From losing out on a few seconds or minutes at work looking at phone notifications for some to losing out on an entire day’s worth of productivity going down the rabbit hole that is YouTube suggestions. (Yes, we’re all guilty. So, let’s just accept it and figure it out.)
We tend to attribute getting distracted to external stimuli; phones, chaotic outside environment, etc. but it’s actually more of an internal concern – our minds. According to research by some expert psychologists from Harvard, in a study conducted with 2,250 adults, they concluded that we spend around 47 percent of every waking hour “mind wandering” which is basically like; sitting in an Uber thinking about the five emails you forgot to write earlier that morning or sitting at a boardroom but picturing yourself sipping down a cocktail on a beach in Diani or at your desk supposedly writing a report but your mind’s already pre-empting what plot twists are in the newest season of Sistas. (Yeah, me too – a lot!)
This shows that distraction is primarily a mind game. Hence, in order to get and stay focused, we need to intentionally develop the skill of managing and controlling our attention. The other key takeaway was that mind-wandering/ distractions have more to do with unhappiness than the activities we’re engaged in at that time. So, we should focus less on what we’re doing and more on how we’re being.
We generally think that being happy comes from doing pleasant things whereas research has found that this only contributes to 4.6% of our happiness and being mindfully present in here-now accounts for roughly 10.8% of happiness.
So, it all starts with our ability to notice when our minds begin to wander or get distracted. Which is usually very difficult to do. (Trust me, it really is difficult.) It might be helpful to set up cues in your life to remind you to notice; could be every time you step into a matatu, sit down at your desk at work, sit down to eat, etc.
Once you start to notice, the next step is to shift your attention to the present moment – what’s happening right now. It could be engaging fully in typing that email, listening fully to the person you’re talking with. (For deeper insights, read Robin Sharma’s “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari”, it dives deeper into mindfulness and practices to nurture the skill)
In more idle moments, you could anchor your awareness by paying attention to your breathing, sensations in your body, the sights and sounds of your environment.
The final step is to strengthen this habit by building the muscle. You do this by taking time, 15 – 30 secs a day staying in this state of conscious awareness and really savouring the experience of being here now.
