Distraction is the New Drug

Credit: Matt Quinn on Unsplash

Lately, I feel like my mind is being pulled in a million different directions. There are so many things striving for my attention and focus. The choices I need to make on a daily basis can be overwhelming at times.

The reality of distraction is a sobering one.

For a long time, it seemed like distraction was looked at negatively: it’s the thing to avoid aggressively, because it will tank your productivity and your vision for how you want your life to look like. But now it seems like more of us look to distraction in a positive light: it’s the thing that keeps us from having to deal with the difficulties life throws our way. It numbs our emotional state and makes us not feel the weight of pain, anxiety, grief, and other stressors.

Distraction comes in many forms and most of those forms are innocuous in many ways. They’re not necessarily good or bad but amoral. But when the propensity of those things lean toward a direction of distraction: a direction when those very things are used to mask the reality of the situation before you. A direction when the short term relief that distraction brings makes you believe that the short term answer brings long term results. A distraction that doesn’t solve the problem but pushes it off for another day. Distraction has its allure and it’s easy to justify the necessity of it, but in the end it doesn’t really do anything to change the situation.

So what can we do to assure ourselves that we aren’t using distraction to bury the difficulty, stress, or the needs before us to address?

1. Make a plan

   Things get hard when it’s all jumbled up in your mind and that confusion starts seeping down into your soul. So, if you are feeling overwhelmed, make a to-do list, make a plan, set goals, list daily objectives. Break down big tasks into smaller tasks and make them achievable.

2. Redirect your distraction

   It’s so easy to enlist the behaviors that distract you the most because they have become habits with which you have learned to cope with stressors in an unhealthy, unfulfilling manner. So when you feel like you want to go to that behavior which is unhelpful, redirect. Look for something else to do which is better: take a walk, get some sleep, eat a healthy snack, meditate/pray, disconnect from technology. Redirecting unhealthy behaviors and utilizing good behaviors will form new habits which will aid you in dealing with your difficulties in much more effective ways.

3. Be gentle with yourself

   Most of all: the truth is what we are not perfect, no matter how much we try. We can have many good days but we will still have a bad one from time to time. When the bad day comes, it’s easy to say screw it and just give up. It’s easy to go back to your old habits because they are familiar and comfortable. But stay strong. Give yourself some grace and face the next day with the same vigor and strength I know you have inside of you.

You are worth it. You are so worth the time to make a plan and to stick with it. You are so worth the time to take care of yourself and to put yourself first at times for your sake and for the sake of those you love. You are so worth the time to realize that you are not perfect, and that it is ok. You need to aim for good. You need to know that one bad day doesn’t define you, your whole life does. Be better. You can do it. Let’s do it together!