We live in a world with many distractions that keep you from being productive. The more you get distracted, the harder it is to work on your goals.

In today’s world, it is difficult to stay focused on one task. With the help of technology, we are now able to get distracted by many things at any point in time. With that being said, you can learn how to develop the skills of staying on task and avoiding distractions.

The most successful people use systems including to-do lists, either have a very low tolerance for distractions, or have developed strategies for managing them.

1. Realize that distractions are your enemy

They will stop you from being productive. To take back control of your day, you need to realize that distractions are your enemy.

Do whatever you can to avoid them because everything else is secondary to productivity. Even if it seems like an inconvenience, put time into switching off your notifications, putting away your phone and closing all the tabs on your computer screen before starting work for the day.

2. Evaluate your work process for time-wasting habits and implement fixes

It’s time to get rid of those silly habits that we all have but willingly tolerate. For example, reading the news first thing in the morning instead of actually doing anything productive.

Some work habits are worse than others and take up more time. For example, social media is a big time-waster. This is because people can become addicted to checking social media sites every few minutes for new content or seeing what their friends are up to. It takes away from their productivity and they lose focus on the task at hand.

The good news is that there are some fixes you can put in place for these bad work habits such as setting a timer for how long you will be on social media sites each day. Some might choose to install an app blocker to stop themselves from using any apps for a certain amount of time.

3. Make a To-Do List to organize tasks and prioritize them urgently

A good to-do list can help keep you focused. “What should I do first?” is an issue faced by many professionals. The answer to this question depends on the order in which tasks need to be completed, but also the urgency of the task. Urgency may be categorized as “A-Priority” or “B-Priority”. A-priority tasks are those that must be done today, while B-priority tasks can wait until tomorrow.

A good way to organize tasks is by dividing them into categories and then assigning each category a level of urgency (e.g., A-Priority or B-Priority). This will allow you to decide what needs to be done first and what can wait for later.

It is important to organize tasks in order of importance and urgency. Organizing tasks with the help of a task organizer is not a difficult or time-consuming process.

Conclusion

It is possible to manage and put a pause on distractions. It may take some time to develop the habits but you can develop the skill. You can build a strategy to turn yourself into someone who can successfully pursue your goals.