Life is...Distracting

A few years ago, I thought, “When I get more time, I’ll be able to focus better, pray more, study my Bible more, journal more…” Now, I have more time, and I’m not able to focus better, pray more, study my Bible more, or journal more. Why? Distractions.

I used to be only distracted by the Internet and TV; but now there are dog videos on Instagram, Facebook Marketplace, Pinterest, news on my phone, and Netflix. How many shows do you have to binge watch until it’s considered a problem?

I think when I notice it’s a problem; that’s when it’s a problem, and it’s a problem.

I also know that I’m not the only one distracted. It seems to be a common theme lately. It’s partially “Pandemic Distraction”; it’s partially just plain ‘ole human nature or at least my human nature. Whatever you like to call the spiritual bad guy, (Satan, the devil) he tends to do his best when I’m busy or distracted.

When faced with easy or hard, many of us choose easy; and easy is sitting on my sofa watching video after video of the cutest dogs you’ve ever seen. Just one more video, and I’ll quit. Just this next one. Ok, after this one. Man, that sounds like a problem to me.

How do I combat the distractions?

Notice

I think the first step is to notice that I am distracted. Check, got that. Now what?

PRAY

Seek God first. (Matthew 6:33) I sound like a broken record; but honestly, I forget to ask God in ALL situations of my life especially if they seem small like distractions, but he cares about everything in our lives so PRAY! (1 Peter 5:7)

Just Say No

Isn’t that what we’ve all heard about drugs, “Just Say No”. Distractions don't cause the same harm as drugs, but they are not necessarily helpful. Sometimes distractions might be helpful - if I'm in an anxiety-producing situation and need to focus on something positive. When a child is crying, sometimes the art of distraction can help her stop.

Distractions can be good; but when they pull me away from doing what I know I should or could be doing, they’re not good.

Pick one

As you can see, I have many distractions so I picked one. Binge watching Netflix was becoming a problem. I decided I would allow myself to watch Netflix while I exercise. IF and ONLY IF I have time, I can finish that episode if it goes beyond my exercise time, but I don’t start the next episode.

Oops, I failed yesterday and watched the next episode. That’s OK. There’s always today to try again.

Set Boundaries

I picked the boundary of one episode. Ok, two if I have time but no more!

Add Another Distraction to Limit or Stop

Now that I’m getting my Netflix distraction under control, I can try to combat another.

I’m usually really tired by 9 pm and can’t do anything productive past then so I got in the bad habit of watching TV shows I’ve already seen so I can just sit and zone out for a while. The time wasted doing that had to stop.

Now What Can I Do?

Because I was so tired and just vegging out in front of the TV, my night time prayer routine was not going well (or at all). I also recognized that I really needed to do some stretching because I had begun to feel really stiff. So, one night, I turned off the TV and did some simple stretching exercises.

As I watched my stretching video, it ended with a meditation time. How perfect! After I had stretched, I laid on my back, reviewed my day with God, prayed for the people I had come into contact with and heard that needed prayer then prayed through my next day. My TV was already off, I was nice and relaxed so I went to bed!

I believe God honors our intentions. I’m not sure I even really prayed about my distractions, but God led me to do something that worked. Now, all I have to do is continue the practice. Perhaps all of my attempts to limit distractions will go better if I listen to my own advice and pray about it before trying to continue on my own.