1. Chores
This is not a bad distraction, but I find myself getting carried away with chores when I have other tasks that have a higher priority needing to be completed. Sometimes I'll have a paper to write or a project to get to and I'll find myself vacuuming the floor because I spotted some crumbs on the walkway back to my room. The vacuuming will have to do throughout the whole house if it's going to be started and take up to an hour to get done. If I get caught up in vacuuming, then it may lead to me dry mopping the kitchen. I'm not sure if this is a personal problem or a great way of procrastination on my part. The best is when I have a great day of writing planned and I look outside my window at some weeds. The weeds must be pulled or I will struggle with my focus throughout the day. Other errands like going to the bank and store can sometimes mess with my head but it's the ones at home that pull me in.
2. The Internet
The infinite ocean of information can wash you away at any moment. It's the abundant super highway that can take you places that you've never thought were possible. I can feel my brain get sucked into the black hole of memes and shopping. My hours can be filled to the brim with browsing for different types of bass guitar set-ups. The plethora of binary code being injected into my corneas is sickening when I think about it. The internet is distracting, but it's the most useful tool I have ever used. The danger lies in its usefulness if you think about it. The line can be crossed whenever one reaches the pint of "being used" by the ads and links that infect the once direct route you may have been taking. My personal addiction is pretty geeky. I like to watch twitch.tv and chat. I don't know why, but I do know why. It gives me a sense of community with others who share my love for video games and it also gives me a sense of anonymity when trolling a bad game or gamer. I fixed this addiction with a program called Cold Turkey. It locked me out of what I knew distracted me and allowed me to see my laptop as a tool rather than something I could consume for hours on end. The program lasted 90 days. I felt more aware of the feeling of being severed away from reality. I love to be entertained, precisely not with my brain in chains.
3. My Phone
This device, like the internet is a blessing and a curse. The extension of myself encapsulated in a compact slender mini tablet. I have access to the world's information with the sound of my voice. The use of a map is obsolete because of the pin point GPS navigation built into its powerful microscopic motherboard. My once impressive CD collection is now replaced by a streaming service that has more music than I could listen to in a lifetime. In my hand lies an extension of my social interactions and my largest distractions. If I could disconnect without the repercussions of my social life, then I would do it in a heartbeat. I can't go an hour without a text conversation popping up. My "nice guy" conscience feels bad if I ignore a friend or family member. I know that I am not as bad as others, but my phone has officially hijacked a good portion of my attention span. There are great apps out there that help deal with this digital sickness. My favorite so far is Digital Well-being in the Google settings. You can set timers on apps that you find most distracting, track your screen time each day, and also set goals for limited screen time. The trick is to stick with it. Soon you will find yourself on a bench at your university or workplace watching people sucked into their screens. The sight is a sideshow in itself; a true awakening of when you are aware of the digital distraction with eyes wide open. It becomes eerie that we all keep a small screen tethered in a tight grip to our personal space.