Stop fighting the inevitable

Getting sidetracked is inevitable. The skill is to recognise it when it happens so you can bring your focus back to where you’d like it to be.

Willpower is never going to be a reliable solution. Neither is mentally berating yourself as you cascade down a social media rabbit hole for the fifth time today, doom-scrolling as you go.

For most of my clients, tactics like turning their phones off for extended periods aren’t viable options either. There’s simply too much happening in their world.

Proactively deciding what you want to be working on in advance and then putting a stake in the ground somewhere you can see it, is one good way of getting yourself back on track when you find yourself at the mercy of conflicting interruptions fighting for your attention.

On some level, giving yourself an anchor like this means your mind seems less prone to interruptions. Even if you succumb to something else there's a little voice saying "hey, you know this isn't where you want to be, get back to the thing you know you should be working on."

(At least it does for me.)

Stop worrying about the inevitable, just get back on track.