8 Major Distractions in Your Life ...

I have my shows that I love to watch. Many of them are shows that no one else in my family enjoys watching but me. I’ll be the first to admit I am obsessed. It’s probably not a good sign when “Friends” has been off the air for nearly 9 years and yet the daily drama of Pheobe, Chandler, Joey, Monica, Ross and Rachel, regularly run through my dreams. Let’s not mention the numerous times Dr. McDreamy has left Meredith Grey for me. The problem isn’t that I have favorite shows, the problem is that these distractions in life follow me to sleep.

You probably have a favorite social media outlet. Hopefully it’s All Women Stalk. You read the blog posts, leave comments and wait to hear back from others. Maybe it’s Facebook or Twitter. The point is, many of us spend more time interacting with people online than we do in real life. While it’s great to have another outlet to express ourselves, social media should not be a substitute to real life interaction with people.

I am talking about real life friends, not my “Friends” that keep showing up in my dreams. Everyone has responsibilities. If you are still in school you probably have chores your parents expect from you, homework to complete, and tests to study for. As adults we have household responsibilities, children to care for, bills to pay, and jobs. Sometimes we slack off on those important things because we want to stay up all night talking to our best friends. Friends are important. They are probably some of the most important people in our lives, but make sure your daily responsibilities aren’t taking a back seat.

This is probably my biggest vice. The reason why is because it can encompass all of these distractions in one. I can’t even tell you the number of times I go to sit down at my desk to start work, or get in bed to go to sleep and find myself plugged into my phone reading Facebook, checking email, responding to text messages, and watching funny videos. Before I know it hours have passed and I haven’t completed any work or it's 2AM and I have to wake up in four hours. Does this sound familiar to anyone or am I alone here?

Coming up with excuses is easy. I don’t want to get up because this bed is so warm and cozy. I don’t really need to go to first period, I can get notes from my friend. My boss won’t notice if I am a little late. Those kids can eat cereal from the box. I worked all day, I am too tired to got to the gym. I had to walk all around the grocery store, that counts as exercise, right? Can you relate to any of this? The excuses will distract you every time you let them, instead you have to be strong and stand against them.

I don’t know about you, but I am not one to get much done if I am feeling hungry. This is especially true if I skipped breakfast or lunch. If I don’t eat something shortly after waking, by 10 o’clock my mind is plagued with thoughts of lunch. The same holds true for skipping lunch. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon I am thinking of dinner. My energy starts to plummet and if I am not careful, I get really cranky and unpleasant. To avoid all this I eat breakfast every morning, prep my lunch the night before and have a few healthy snacks on hand. Not only am I keeping myself from being distracted by hunger, but I have already set myself up for healthy eating.

Life gets stressful for all of us. As women we have tons of responsibilities. You may be carrying a full-time job, going to school, and caring for a family. Maybe you are a single mother with a busy career or maybe you are going through a season of major change in your life and things just feel crazy. Whatever the case maybe, it is no surprise your mind is bogged down with thinking about what needs to be done, instead of focusing on the task at hand. Create a list and move through it, don’t fret over what doesn’t get done as long as you know you did your best.

Are you a people pleaser? I use to worry so much about making others happy. Worrying about others' happiness can really suck the life out of you. While you would think trying to make others happy would keep me on track to finishing up different projects, it was actually a hindrance. As a “people pleaser,” I agreed to take on more than I could handle on a regular basis and spread myself too thin. I have since learned to give myself fully to the projects and people that mean the most and worry less about making EVERYONE happy.

Facing the many distractions in life can be hard, but once you learn how to face each distraction and control it, you will see huge personal success. It takes discipline and a little self-exploration, but you can do it. What are some of your personal distractions in life?