Helping You Achieve Success in a Distracted World (Part 1 of 2)

24 success tips to help you achieve greater success in a busy and distracted world.

Helping you achieve success in a distracted world. 24 success tips to help you achieve greater success in a busy and distracted world. (Part one of two.)

Your work location is important.

Specify a location for your work. It might be at home, in an office, in a coffee shop, or outside in the sunshine. Decide where you will work in advance. Go with what works for you. Where are you least distracted?

Set a time for your work.

Work can often merge with non-work time and vice-versa. Set a time to do dedicated work. Don’t leave it open-ended or add on hour after hour. It might feel helpful at the time to get something completed, but it is not productive in the long term.

Decide what you are working on before your start.

This sounds simple, but in today’s busy world, we have so many tasks to complete that it is easy to jump from one to another or start randomly. Consider what is important rather than what is always urgent.

Can you ask for help?

Are there a number of elements you can ask for help with allowing you to focus on core elements? Are there aspects that need specialist help? Can you outsource certain parts or all of a task?

Consider how to limit online habits and distractions.

Turn off or restrict access to social media apps. Set time limits or dedicated timeslots to do those activities. Do not get caught in an algorithmically created blackhole that steals time away from you.

The balance of production versus consumption.

Are you getting sidetracked consuming other people’s content, or are you being productive? Is this in the correct proportion? Are you allowing enough ‘production’ time instead of ‘consumption’ time?

Make decisions about what you consume and when.

Setting your own personal success schedule can have a significant benefit on achieving your goals. It might seem counterproductive, but it can help you achieve more in less time.

Try a new email routine.

If you receive a lot of emails (who doesn’t?) try a new routine. So many people leave their inboxes open and reply in almost real-time. Instant messaging has only added to this ‘always on’ state.

Check and respond to emails based on what works.

Try setting a day where you only check email at the start and the end of the day? Or three times per day for a limited time. Does that help to improve anything? Consider how you can set up your email habits to be more helpful.

Set a framework for downtime.

This does not mean that you need a minute-by-minute or overwhelming plan for your downtime. It does mean setting a framework. This can be as simple as saying “today I will…” use this for each of your downtime days.

What can you eliminate?

How many tasks or to-do list items have you been carrying around? If 80% of your success comes from 20% of your tasks, what can you simply eliminate or not do? Removing this overhead or baggage can really help.

Do something different.

This might seem like the opposite of distraction, but when you move away from something and then return to it, you often see it through a new lens or a new way of thinking. Don’t underestimate the chance to schedule a time to do something different.

Thank you for reading part one. You can read part two here.

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