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Oops! I Got Distracted! Watch Out For Those Virtuous Activities That Are Just Distractions
We are so used to being distracted that we don’t even notice that we are.
We sometimes use distractions that are so virtuous that we don’t even realise that they are distractions. This might be: overworking, taking care of others beyond duty, accepting to help every Tom, Dick, and Harry, doing chores that are not essential at the moment, doing research, learning, training, reading, listening to interesting podcasts, etc.
These are activities that receive the seal of approval for virtuous activities and they are! To a point. Overdoing them is a distraction because doing anything that doesn’t move us closer to our goals are distractions, however “good” or “bad” they are. Overworking, over-helping or over-reading is just as bad as binge-watching on Netflix in terms of avoidance whether it is done consciously or not.
Have a moment to reflect today on the virtuous things you do instead of working on your goals. Because they are “good” activities, they are not as easy to spot but I have the feeling that you might quickly come up with a couple of things you do that are just that.
You don’t have to stop doing them entirely but you might want to cap the amount of time you spend on them. You will be surprised at how much time you release for your most important project.
Remember Steve Maraboli’s words,
“Do not lose today!”
