Time Management and Students: Distractions

Effective Time Management

By default includes minimizing distractions…you know, those nagging little things that severely impair your ability to concentrate on whatever task you have at hand.

We all have them: that boss or professor who wants something yesterday, your spouse who wants some of your attention, that child who wants to play his music too loud.

How about the pile of laundry waiting to be put up, or the floor needing mopped? And don’t forget about that book that you’ve been dying to read.

These are all valid things that you need…or want…to pay attention to but when you’re trying to do something else…like studying…they’re just distractions.

Distractions Can Be Handled in Different Ways

Depending on the type of distraction it is.

And yes, there are different types. Some need to be taken care of right away and some can be put off…while putting your mind at ease.

Immediate Action Distractions

Require…what else…immediate action. You will not be able to concentrate until that distraction is taken care of in one way or another.

For instance, a fly buzzing around you needs to be taken care of right away. Squash it, get it over with, clean up the mess, and get on with your task.

(For you animal lovers go ahead and capture it to release outside if that’s your cup of tea…whatever you need to do to remove it from being an active distraction.)

Another example of an immediate action distraction is calling the plumber because the toilet is overflowing. I don’t care what you’re doing…I bet it’s not as important as taking care of that.

Schedulable Action Distractions

Are things like putting up that load of laundry, taking care of that permission form your son needs to have notarized, or doing the grocery shopping in advance of the tropical storm that’s probably coming in the next couple of days. (I live in a coastal town and we really are expecting a tropical storm).

These are things that when they cross your mind…of course at the most inopportune times, like when you really need to study for that big exam…you can do one of two things.

You can either go ahead and quickly schedule to take care of them at a later time and/or date and then push the tasks to the back of your mind.

Or…

You will be able to immediately push them into the tiniest crevices of your noggin by acknowledging that you already have them on the agenda to be taken care of (i.e., that load of clothes you feel so guilty about is going to be taken care of with tomorrow’s housecleaning).

That is the Key to Handling Distractions

Figure out which class they fall into and, hopefully, the vast majority will fall into the schedulable action distractions. This is great because that means once they’re given the proper attention…scheduling…they will cease being distractions.

This takes practice to master but it will be well worth it.

Are you ready to control life instead of it controlling you? Download my free ebook about Time Management and Students to get started.