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How to Stay Focused and Avoid Distraction as a Blogger

Posted By Darren Rowse 5th of June 2010 Video Posts 0 Comments

Ever sat down at your computer to blog for an hour only to find that when you get to the end of that hour you’ve done anything BUT what you sat down to achieve?

If so – you’re not alone. This video talks through some of the distractions that bloggers face as well as my simple 3 point strategy for staying focused. It’s not rocket science but as bloggers we need to be reminded of this type of thing from time to time.

See the video at full size here.

Video Transcription

I’ve had this video transcribed below for those who prefer to get it that way. The transcription provided by The Transcription People.

Hi it’s Darren from ProBlogger here.  Today I’m in the last stages of putting together a product launch and have been spending my day writing a sales letter for this particular e-book on my photograph blog and as happens when you have a deadline like this looming, it’s amazing the distractions that come your way.  All day I’ve had little beeps go off on my computer as people have messaged me on Skype, I’ve had questions coming in on social media, my phone’s been ringing, I’ve had all kinds of ideas for things that I could do, new projects, posts that I could write videos that I could record, and it’s just been quite amazing to see all the things working against me.  It’s almost like the world is conspiring to distract me from the task at hand.  In reality it’s probably a fairly normal day in that way but I guess I’ve become much more aware of these distractions as I feel the pressure looming to get this task done.

And so I’ve been thinking about and I’ve actually got most of the sales page written now which is great so I thought I’d just talk a little about this idea of distractions because there are so many and it’s one of the big challenges of bloggers, is that I find that we are so tempted to get off those core tasks that we have at hand, all day we are being interrupted and distracted.  Sometimes we’re being distracted by tools.  This week I got an iPad.  I’ve been so distracted by this new tool, this tool which has all kinds of possibilities but really none of them are really taking me towards my goals.  I can see potential for it to help but it has been a bit of a distraction so we’re often distracted by the hardware tools but also the software tools, the new tools that we can use on our blogs, testing new plug ins, new tool bars, that type of thing.

We can also can be quite distracted by ideas.  I am constantly distracted by ideas.  Ideas for new projects, big projects, new blogs, new forums, new partnerships that you can start, new products that you can start.  All these things are good but they can actually take us away from the thing that we need to do now, that number one thing right in front of us.  So we can become distracted by ideas.  We can become distracted by the tweaking, and it’s very easy to tweak a lot of things on your blog whether that be your design, your tool bar, even tweaking posts and headlines.  Tweaking your SEO, testing different alternatives on your blog, putting up new idgets, new logos, all of these things, and again they’re all good things and it’s worthwhile tweaking and a lot of good can come from that but it also can be an incredible distraction, and one of the other things that I’m often distracted by is networking.  Even now I just heard my Skype ping.  Someone’s trying to interact with me and that could be really great interaction.  The Twitter interactions that we have, Facebook, all of this networking can lead to great things but it can also distract us from those core things that we need to achieve today.

So the distractions they come constantly.  For me there’s probably three things that help to keep me on task.

The first one is to know and identify my goals, and to know them on a big picture so every now and again every six or so months I’ll sit down and I’ll write my goals.  I know my overall objections for myself as a person, but also my objectives for my blogs, and then I begin to do some strategic thinking about the things that I need to do in the next few months to achieve those things, and so having a bit of a framework for thinking about goals and strategies is really important because then as you’re playing with the iPad you can be constantly filtering, you know, is this actually going to take me closer to my goal?  As you’re tweaking your SEO you can ask yourself, “Is this actually taking me closer to my goal?”  It may actually be but then you need to start thinking about the priorities of your goals as well, and making a list of the things that you need to achieve.

So that’s the first thing; is actually having a good awareness of what it is that you’re trying to achieve.

Then it comes down to boundaries and boundaries around the core talks that are going to take you closer to your goals.  So one of the core tasks that I need to achieve every day as a blogger is creating content.  So even on a day when I’m writing a sales page I also need to be thinking about, “Okay, my next post, it’s due midnight tonight and I have a deadline, how am I going to produce that”, and so on.  I’m putting boundaries around that and I’m setting time aside to achieve those core tasks and creating content is one of those core tasks.

The other type of boundary that you do and this is what I do is actually creating boundaries around the distractions. 

