You’ve left the office for a well-deserved lunch break.
Just as you sit down in your favorite diner to enjoy your sandwich and coffee… your cellphone beeps to say you have a new message. You pick up your phone, read the message, and immediately begin to reply (even though it’s nothing important or time-sensitive).
By doing this, you’ve demonstrated a reactive state, where you’ve allowed your lunch break to be disrupted for a little reason.
When this type of behavior becomes habitual – you’ve become a slave to circumstances.
When you’re reactive, you allow your personal happiness to be determined by events outside of your control. And you take actions only based on what has happened.
Successful people on the other hand take actions based on their own plans. They are proactive and take charge of their own lives. They prioritize their work and won’t let people distract them and slow down their progress.
Replying messages instantly seem to be just a small problem. But it’s more serious than you thought. According to a 2014 survey, americans in 25-34 age check their phones 50 times per day. Imagine being interrupted 50 times per day![1] And we have 24 hours with 16 hours awake each day only. Which means every hour you would be interrupted at least 3 times. What big achievements can you have when you can’t even focus on your own?
So how can you eliminate such habit?
First, do you keep your phone with you at all times?
If yes, try leaving it at home from time to time, or at the very least, switching it to silent mode or just mute the groups. By doing this, you can then decide when you’ll check for messages, rather than being controlled by every message that comes through.
Life is too short to be dictated by endless messages arriving to your devices. Find time to shut off the noise, and instead, use this time to build a new, purpose-filled life.
