Dis·trac·tion
- a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.
- extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
Falling into the pitfalls of distraction, whether through mobile phone usage, the impulse to multitask, worry for others and much more, has been proven to negatively impact emotional regulation. Additionally, it has been shown that external distractions including acoustic, visual, and mental can have a negative effect on cognitive performance.
Five Common Distractions Are:
1) Mobile phone and social media usage
2) Interpersonal relationships (grudges, toxic relations, worry for others)
3) Pursuit of perfection
4) Poor boundaries
5) Multitasking
How can we overcome it? Harvard Business Review asserts that in order to overcome distraction we must tap into our emotional intelligence. Of course, this is easier said than done. Distraction leads to increased stress and chronic stress increases cortisol levels in the body. Dubbed “the stress hormone” prolonged high cortisol levels are toxic to the human body.
Some effective ways of focusing our attention are:
- Sleep
- Meditation and Mindfulness Practices
- Taking Breaks
- Exercise
- Limiting Multitasking
As we begin the year, let’s take a moment to refocus and identify distractions in our daily lives. Need help? SimplaFYI’s vetted practitioners are just a click away. Join today.
