill of the Century

Ever wonder why we can’t seem to resist the pull of distraction, even when it hurts us?

The answer might surprise you — and help you get more done.

Several years ago, Dr. Zoe Chance was a Harvard-trained psychologist who started using a pedometer to help count her steps each day.

One night, her pedometer pinged with a notification that said, "Climb 20 stairs, earn 20 points."

"Well, I can do that," she thought.

So, she walked down to her basement and back up.

But then ...

... as soon as she got to the top of the stairs, the app rang out again.

She looked down at her screen.  It said, "If you do 40 more stairs, we'll give you triple points."

So, she did that too.

Can you guess what happened next?

Over the next two hours, Dr Chace walked 2,000 stairs.

That's just a few hundred shy of climbing to the top of the Empire State Building!

She woke up the next morning with an achy neck.  She also knew that something had to change.

So what was this strange force that captured Dr Chance's mind that night?

Well, there's an ancient concept called “akrasia” — it's that tug to act against our better judgment.

Plato and Socrates wrote about it over 2,500 years ago.

It’s the tug-of-war between what we know we should do and what we actually end up doing.

Akrasia is why we sometimes choose Netflix over that project or scroll our phones instead of getting to bed on time.

You can probably guess why I'm bringing this up ...

We're likely headed for a time when distractions might be more than usual due to the holidays.

So what's the solution to becoming more un-distractible?

Well, there's a multitude of books on the subject, of course.  

I'll just pass along this one insight for now: The trick to tackling distraction is recognizing that they don't just come from outside forces (like that midnight notification Dr. Chance received) but often bubble up from within.

When we experience something uncomfortable — stress, loneliness, boredom — we often turn to distractions to escape. 

(If that subject interests you, then search for a YouTube video titled, "Indistractable: How to Master the Skill of the Century which is where I first heard the story about Dr. Chance and akrasia in the first place.)

More importantly, it also points out another simple truth:

If you want to get more done, you must learn to finish what you started and put things done where you found them.

You simply can’t do that without a plan for each day and just do what is on the plan.

And, at the end of the day, did you finish what you intended to?

If so, relax the rest of the day and make sure to put on your list for tomorrow a new pair of sheepskin slippers from SheepskinandAlpaca.com and check out our new platform scuff for yourself or a gift.

Here’s to being a little more indestructible ... and indistractable,

 Dennis