How to Stay Focused and Kill Distractions:  A Guide to Maximum Productivity 

Understanding Distraction and the Pursuit of the Unattainable:

My salute and greetings to those who conquer themselves. In ancient Greek stories, we find an interesting story of Zeus and his son Tattle. For some reason, Zeus gets angry with Tattle and punishes him by putting him in hell.

 Dantes died and reached hell, but what is this? When Dantes opened his eyes, he was swimming in a beautiful river with trees all around which were laden with fruits. This place was not like hell at all. 

Dantes kept swimming in the river and a little further ahead he saw a red apple hanging. As soon as he tried to pluck the apple, the apple was pulled up. Then when Dantes tried to drink water, the water of the river slid down. The more Dantes tried, the more water and fruits went away from him. 

This was Dantes' hell and Dantes would always yearn for what he desired. He would never get it. This was his punishment. Friends, the word tent is made from the word tent. 

Tent is something that one desires to get but it seems out of reach. Friends, there is one thing hidden in this story that matches our destruction situation. In the story, Tan had died, right? He neither felt hungry nor thirsty, yet he was getting restless after those things which he did not need. 

Our situation is exactly like that of Dantes. Neither do we need to watch reels and shots, nor do we need to keep the news updated 24 hours a day, nor do we need to use the mobile while sleeping at night, but still it seems that these things are very important for us and just like Dantes, the desire for these things does not end.

 Our time and energy are being wasted in this insatiable thirst and we are becoming unhappy. 

Friends, three qualities of destruction emerge from here.

 First,

 distance from the goal, destruction means doing those actions that take you away from the most important goal.

 Second,

 unrequired action. These actions are not needed at all, yet we do them.

 Third,

 dissatisfaction. Getting caught in destruction becomes the reason for great dissatisfaction in life.

The Roots of Distraction and Internal Triggers: 

 So the question arises why do we destroy ourselves? Why do we go after those actions which we do not need? 

The answer is that running away from pain is the default setting of the brain. Neera Yaal says that whatever our brain knowingly or unknowingly does, The main reason for the destruction is to avoid pain. 

The main driver of action is pain. That is, we choose the path of destruction also because of pain, and while working this pain appears in us in the form of internal triggers. Suppose you are doing some work and suddenly you remember that friend with whom you argued today, then you will feel bad. To run away from this pain, you will feel like passing some time or if you are stuck somewhere and you are feeling frustrated, then to ignore this mental pain, you will feel like leaving the work. 

That is, the reason for the destruction is not outside but the thoughts, emotions, and sensations inside us due to which we do not feel good. These are called internal triggers and due to internal triggers, we feel like leaving the work. 

By handling internal triggers, the problem of destruction will be solved to a great extent. You will say, Bhaiya, what are you talking about? Destruction is because of the internet. Friends, destruction has always been there.

When there was no internet and smartphones, there was TV. When there was no TV, there were comics. Before that, there was radio. When there was no radio, there were ruffian friends with whom you could spend time all day. That is, this destruction has always been there and will continue to be there. 

You cannot give power to destruction under the cover of the internet. Those who had to work created something 200 years ago and will do something today too. Friends, you and I have made a very important discovery in this Article that behind every destruction there is pain and if we manage the pain, then destruction will also be managed. 

That is why, Riyaal says that time management is pain management. To end destruction, that is, for pain management, we have to understand that getting upset is a natural thing for our brain. 

In our generation, it is believed that if you are not comfortable, then you are not happy. But the opposite is true because feeling a little upset at this time forces the brain to find a better solution. Actually, due to this quality, man has progressed a lot and discovered new medicines and tools.

Methods to Overcome Distraction and Boost Productivity:

 If the brain is not a little upset, then we will not be inspired to change and improve. Lean into boredom means that the restlessness of the mind can be used for growth and self-improvement. 

We just need to adopt it instead of running away from the discomfort. Lean into boredom means when you feel like I am not able to do it, first check something on the internet for 5 minutes. 

Then adopt this boredom. Tell yourself that yes I am feeling bad but I am ready to see the boredom and negative thoughts, that too very comfortably without judging. How to accept it? Mind and body are very deeply connected to you, actually, they are one and the same, and that is why they are called body-mind complex. That is, you feel every thought as a sensation somewhere in the body. When you feel boredom, frustration, or any thought, first look at the body, and scan the body to see where I am feeling the sensation because when you see the emotions very comfortably without judgment, then negative emotions disappear and positive emotions increase.

 In the beginning, you will feel that it is very difficult to do this. To learn this and to increase your alertness, you should do body scans. You can do guided meditation with scanning. You will benefit a lot by practicing it regularly. Another great method is Leaves on Stream. When cravings or thoughts are dominating you and you do not want to get distracted from work, then use Leaves on Stream visualization. 

The first step is to close your eyes and see on the screen of your mind that you are sitting near a small river that is flowing with a gurgling sound, neither too fast nor too slow, it is just flowing and leaves are also flowing on this stream. Keep seeing this scene in your mind for 10 seconds.

 Now for the next five minutes, whatever thoughts come, negative, neutral, and positive, keep placing each thought on the leaves and let it flow. Even when your thoughts calm down, keep looking at the stream. Do not try to stop or speed up the stream or the leaves. In a short while you will find that thoughts and distractions have calmed down automatically.

 You can do this practice separately as mindful meditation. The next method is to look at work from a new perspective. First of all, understand that even studies or work do not cause trouble, but We had expected that this work would be done quickly or this work would be easy. This wrong expectation is the reason for frustration. Now, on the contrary, you should focus more on your task. Break it into small tasks of 15 minutes each and complete them as a challenge by setting a timer.

 Then you will realize that there are many small things in this task which make it interesting. Small challenges make it like a game. To avoid distraction, the next thing is liminal movements. When we switch from one task to another, there is a time of a few seconds when the mind is free. 

This time is called the liminal moment. For example, if you took a break to drink water, the mind shifted focus from the work, that is, liminal movement. At this time, you thought, let me check India's score once, then after a while, you realized that 20 minutes have passed and in the meantime, the mind got more tired, that is, many of our precious hours are wasted every day in liminal movements. What should we do? While switching tasks, when you feel that you should check the trending news one more time or read the message on Twitter, then you should not do anything. 

Ayal says use the 10 minutes rule, tell yourself that I will talk for 10 minutes, psychologists say that this technique works very accurately, if after 10 minutes you remember the same thing again, then do it because in reality we distractors are only bringing attention to the desire to do it and delaying it, by doing this repeatedly, the distraction between two tasks reduces a lot and your productivity increases

 Friends, in summary some useful things and four techniques Time management and pain management If you learn to handle pain, then the destruction will automatically reduce a lot Body scanning for internal triggers When thoughts and cravings increase, then use Leaves on Stream, 

practice it and see it is really effective Third, pay attention to liminal movements While switching the task, if you want to do something else, then delay it for 10 minutes, this increases productivity a lot Fourth thing, look at your work with a new perspective, by celebrating 15-15 minute tasks, set a timer and challenge yourself and work Look at it like a game or treasure hunt