An Honest Look at Procrastination and Distractions as a Creative
Let’s face it, distractions are a good part of our day if you’re spending it on a computer. Being a creative, I have laptops, a tablet, a smart phone and probably notifications and bells going on each at random times of the day and night. Yea even at night. Especially when hanging with friends when I try to pay them attention when I get a notification about something from a client while at dinner.
It’s rude. Not just to the people around me, but to my life and what I could be doing at the moment of the interruption. I used to feel so productive and now a days I end my days not sure if I was productive or just kicked some cans down the road for another day.
I used to look forward to weekends like they were my escape from my busy work week. Now my weekends are a busy blur of projects and tasks I didn’t finish during the week because of my interruptions, lack of focus, and distractions.
So what I’m I going to do about it? Well like a recovering 12 step plan, I’m first going to admit that I have a problem. I enjoy my distractions. Yea I said it. Deep down I’m proud of them too. I feel important and needed. My client needs me to do this, my virtual villagers need me to do this, I need more engagements on social media, blah! The appearance of looking official and busy like the shows I watch have consumed me.
So now that all that is out of the way, what am I going to do about it? Time to keep myself honest and remove my self-destructive interruptions and gain back the precious minutes and eventually hours of my day. I’m going to write down clear objectives for each day and get all of them done. Then close the lid of my laptop and not open it again until the next morning. I’m going to disable my group chat notifications and only check them twice a day when I literally get up and walk away from my desk for a scheduled break. My email app will no longer stay open all day. I’ll check it at the top of every hour like it was the post man doing a scheduled delivery. No more business emails on my phone. (Well, maybe I don’t want to get ahead of myself) And finally, weekends will be truly a time to relax. If I take a meeting it’s because money is being given to me to start a project. Otherwise it can wait till Monday.
Now what about you? Any distractions keeping you from being truly productive in your day? Let me know in the comments below and let’s all compare and laugh a little.
