Nothing brings the growth we seek other than ACTION, but sadly, we are distracted; more sadly, we don’t know by much the distractions limit our productivity and growth.
I met a lady with lofty ideas that I thought – ‘oh! this would create some disruption in the fashion space’. I asked her where she was with the implementation, and she said she was dealing with procrastination and hasn’t done much. And then, I asked that we analyse her past few days. It turned out most of the hours went into catching up on her favourite TV series, taking her off her idea. She was as surprised as I was.
I decided to double click on the two words. Is it Procrastination or Distraction we deal with?
Procrastination is a conscious decision to delay tasks, often due to lacking motivation or self-discipline. Distractions are external or internal influences that divert attention from tasks, regardless of whether the individual intends to procrastinate. Both negatively impact productivity.
I may have said a thousand times to my sons that play can never come before work. My last son, with a smart mouth, would say, ‘You just don’t like us having fun’. Well, that’s not true. Having unfinished homework and undone tasks and sitting with gadgets cannot be okay with me.
There are a myriad of whirlwinds that take us off our focus. They dilute our concentration level and impact our productivity. Technology will always be a double sword. It rests on us individually to figure out which side of the sword we want to utilise more. One infinitely limited thing is time – because of this, we are almost always conflicted about how best to utilise our time for the most results.
I have the ability to choose – either the guilt that comes after watching my best TV series for 8 hours without planning to do so and blaming the last episode that stops at a point where I’d rather know what happened next than stop. Or the satisfaction that envelopes me after spending 60 minutes at the gym rather than scrolling through social feeds minding other people’s business.
Before we conclude that we need help with procrastination, we should be sure we are not dealing with technology-induced distractions. It is the biggest dream killer out there now. It is addictive; I once saw a guy watching Netflix in the office, totally oblivious to his environment. Identifying and minimising distractions is essential for productivity. Monitor your screen time, set goals, prioritise tasks based on their importance and urgency, use productivity tools ( I may have one to recommend soon), and know that productivity is an ongoing journey. Adapting and refining strategies as circumstances change and as we grow personally and professionally is important.
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Adebola Idowu.
#QueenOfExecution #adebolaidowulearningandsharing