TheFocus.Quest

Kinds of distractions

Distractions fall into three categories: desires, aversions and interruptions.

Desires include anything that I want: food, going out for a walk, checking social networks and other sites, reading, watching something fun, etc. I think they can be boiled down to entertainment, socializing and body needs.

Aversions include anything that I want to avoid: physical discomfort, boredom, confusion, undesirable social interactions, etc. Not sure how to boil those down.

Interruptions are self-explanatory, but can take many forms. Not all of them are direct interruptions like someone mentioning me on a Slack channel, knocking on my door or staring at me to remind me gently that they need to go for a walk. Sometimes interruptions are fragments of content that catch the eye, enough to interrupt the task that I intended to do.

For example, I may head to YouTube trying to find a quick explanation of AWS SNS endpoints for push notifications, but while getting there, I find an interesting video on glazes for pottery. My hand could click before I have a chance to think, and there goes my concentration.

I could go on and on about the kinds of interruptions I find, but I'm pretty sure that nobody who uses the Internet needs an explanation.

The problem with interruptions is that, even if they are brief (say, a couple of messages on Slack) they open a crack in the flow of thoughts. If focus wasn't strong enough, then the crack is a way fr desires and aversions to get in and further undermine concentration.

A small distraction from someone knocking on my door, and suddently it's a good time to go for a snack, or something else.

Stretching, refilling the water bottle, going for a walk, watching pottery videos: those are all great things when I want them —not when my scattered mind forces them.