"There are people working hard to distract you. Distraction is not a static obstacle that you avoid like you might avoid a rock in the road. Distraction seeks you out."

          ~ Paul Graham

 

College life is filled with distractions. Everywhere you turn, something is begging for your attention. Movies, video games, and that hot guy or girl down the hall are all probably much more appealing than the thought of sitting down and reading 40 pages on the political history of Vietnam.

 

And that's one of the toughest things about dealing with distractions: They come at you from everywhere and in all different forms.

 

But your quest to conquer what distracts you isn't a lost cause. With the right attitude and few smart strategies and techniques, you can outsmart, outrun, and systematically "wall off" your distractions to get to the highest level of focus possible for you.

 

 

1) Write down everything you do, every day, for a week.

 

"I don't know where my time goes."

 

Then it's time you found out.

 

So begins a chapter of Alec Mackenzie's book The Time Trap.

 

Mackenzie recommends writing down everything you do for a week as a starting point for anyone serious about eliminating distractions. The reason, very simply, is that until you record them, you don't know what your distractions are. Even if you're aware of some of your distractions, you likely have others that are so subtle, you had no idea they were even a problem.

 

And while you might assume that these types of small, unnoticeable distractions can't really be affecting you that much, this is hardly ever the case. Tiny hinges swing huge doors, and even the most seemingly innocuous distractions can add up to huge wastes of time.

 

Therefore, consider it your first priority to figure out exactly what you do day to day. For no less than a week, write down in painstaking detail everything you do. As you switch from one task to the next, make a log of it, and record how much time you spend on each thing.

 

An actual, empirical log of what you do during the day, says Mackenzie, will probably shock you.

 

 

2) Reject the "Normal Day" myth.

 

One thing Mackenzie began to notice after years of watching how people spend their time was the myth of the "normal day" or "normal week." He found that many people, once confronted with the recorded, down-to-the-minute reality of how they had just spent a week of their lives, would respond with "Oh, well that's just what happened today" or "That's just what happened this week. In a normal day or week, this would be totally different."

 

The cold hard truth is that most people who fall back on the "normal day" explanation are just making excuses instead of coming to terms with their own bad habits. Barring a major, one-time emergency, how you spent your time "this week" is how you spend your time.

 

So don't try to rationalize your poor use of time by appealing to some mythical ideal of what a "normal day" is like. "If you wait for a normal day," as Mackenzie says, "you'll be dead."

 

Instead, use your written log as a tool for using your time more effectively from now on. Keep recording how you spend your time each week, and compare each subsequent week to Week Zero to make sure you're not wasting time on the same or new distractions.

 

 

3) Use social customs to keep you on track.

 

In a recent article, "Disconnecting Distraction," venture capitalist Paul Graham notes the power of social customs in stopping people from indulging in time-wasting distractions: "If I'd spent a whole morning sitting on a sofa watching TV, I'd have noticed very quickly. That's a known danger sign, like drinking alone. But using the Internet still looked and felt a lot like work."

 

Consider whether you're one of those college students who can spend hours on Facebook and claim to be working because your term paper is technically open in Word - you're "brainstorming," you tell yourself, or waiting for inspiration to strike. Sound familiar?

 

One solution to the Internet problem is to work somewhere where visiting social or non-work-related websites is unacceptable. No one's going to give you a hard time for being on MySpace while you're in your dorm room, even if your distraction log is full of the hours of time you wasted updating your page and posting comments for your friends. But the watchful eyes of the I.T. department in your school's computer lab, as well as the presence of other students who are getting work done, should motivate you to stay on task.

 

 

4) Quarantine your distractions to specific times of the day.

 

One of the main reasons people give in to distractions is the unspoken belief that if they don't do whatever-it-is right now, they wont be able to later.

 

Ask yourself how true this really is. After all, Facebook will be there later. The movie you're dying to see will be playing for weeks. Your friends, unless they're planning on dropping out tomorrow, aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

But until you consciously force yourself to think about this and realize it, you'll probably fall victim to your gut impulse to do those non-work things RIGHT NOW.

 

The best way to block that impulse is to set aside time in your day or week that you'll dedicate specifically to indulging in distractions. For example, set aside 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for your classes, studying, and work, and give yourself 6 p.m. to midnight as veg-out time. That way, when distractions come knocking, you can hold off and look forward to your set distraction-only time instead of getting sidetracked when you're supposed to be working.

 

 

5) Sequester yourself in a completely private, quiet place.

 

Even the most relentlessly determined people can get distracted by the hustle and bustle of a college dorm, which means your dorm room is usually not the best place to achieve laser-focused productivity.

 

You need to find a place to work where distractions can't follow you. Ideal locations include libraries, private study rooms, empty classrooms, or even a quiet park, lake, or field where you can take a day trip and study in complete silence.

 

If you aren't sure whether a place qualifies, ask yourself, "When I get there, will there be anything to do except work?" If the answer is no, you've found a winner.

 

 

6) Say "no" and mean it.

 

Many people are afraid to tell someone no, afraid of hurting the other person's feelings. But if your goal is to do away with your distractions, "no" is a word you need to become totally comfortable with.

 

The key, Mackenzie explains, is how you say no. Oftentimes, you might mean "no" but come across as saying "yes" - like when you say "maybe" or "ask me in a little while." Wishy-washy answers like these actually compound the initial distraction because you'll have to say no again to whoever asked you the first time when they come back to see what your final decision is.

 

Avoid all of this hassle by saying no in a firm but respectful way. For an even more effective distraction-killer, when you're invited out, suggest other people that may want to go instead. When someone comes to you for help, offer ways in which she or he might be able to solve the problem without involving you.

 

 

7) Forget multitasking.

 

People these days brag all over the place about their ability to multitask and do a million different things at once. Employers ask for it, and people are admired for it.

 

But if you've ever wondered whether trying to do lots of things at once stops you from doing one thing right, we have research to answer your question: A 2001 study at the University of Michigan found that your productivity drops 20 to 40 percent each time you attempt to multitask.

 

The reason? Your brain is forced to retrace the steps it originally planned on taking for the first task, which were interrupted to take on other tasks.

 

Sidestep this sinkhole of lost time by dropping the juggling act and doing one thing at a time until each thing is completely finished. Then move on to your next task with a clean conscience and an uncluttered and ready mind.