types of distractions
- a lot of these end up forming a sort of stack of intention (LIFO) where if you complete the new thing, you'll return to the old thing
- but it's also possible for things to spiral out many layers and end up getting abandoned and messy
- or to try to ditch the new thing partway through but in a way that doesn't properly set it aside
- so then it pings you again a few minutes later
- whether that's a message from a person literally pinging you
- or just an open tab for a thing you were thinking of buying
- there's also a question of like, what happens when you don't even particularly have anything on the bottom of the stack
- right now, as I write this, I've changed my complice "now" intention to say 4,5) make a list of types of distractions
- and implicitly, after that, I'm going to fix some bugs with the now page, after which maybe I'll do my outcomes for the last few days
- after which MAYBE I'll read the article Jess sent, tho maybe I'll make a new goal before I do that?!?
- part of the issue with stacks is that it's hard to rest / catch one's breath
- the list
- bodily need (food, water, bathroom)
- this can chain into other kind of distractions
- eg you notice the kitchen is cluttered and start to clean it
- or you get into a convo with your roommate or
- bounce-away boredom urge
- you encounter some sort of block or decision-point or need to wait, and you (impulsively) self-medicate with a newsfeed or similar
- external distraction
- I might divide these into a few categories
- my sense is that this multiplies by boredom etc
- eg
- some article left in an open tab
- notification
- phone call
- someone entering the room
- curiosity
- eg
- you get curious to look up the lyrics of a song that's playing
- the song itself isn't a distraction per se—maybe you've listened to it many times before while focusing
- you're eating a banana and you're like "wait, where do bananas grow?" or whatever
- something blocking/frictiony in workflow
- eg
- could be physical, like desk cluttered or chair uncomfy
- could be digital, like some software isn't working properly
- could be in between, like speakers not working properly
- in any of these cases, could decide to just keep working, could decide to try to fix
- in some cases, fixing is a known set of steps that'll definitely work (eg replace batteries in mouse)
- in other cases, fixing is an open-ended task ("idk why my speakers are borked" or "idk why my computer is slow rn")
- noticing a relatively-unrelated issue or opportunity in the domain of what you're working on
- eg I'm trying to add a complice feature, notice a little bug or a confusing piece of code while scrolling past
- your mind wanders and you think of some sort of unhandled open loop
- like "oh wait, did bob ever get back to me about the thing?"
- any of these distractions occurs while trying to close things out in order to focus
- this isn't quite its own category but there's something about how in the attempt to try to focus more, you can end up
- dogfooding meta-distraction: a very particular weird thing that happens if you make your own intentionality/productivity app