For many of us, distraction is a key part of everyday life. Like me, you might get yourself psyched up to work on a project, grab a cup of coffee, settle down with your computer, and…oh, perhaps I’ll just check my emails. Sound familiar?
I recently listened to an episode of Steven Bartlett’s ‘The Diary of a CEO’ podcast, in which he dealt with this very problem. In this episode, he was joined by the behavioural design expert, Nir Eyal, to talk about the real reasons that people become distracted, and how best to “reclaim” our time and attention.
But first, it’s interesting to delve into what it actually means to be distracted. Nir Eyal argues that distraction is the opposite of traction: something that pulls you towards a goal. Being distracted therefore isn’t about pausing what you’re doing; it’s being actively pulled away from it.
Traction is any action that you want to achieve with intent. It’s decided upon, planned, and intentional. Even something that we might think of as being a distraction, such as playing a computer game, isn’t a distraction if you’ve planned to do it.
In a professional setting, we might not see many work-related tasks for the distractions they really are. Sending emails, chatting with colleagues, dealing with a quick enquiry – they’re all valuable uses of your time, but only when they take place at the right time. If you’re being pulled away from the main task you’re supposed to be doing, you’re allowing yourself to be distracted.
Perhaps this isn’t an issue when it’s just one email, or one quick conversation, but if it becomes a habit, it can seriously affect our ability to focus where we need to. Ultimately, distraction prevents us from moving towards what we really want.
There are various triggers for this kind of behaviour. External sources (described in the podcast as ‘things that ping, ring, and ding’, such as social media or email) only account for about 10% of distractions. A whopping 90% of triggers are internal; they’re an emotional state or a negative feeling that you seek to escape from.
This means that any form of management we take on, whether it’s time management, money management, or even weight management, is really just pain management. We constantly seek to escape forms of discomfort, from fear to irritation, to boredom.
The solution lies in how we unpick this, and the ways in which we react to triggers. If you find yourself losing time to distractions, the first step is retraining yourself to recognise it happening. Try to master your internal triggers by being aware of them, identifying when they’re bubbling up, and understanding why you’re stepping away from what you originally planned.
It’s also important to start making time for both traction and distractions. Block out time for the things that you really want to do, and which will move you in the right direction. When you’ve done this (if, say, you’ve allowed an hour to look at your marketing plan), block out that time. Even if you sit and stare at the screen for ten minutes, eventually the ideas will flow, and you’ll begin making progress.
Becoming the owner of your time also means setting aside some of that time for what typically distracts you. Give it its own time frame, on your terms. This may be as simple as saying, ‘I will look at that email in ten minutes’, or ‘I’ll make that call at 11.30am.’ This way, you’re not using those tasks as a means of distracting from the pain associated with what you’re supposed to be doing.
If you’re a dentist, you’ll know only too well that there’s always a price to pay for delaying essential work. Patients trying to avoid the fear, cost or discomfort of dental work will often put off making the call for as long as they can – by which time, of course, the problem is far larger than it needed to be.
As accountants, we also understand this well. Many clients will avoid engaging with their finances because they’re trying to avoid the stress and worry that surround paying their tax bill. If tax isn’t already calculated and saved, the final bill is understandably a pain that many will fear.
However, if you can block out time to proactively work with us on a tax plan, the entire issue can be mitigated. A planning meeting, held nine months before tax is due, will mean that you can have your tax saved and held within your means. It doesn’t take much time and it’s a positive step in the right direction, which will shorten and lessen the discomfort of paying tax.
It isn’t just tax planning that falls foul of distractions – it’s many other areas of finance too. The emotion surrounding money means that it’s easy to shy away from. However, a task like bookkeeping (if you choose to do this yourself) needn’t take long and can make a big difference to your overall business health.
Prioritising the most helpful and productive things you can do, before planning ahead and acting with intent, will assist you in mitigating the emotion around your finances. And, by interacting with your accountant and engaging with tax planning, you can get more money out of your company.
If you’d like help with tax planning, bookkeeping or management accounts, get in touch with our team.
