distratction

•Make sure your principles and goals are crystal-clear. When a man lacks guiding principles, his attention mindlessly pivots to whatever the world tells him is important, and typically what the world tells him is important is corrosive to a truly flourishing life. Knowing your core values and having a blueprint for your goals creates focusing lenses that help direct your attention to what matters most, while cropping out the superfluous and distracting. •Use the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to get your priorities in line. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and unfortunately, seemingly urgent tasks make the most noisy grabs for our attention, even though they may not actually be important. Assigning your tasks to the different quadrants of the Eisenhower Decision Matrix can help you concentrate on what really needs to get done, instead of using up your attention in putting out little fires. •Plan out your day and week. While we typically think of planning as time management, at its core, planning is attention management. Every time you sit down to plan out your day you’re essentially deciding what you’re going to pay attention to that day. Without planning, you end up spending your attention on whatever unforeseen distractions pop up and make a play for it. •Conduct an audit to see how you currently spend your time. Even if you say you know what’s important to you, do you really put your “money” where your mouth is? Paying attention takes time — figure out how you spend the latter, and you’ll know how you’re directing the former. •Generously embed moral reminders into your life. Moral reminders are things like posters or personal manifestos that contain or symbolize your values and goals. Whenever you see these prompts, your drifting attention will be brought to heel.