You see it is good to have ideas, it’s good to play with tools, it’s good to do networking, it’s good to do all of these things that I’ve talked about which can be distractions, but it’s also good to limit them.  I could spend all day thinking about ideas, and that could be a good thing every now and again to spend a whole day doing that, but if I spend every day doing that, it would be become a distraction.  It’s not my core task, and so I need to create spaces in my life to do those things which are good but which also can be distractions. 

So for me it’s about knowing your goals and creating boundaries both around your core tasks and the distractions.  How do you keep on task?  How do you keep focused and stop those distractions actually taking away from the things that you need to achieve today?  Love to hear your comments on that.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Hey Darren,

    I recently started reading your blog about 2 weeks ago and it has become very helpful to me. I get distracted all lot and I find it hard to get things done within a certain time limit. I think I need a post on “how to go to bed on time for the rest of your life.” :)

  2. Staying focused is quite hard to accomplish some times. I find it very difficult to stay focused when friends call me on my cell phone, when my girlfriend wants me to go with her on some place… If you do manage to stay focused you will start to see the benefits of your hard work.

  3. It took me 5 hours to get through this post because of distractions of my own demise (web searches) . 3 phone calls, 5 text messages, 20 e-mails (15 were spam), 52 tweets and 178 new FB updates. With everyone turning into a mini media distribution mogul, I wonder if anyone is paying attention. LOL

    But, I still enjoy reading your posts Darren

  4. How do I make the most of my time online?

    I don’t get distracted in any other activity. I do take short breaks to fresh up the mind, but I focus on a task and I don’t start any other thing/task until that particular task is finished.

    I also limit my time on any other task (be it online or offline), unless it is very important.

  5. I use a timer to stay focused. I set it for 15 minutes, and tell myself I don’t have to work any longer than 15 minutes if I don’t want to, but invariably I do. It’s a great tool for procrastination.

    I appreciate what you had to say about thoughts and ideas being a distraction. That was very helpful for me.

  6. I have really find it hard to focus lately . but thanks for the encouragement .

  7. I’m glad it’s not just me who gets distracted while trying to work. Great vlog Darren, and some handy tips in the comments section too – I’ll definately be trying some out.

    I have a few videos in my blogs and never thought to do a transcript. Superb idea!

  8. One of the greatest things that I’ve come across to increase personal productivity was the free Simple.ology 101 course created by Mark Joyner.

    Using the “Daily Praxis” approach  taught by Joyner is so easy that it seems too easy but when you work through it and apply the system it really works … and it costs nada, zero, nothing!

    It was so good that I’m creating a new blog just to share experiences with other Simple.ology fans.

    D’Arcy
    http://simpleologyblogs.com/

  9. if we already have a fixed income from one Monetize of bloggers, then we should leave it to obtain a better Monetize. whether it is a good way, or we do not have to leave the old but have to split our focus into new Monetize.

    maybe that’s my big problem to focus.

  10. This post reminds me when i want to create a post. However to me, i can only focusing on what i want to post if i am alone, without any disturbances, especially i am a mother and a wife.

  11. Darren,
    Maybe you could write a post on your digital photography school blog on how to stop that annoying auto focus thing happening in your video :p lol

    thanks
    Dino.

  12. I find it helps to:

    1) eat the frog first – if you’ve got a big, scary, important task, do that before anything else

    2) turn off all the notifications: shut down the browser, turn off the email, facebook, Skype, etc.

    3) to borrow Seth’s words, realize it’s your “lizard brain” that’s creating the resistance to doing what you should be doing – tell it to be quiet!

  13. Hey, I completely buy in what you have explained. Initially everyone has experienced this. Staying focused & doing things now is the key. Thanks for the wonderful info.

  14. Great video Darren, as that is something that we all struggle with: staying on task. I find that the longer I blog for (ex. 5 months, 10 months) the task of producing content on a regular basis makes me more disciplined when I do sit down to write.

    So blogging as a whole has turned me into a more disciplined writer.

  15. Bless me father for I have sinned: I have been distracted by shining objects and interruptions. Timely post Darren because it put me back on the clock for a 30day Blog Challenge I am participating in. I often try to do my posts in 1hr uninterrupted chunks. It keeps me productive Do you chunk?

  16. great points

    but i think the most distractive factor for me is The Paid Review program

  17. Nice to see I’m not the only one having problems with distractions. When I do start a blog I find if I use my Dragon Preferred (speech recognition software) and talk away it helps. Something about talking freely and not thinking about what I just typed makes the task at hand go faster.

