How To Deal With Distractions

Courtesy of birgerking/Creative Commons

In the middle of a message the other week I kept hearing a, “Rat ta tat tat” from the back of the crowd of middle school students.  I did my usual, “Stop it now.” look as I paused momentarily.  The noise stopped and then a few moments later it began again, “Rat ta tat tat”.  I wanted to stop, I wanted to pick up my stool and throw it across the room; however, a volunteer was able to take it out completely.

Nothing is more distracting than a small noise in the middle of your message.  It can throw you off your rhythm or even bring you to an abrupt stop.  Unfortunately, distractions lay everywhere in our lives.  While they are inevitable there are steps you can take to overcome and deal with them properly.  Here are four:

• Prepare Yourself:  Whether it’s in a meeting, or giving a message the more you know your content the less likely you’ll be thrown off by distractions.  If giving a message you can try practicing with distractions (i.e playing music in the background).  The more you practice, research and prepare proper notes, the more likely you will work through any interruptions.

• Have A Response Plan:  There will be situations when the interruptions are too large to ignore.  In these situations have a plan to either remove the distraction or yourself from the situation.  If it’s a noisy teen make sure your leaders have a protocol to address the situation.  If the office is too noisy have a quiet safe haven to get your work done.

• Protect Your Environments: Sometimes your work space is the biggest distraction of them all.  If you have clutter on your desk it could prevent you from focusing on the task at hand.  If you are going to write or do research silence your phone and adjust the lighting.  Get rid of the social media and even disconnect from the Internet.  Give yourself the best environment possible to get the job done.

• Give Yourself Margin: Another way to prepare yourself against distractions is by giving yourself time to respond and refocus from them.  If you overbook your schedule you are basically taking a gamble that no distractions will happen in your day.  Don’t be foolish and make sure you give yourself room for error.

Distractions will be annoying and plain old evil.  Always be aware they can and will happen during the course of your work day.  The key to success is how well you prevent and respond to them.  Above all else have a strategy and plan.

How do you safeguard against distractions?