8 Common Reasons for Stress and Distractions

There are many reasons you may experience stress and distractions these days. Everything is fast-paced. This makes it seem like it’s impossible to slow down. You have people pulling at you from every direction, wanting something from you. That is stressful; however, you can learn the common reasons for your stress and distractions so you can reduce or eliminate them from your life.

1.    Not Setting Boundaries – If people interrupt you frequently, taking your focus away from your tasks, it may be because you have avoided setting firm boundaries. Tell coworkers or your family if you work from home not to disturb you during specific focusing times. You can always take a break, be with them, and help them later.

2.    Not Turning Off Notifications – Our society is on the go 24/7 due to smartphones and internet technology. While you’re reading this, you have your smartphone dinging and giving you notifications of discussions that you don’t even really need to participate in. So, turn them off while focusing on any task.

3.    Not Getting Organized – It doesn’t matter what people say about being messy. The truth is if you don’t get your spaces organized and the processes you use organized, it’s hard to get things done within the period you want without many setbacks and stress. Organize your environment to make each task you need to do simple instead of confusing.

4.    Not Goal Setting – There is more to setting a goal than stating you want to be rich, author a book, lose weight, or whatever it is you want to accomplish. To properly set a goal, you must follow a process that leaves you with a step-by-step task list to ensure small daily steps end up where you want. Goal setting works for relationships, personal goals, and business.

5.    Not Giving Yourself Enough Time – Most people forget about them before and after tasks they want to do. They might say to themselves, “Jonny’s game takes two hours,” but the truth is, it takes time to get ready for the game, time to get to the game, time to be at the game, and then time to get home and end the game night. Johnny’s two-hour match is four hours, during which you can’t do much else.

6.    Not Having a Supportive Environment – Whether the physical environment is set up or how the folks around you behave, having a supportive environment is essential to successfully reduce stress and distractions. Setting boundaries, cleaning up the clutter, and getting organized will help.

7.    Not Having the Right Tools and Resources – It’s hard to do anything if you don’t have the right tools and resources. Whether you’re attempting to do your dishes or create the next million-dollar product launch, this is true. Access to the right tools and resources is essential to success.

8.    Not Working with Your Personality – Knowing who you are and how you work best is essential in designing your days to be the most productive. Remember being productive means you get things done, not that you’re busy. If you’re not a morning person trying to do everything in the morning isn’t going to work for you.

Stress and distractions don’t have to be normal things. You can set up your days to be as stress-free as possible simply by finding ways to reduce distractions that are lowering your productivity. But you need to understand what’s expected, how to do it, what you need to do, and how long it takes to make it all work.

Change your mindset, and you’ll change your results,

Richard Grehalva

Transformational Leadership Coach