We may have the greatest intention of putting first things first. The end of the day comes and when we look back, well, we didn’t achieve what we set out to achieve. We were supremely busy, but we didn’t have time for ‘first things’.

You might think you don’t have the willpower. For the most part, I don’t think staying on track is about willpower, other than making some (at first) uncomfortable decisions. Some of these decisions revolve around eliminating distractions. We can’t put first things first if we are continually distracted and have no time to focus. What’s one major cause of distraction?

Well…

It’s you. You are a big contributor to what distracts you, just like I am a big contributor to what distracts me. How is this possible?

Technology.

Specifically, we have a crazy awesome powerful device called a mobile phone. This juggernaut of computing power keeps our calendar, contacts, documents, social media, email, oh, and sometimes we use it to make a call (or at least we keep it around in case we need to dial 911). Let’s breakdown the distraction factors of the phone and what we can do about it. But worry not, the phone is not evil…it can be used for good! We’ll look at that too.

The Wakeup Call

It’s really difficult to be in Quadrant II and be in the stress response at the same time. Some characteristics of the stress response are rapid heartbeat, reduced cognitive power (no need to think while you’re outrunning a predator), and breathing taking place in your upper chest. Let’s consider the following scenario. You wake up to the alarm (probably on your phone). Before you even sit up you check your email for messages. After all, you want to be a responsive member of the team! And you work with people who keep all sorts of hours, either locally or across the globe. And then you see the unexpected response from your boss not agreeing with your decision, the problem brewing with a customer, and the new corporate policy asking you to bring your own office supplies to the office. And BAM! You’re in the stress response.

Because you’re in the stress response (and you may not even recognize it as such because it feels so familiar), you go about your morning, but you have no time to think, much less plan. And it’s off to the office to deal with all the craziness.

Several years ago I heard an interview with Brendon Burchard, who is a motivational speaker and talks a lot on achieving high performance. He prefaced his remarks by saying, “You’re not going to like this.” Indeed, I don’t think you’re going to like this advice (I know I didn’t). His advice was simple: don’t check your phone first thing in the morning. Yep, don’t check your phone first thing in the morning.

Once I put this piece of advice into action, though, I gained a lot of benefit. It wasn’t easy to break the habit, but I eventually did. Instead of going right into crazy stressed-out mode, I get up, get centered, get nourished, and make sure I am in a frame of mind to handle whatever is next…then I check my emails. Sometimes I even wait until I get into the office to check my work emails. I know, you’re thinking not checking your emails would stress you out.

All I can say is pay attention to how you feel now when you first wake up, and after you check your phone first thing. Then try not checking your phone for a few days and see how you feel when you first wake up, and the moment before you check your emails. Then check in with yourself throughout the day. See if delaying looking at emails makes a positive difference for you.

Technology addiction

I find that when I’m working on something, really trying to get something done, I sometimes get a little stuck. Maybe I pull away from the work mentally for a nanosecond. And that’s when it happens…I reach over to my phone and check my email. I check my email even though there’s no indicator saying I have new messages! And, while I’m there I’ll do a quick scan through a few other apps. Sigh. Now I’m officially distracted.

It’s not entirely my fault, and if this sounds like you it’s not entirely your fault either. Companies spend a lot of money on designing apps that draw your attention towards them. The visual indicators, the audio indicators, the count of the number of unread messages are all meant to draw our attention to the app. While our attention is drawn toward the app, it is distracting us from putting first things first and engineering our life.

I’ve found that adding “friction” can be very useful. At work I put my phone in my cabinet. It’s just far enough away that reaching for it requires a conscious decision. When I get up to go to lunch, for example, I check my phone because I’ve already decided to stop focusing. This small amount of friction, keeping my phone more than arm’s length away, allows me to keep focused on the work and people around me. There are other ways of doing this too. I’ve heard of people removing all social media apps from their phones when they want to really focus on something. Pick the level of friction that works for you.

Your Phone Can Be a Force for Good!

There are some aspects of our phones that encourage us to be distracted. But there are ways we can use our phone for good 🙂 . One of my favorites is to listen to podcasts or audio lessons on the way to work. My commute is about 30 minutes, so I can listen to one or two podcasts a day just in my car. I figure I might as well make my commute more useful by turning it into Quadrant II learning time. I love to learn new things, so it’s actually a pleasant way to spend the commute time.

Some of our Q2 Leader community are big fans of Audible. Imagine how many books you can consume by listening to them in the car, at the gym, or on an airplane.

You can also use your phone to…wait for it…call someone! Or at least send a text message. Maybe you haven’t told someone that you are grateful for their friendship in a while, or that you really appreciated what they did for you last week. A quick note or phone call can really make all the difference in someone’s day. (You’ll get a boost when you give this way too.)

tl;dr

Our phones can be huge distractions, keeping us out of Quadrant II and away from engineering our life. But our phone can also be used to stream great content like podcasts and books, which add value to ourselves and help us grow.

engineer your life

  • Do an experiment and for a week: don’t check your emails or social media before you get out of bed. Wait until you are centered and strong (and maybe have had some coffee).
  • Add a little friction between you and your phone to make it more difficult to check your apps and notifications. Turn off on-screen notifications, or put your phone more than arm’s reach away. Reflect on the results.
  • Check out Michael Hyatt’s podcast on reducing distraction and increasing focus.
  • Check out Brendon Burchard’s video on Three Worst Morning Routines Ever
  • Use your phone for good 🙂 Try streaming a podcast or audio book in the car, at the gym, cleaning the house, or making dinner. How much can you learn in a week?