Have you ever felt annoyed or angry when you were working and someone interrupted you?
And just moments after, your work instantly became harder and that feeling consumed you until you just had to take a break?
But everything was working so well, what happened?
You were doing your best work, and suddenly, it’s gone. You lost the flow, and now you have to work harder to get it back.
As freelancers, business owners or entrepreneurs, one of our most significant challenge is to beat procrastination. But in a world where everything is urgent, remaining focused and in the flow is a luxury not everyone has achieved.
I have not met anyone who can create something astonishing while being interrupted all the time. Your best work requires complete focus.
If you have felt annoyed and just wanted to work in silence, don’t worry, I’m right there with you.
Just a few weeks ago I had a couple of days where my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. It destroyed my flow. I couldn’t get any valuable work done.
In our fast-paced world, our smartphones are just one way to destroy our attention spans. The constant notification barrage from our devices is just ruining our productivity.
You see, all the news outlets, social media companies, games and even your contacts, have their agenda. That doesn’t mean that they are out to get you, but they want your attention to move forward with their own goals.
If you let everyone interrupt you each time they want, you will be left with no time to focus on what matters to you the most. Just pay attention to the number of times you check your phone in one single day.
That’s why I decided to run an experiment, and you are welcome to join me.
I want to allow myself to have more time to do my best work. I want to amaze my audience with incredible results. To do that I need to take back my time.
So I have disabled all instant message notifications with the exceptions of my family and closest friends. Period.
I know, it feels terrifying to do it.
When I was disabling the notifications my monkey mind kept telling me:
“What if something happens!? What if you miss something important!? What if you lose work or a client has an emergency, and you can’t help!?…”
My Insanely Loud Monkey Mind
Then I realized the truth. It’s just fear of missing out. We have been trained to believe that we need to consume content all the time.
Could I miss something important? Maybe.
But in reality, the benefit far outweighs the potential issues. By protecting my time, I will deliver better results for everyone involved. Especially for myself.
So I challenge you to join me in this experiment. Protecting your time from interruptions is just as important as the incredible work that you will accomplish.
I want you to join me in this quest to reclaim our time. I want you to feel proud of what you accomplish. And to do that, you need to focus and do the work.
Are you in?