Distraction Makes You Dumb

Once upon an ordinary Saturday, I wanted to continue reading the biography of Steve Jobs. While reading, I realized that I still needed to print out concert tickets for Katzenjammer for that evening. But the ink had run out. While replacing the ink, I spilled it on my trousers. I quickly cleaned it up and printed the tickets.

I curled back up on the couch with the book and resumed reading on page 35. There, I read that Steve lets ink splatter on his books. A grin spread across my face. I grabbed my iPad to share it with my friends. Distracted.

On some days, it can be very difficult to read a book in peace. Everywhere around us, we are bombarded with stimuli and we want to stay connected with the outside world.

To foster our primal creativity, it is important that we enter a state of flow. That is simply not possible if we are constantly distracted.

In the end, you are standing in your own way. Only you can do something about the distraction that you create for yourself by subjecting yourself to too many stimuli.

Why Are We Distracted?

I think that distraction is, to a certain extent, beneficial. As human beings, we have always been curious about the events happening around us. That curiosity is what has made us great. That’s why we invented fire and the wheel (cliché ;-). The only problem is that if you are easily distracted, you become even more so. It’s like a downward spiral, because we always want more. That’s what happens with smartphones, tablets, etc.

What Is the Solution?

Sometimes you let yourself get continuously distracted. That’s why it’s better to preemptively disable as many stimuli as possible. Think of notifications from Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, you can decide not to use digital devices in the evenings and on Sundays.

Earlier this year, I took it a step further. A small experiment: blocking Twitter and Facebook for one month. The interesting part was that for the first few days, I was quite nervous because I missed so much from my surroundings. When I was on the train or had to wait somewhere, I didn’t immediately know what to do. It was pretty tough, actually.

After a few days, however, that fortunately changed. While on the go, I would watch the scenery or be able to read undisturbed. On days when I was normally very distracted, I couldn’t work productively. The calm I regained was wonderful.

I can recommend this small experiment to everyone. It makes you reflect and brings you calm. Calm reduces stress and helps you better manage things, such as your work.

Conclusion

Distraction is a natural phenomenon that we can do little about. It fosters our evolution and has made us who we are today: forward-thinking beings. The trick is to limit curiosity – that is, distraction – to a minimum. Otherwise, we overdo it and it works against us.

Too much distraction makes you dumb. Let’s stay smart.

Oh, and by the way, I’ve since finished the Steve book ;-)

— This post was originally written on the Studio Wolf blog.