    Thank you for the great video Darren.

  18. These were great tips for helping avoid distractions. Thanks for sharing. I find myself doing this more than I’d like to admit. It’s just so easy to spend hours on the Internet without realizing how many hours have actually passed. Yikes!

  19. I know I am always getting distracted by my analytics and thinking of new ideas to start.

    So, here is what I’ve done…

    Ignore analytics or even block the site if I have to. Why do I do this? Since Im still in the beginning stages I need to always think of know one coming to my blog. Why? As soon as I seen a spike jump I relax. No relaxing. Yes to hustling!

    Then in terms of preventing myself from starting new ideas, I have a single mindset that I stick to. “You can start a new idea until this idea is totally rocked”.

  20. Distractions are definitely part of my problems with blogging. I try and try to post each and every day, but will usually get caught up in twitter, facebook, and not post for that day. Also new projects have taken up so much time, but have paid off for themselves. I have started successful forums, blogs, websites, ect.. just by going with an idea. The problem with this of course is when I get involved with a new big project my existing projects (blogs especially) will suffer. I need to take 2 or 3 of my blogs and set a time each day to create content this would really help. Anyway thanks for the video I will definitely start to structure my time.

  21. This is not only an effective article for its tips but it also covers a subject that we oftend don’t know how to deal with when doing business in general. I believe that it is important to consider all this when it comes to handling a business blog as well. Being focus is the key.

  22. Shutdown email, quit instant messenger, kill twitter, or shutdown the modem :)

    I am still trying my best to discipline my self. It is tough. But i think I can do it. Focus!!!

    Thanks Darren for the great post..

  23. I agree with you. As a blogger, we all have so many challenges – and one of these is the distraction. My technique here is, I always do my blogging stuffs in a place where I have peace of mind – my room. In my room, whenever I’m there, I can do everything I want and I can focus on what I am doing because I am in my own private place.

    Very nice post! :)

  24. Something that works really well for me is timeboxing. I timebox everything… and I usually violate all expected deadlines by 10 minutes or so, because I am too perfectionist, but for me it is very important to have the “draft” version of something right away (of a post, for example, but not only), and then start to tweak once I have the whole picture in front of me.

  25. This is funny to me as blogging IS my distraction from writing songs and promoting them. But it’s ALL good, and I do loves me some blogging.

  26. I have this problem too and I can spend hours at my computer without getting done the things done that I need to get done. Especially annoying is having to deal with updates to software and other technical glitches.

    I have a weekly goal that I try to keep for my most important tasks. Even if I have to stay up really late to get my goals accomplished I will do that. It’s exhausting though… I need a clone of myself to help out…

  27. Keeping focused is the main issue. If I can stay away from online news sites and Youtube then I’m halfway home! Great blog!

  28. I love this video!! I am starting to look at making money in my niche. I have found blogging is a key part. I also heard Social Media Marketing is key as well. Any thoughts?

  29. Distractions are the main reason I get nothing done. But I keep reading blogs lying to myself that it might actually help my productivity and boost my business. The truth is, I need to stop reading even this blog. But I can’t handle the truth :) So, I will be here tomorrow. You can count on that.

  30. Thanks for the tips Darren. I am a business owner and have been working on my website. I find that the internet is like a worm hole and I need to beware or else I find myself hours later without any tangible work done.

    Youtube is so good at keeping you watching videos, because they show you related videos. They are killer at wasting my time, but at least I enjoy it!

    I try to stay away from certain sites if I am doing work. If I know I will be tempted to procrastinate, I just stay away from it. Easier said than done!

    Thanks Darren!

  31. I use the Pomodoro technique to focus on tasks at hand, and also use Rescue Time to analyze my computer usage and StayFocused (for Chrome) to block my access to counterproductive sites.

    I avoid news sites and also avoid checking emails when I’m writing a blog post.

  32. Exactly! Distractions, side tracking, off task while reading everything and writing nothing…can be overwhelming to beginner bloggers like myself. Using a timer to stay focused on your goal is good advice, but taking mini breaks has made some of those pesky distractions managable!

  33. Yeah Good post. And Blogging is my passion and I love it. So I love challenges too

  34. You’re absolutely right. Good things can become distractions. I don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself at the end of the day “What did I get done?”. Boundaries and goals are crucial to help maintain focus.

