R Is For Removal (Of Distractions)

If you want to be more productive, it’s necessary to spend some time each day focusing on the important, mission-critical tasks that only you as the business owner can do. Other things can be delegated, outsourced, or automated.

In order to focus, you have to lose distractions. That’s why the R in the LaserBrainTM method stands for “Remove distractions”. Otherwise, you won’t have enough time to bring your full attention to your work – which means it will take longer and may not be as high quality either.

Why focus without distractions is so critical for entrepreneurs

When you are working on something that’s complex or a task that requires more energy from the prefrontal cortex (executive function, including planning and strategizing, working with numbers, writing nonfiction), distractions prevent you from paying full attention to the task.

For one thing, tasks take longer to complete. And also, switching from one thing to another fatigues your brain with all that task-switching. Plus you lose time due to the distraction itself.

In contrast, when you concentrate on one complex task at a time, you’re not dividing your focus or losing energy to switching. You’re able to complete that item and move on to the next. Your brain is happy when you complete things, which is an additional reward.

Having even a couple of hours of uninterrupted focus time will allow you to get a lot accomplished each day. Then you don’t have to spend hours in the workplace and you can go home to your loved ones at a reasonable hour to enjoy better work-life harmony.

Distractions that get in the way of better productivity come in many forms

There are obvious distractions, such as: 

• Email and “social” media notifications
• People who walk in your office
• Loud noises
• Weird smells
• Lights that are too bright or flickering or buzzing
• Uncomfortable temperatures, whether too hot or too cold
• Views 

But one distraction that might not immediately come to mind is all the “stuff” in your life that’s incomplete or that needs to be done. If you leave something hanging, your brain wants to make sure you get to it so it will keep reminding you. Often it happens when you’re in bed and trying to sleep, but these thoughts can also intrude during the day.

How to remove distractions so you can be more productive

Hopefully some of these are pretty obvious from the way they’re listed! Turn off notifications. (If that seems like a bridge too far, at least turn them off during the hours you’ve set aside for deep or focused work.) 

Wear earplugs or noise-canceling headphones or play nonverbal music or a white noise machine. Adjust the thermostat, or wear more pants, sweaters and jackets if you’re too cold or short sleeves and lightweight fabrics if you’re too hot. 

Close your door during focus time – you can always have “office hours” at a different time of day for staff to drop by and ask you questions. 

And so forth, depending on the distraction you’re facing.

When it comes to incomplete items, there are a few ways to handle them.

• Make sure you get your focus time every single workday without distractions so you can accomplish tasks instead of leaving them incomplete. This might seem a little circular - remove distractions by removing distractions! But the more time you can spend in focus work, the more you really can complete.
• Write down whatever’s hanging over your head. You might need to do this on a regular basis, like every night before bed. Notice I said “write down” and not “type”. (Dictating might work, but I haven’t seen any research on that.) Handwriting helps you remember things better than typing, because there’s some special neurochemistry that happens when you write that doesn’t happen when you type. Putting it down on paper gives your brain the sense that the item is handled, even if you haven’t completed it.
• Delegate, outsource, or automate where possible. Superwoman is a myth just like old Santy Claus, so don’t waste time thinking you have to do everything yourself. If the task can be done by someone else, then by all means give it to someone else.
• Put the tasks in your schedule. If it’s not important or mission critical, don’t schedule it for deep work time. If it’s incomplete but will help move your business forward, by all means ensure that you tackle it during the time your brain is best able to tackle it and you can work on it uninterrupted.

Recap (tl;dr):

Removing distractions, no matter what they are, gives you more time and energy to focus on your priorities. There are various ways to handle the removal.

If you’ve removed distractions but still have a hard time working smarter instead of harder, I can help. Message me to schedule your free consultation with me.