How to Beat Distraction: The Two-Device Solution
More and more, we’re finding it easy to get engaged with activities that feel like work, but aren’t.
One reason for this confusion is that we’re often using precisely the same device to do our work as we are to distract ourselves from our work. The distractions come along with the productivity.
The boss (and even our honest selves) would probably freak out if we took hours of ping pong breaks while at the office, but spending the same amount of time engaged with others online is easier to rationalize.
The solution? Using two devices.
Simple but bold: only use your computer for work. Real work.
Have a second device, perhaps an iPad, and use it for games, web commenting, online shopping, networking… anything that doesn’t directly create valued output (no need to have an argument here about which is which, which is work and which is not… draw a line, any line, and separate the two of them. If you don’t like the results from that line, draw a new line).
Now, when you pick up the iPad, you can say to yourself, “break time.”
And if you find yourself taking a lot of that break time, you’ve just learned something important ;)