  35. You hit the nail on the head . . . the trials and tribulations of getting something done these days.

  36. “thinking about goals and strategies is really important because then as you’re playing with the iPad you can be constantly filtering, you know, is this actually going to take me closer to my goal?”

    Quoted for truth :)

    Seriously though, this was a good article Darren. Distraction has a funny way of happening to you without you realizing it. I found that having nothing (literally) on my desk except my computer and keyboard/mouse has helped my productivity a ton. Now, if I could just stop the compulsion to play one more game of Google pac man…..

    :)

    Chris Rich

  37. Thanks – great post! One other trick I use is to keep a running list of ideas for new articles on my iphone – if one comes to me while I’m out and about I just enter it in the list.

    Then I have a steady list of fresh ideas when it comes time to write.

  38. Between the internet and gadgets, like the iPad, it’s far too easy to become distracted! I can definitely relate to your sessions of sitting in front of the computer and accomplishing everything BUT what you set out to do. For me, the best way to avoid this type of unproductive behavior is to create boundaries around the distractions by completely eliminating them. If I’m writing, that might mean switching off my wireless, getting rid of my phone and focusing exclusively on the writing for a preset amount of time.

  39. Thanks for the post. Distraction and loss of focus is a lethal combination and I do everything I can – sometimes very unsuccessfully – to avoid them. I tell myself that it’s OK to get distracted by the “important things” but really, it’s still distraction.

  40. great video and very useful information thanks , ah yet another distraction !!

  41. I wonder why did you buy the Ipad if you didn’t really think of using it. Too appealing? :)

    and pretty amazing to find out how busy you are. Keep it up.

  42. Shoots, I know what you mean. I make a things to do list and I stick to it. Sometimes I admit I do overly into some of my tasks thus burning good marketing time. Being an internet marketer is a demanding pastime so it is important to stay focused. Thanks for the video, I know you get a ton of distractions.

  43. This was a very helpful post. It is amazing how easy it is to get distracted while blogging. You are very inspirational, I even started a seond blog this past week after only doing it for 6 weeks.

  44. I had an idea to help streamline one distraction for myself which is Twitter. I’m constantly on there but I’ve noticed that if I can feed my time in to building content on my blog, that my content is automatically delivered to twitter once submitted.

    There is actually a plugin that will automatically submit tweets when you publish an article on your blog in wordpress. This helps streamline those tweets so you can focus more on building great content.

    Hope this helps everyone who is wanting to focus more on content.

  45. Hi Darren,
    This was a very good read, thanks. Concentration can easily be broken by new avenues and tools but then we have to always stay focussed on our blogging efforts is a very good point. I maintain a blog about home business and these are good tips for me.

  46. This is an very good post. Every time i think that’s one of my problems too. The video quality is absolutely fantastic – HD TV Quality. Thanks a lot.

  47. This might seem a little strange, but for me when this happens, (and in the online world I think it’s pretty much a daily occurrence) I’ll go work on my desktop computer which is nowhere near as setup and connected as my laptop. No tweetdeck to distract me, no msn, aim, etc, bookmarks are all missing, it’s amazing how less distracting that old computer of mine is. I find I’m able to get down to business over there, even though it’s only 10 feet from where I normally work/write.
    I do admit though unless I’m under a deadline, or am simply unable to focus on the task at hand, I’m quite happy to allow the many diversions and distractions that take place from my laptop.

    And as much as I envy those of you who are able to work at the local starbucks, or coffee shop, it’s something I simply can’t accomplish. As has been pointed out, there are enough “online distractions” that I simply accomplish zilch when I try and add in the “external” ones as well.

  48. Really great post. I’m glad you included getting distracted by ideas in this because ideas tend to distract me the most. Plus they can get you anywhere…

  49. It is good to know that I am not the only person suffering from distraction while working. I think that focusing on your goals and thinking about the rewards you will receive from achieving them are great ways to motivate yourself back to work.

  50. Hi Darren

    As a blogger and also a married woman, i need to balance between housework and blogging. At times, i lose focus when i think of all the clothes piling up which i need to iron and drinking water need to be filtered and stored, floors that need to vacuum, toilet that need to wash and lots more. To avoid distraction, the only thing is to quickly complete all my housework and settle peacefully in front of my computer and start blogging.

    As for facebook, twitter distraction, if i login to these website before i start blogging, i think i won’t even start to write, i’ll be hanging around 3-4 hours on facebook!

    Scary isn’t it?

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