Ever notice your day seems to vaporize and you wonder what happened to all your best intentions?
You’re ready to leave work but you barely even dented your to-do list. As a result, you’re going to have to try to justify squeezing an hour of work in once you get home, or just get up at a ridiculous hour tomorrow to try again.
Not only is that pattern unsustainable, it’s mysterious. You try not to have it happen again, but it does anyway.
So…what causes that?
At the root of it is likely repeated patterns and behaviors.
New patterns, habits and approaches can change everything, and that’s what I show you in The High Impact Leader course (which is in its final hours at current pricing). If you’ve ever thought about joining, now’s the time!
There’s also another problem more leaders struggle with than ever before, and that’s distraction.
As research and experiments have shown, workers get interrupted as often as every 11 minutes during the workday, and it takes 25 minutes to refocus after each interruption. The math doesn’t even exactly add up, but you get the point. That’s why it feels impossible to get anything done.
The brand new approach to work and life I share in the High Impact Leader has improved things for thousands of people, but in the meantime, here are seven stupid things that interrupt your day that simply don’t need to.
Get rid of these distractions today and you’ll have a better tomorrow.
1. Push Notifications
Every single app in the world starts off its relationship with you by asking “Allow Push Notifications?”
Your automatic answer as a leader should be no. Every single time (except one…I tell you which exception I think you should make below).
You don’t really need to know every time someone sends you an email. Similarly, it’s useless to be notified every time someone comments on your Instagram.
Why? Well, think of push notifications as someone tapping you on the shoulder. If someone tapped you on the shoulder somewhere between 30-300 times a day every day, you would either punch them or get a restraining order.
Every time your phone vibrates, that’s what’s happening.
And don’t think the people you’re in real life conversation with aren’t bothered by your constantly buzzing phone and your incessant need to check your screen. It’s hard to respect or follow a distracted leader.
Being busy isn’t a sign of respect anymore. It’s a sign you’re not managing your time or priorities well.
I disabled push notifications on my phone and turned on the Do Not Disturb on my devices a few years ago. I don’t miss the constant buzzing at all. Nor do my friends and family.
Instant notifications about your messages aren’t that important.
Actually, I’m not actually that important. With all due respect, neither are you.
