13 Leaders Share Their Biggest Daily Distraction And How They Get Refocused

Distractions are everywhere in our daily lives—both in personal and business spheres. From texts and phone calls to emails and meetings, unexpected interruptions can wreak havoc on productivity. The more we give in to those distractions, the greater the impact is on our work. That's why it's so important to have a strategy for keeping productivity on track. To help and inspire other professionals, 13 members of Forbes Business Council shared the biggest daily distractions in their lives and how they overcome it. 

Email, texts, calls—these are “multitasking moments” that cause interruptions. It's very distracting to me, and even more so when I'm with others that are also being interrupted by their phones. I am learning to block some time off and put my phone in airplane mode for a few hours a day to get some real thinking done. When I'm with others, I also put my phone on airplane mode.
- Robert Isherwood, AMBAC International

The constant flow of email, and expectations around responsiveness to emails, is a large distraction in my daily life. Several strategies I use to combat the distraction include: devoting specific times to email (and not first thing in the morning), blocking specific working times where email is closed and setting boundaries for answering emails past certain hours in the evening.
- Ashley Williams, University of Virginia Darden School of Business

It is true that social media has brought us closer together, but it has also been designed to distract us. If you create a distraction-free zone for yourself, you can stop yourself from engaging in social media activities. In the beginning, this may seem challenging. Although it takes a little bit of practice, you can master it.
- Kamala Maddali, Deep Lens Inc

My distraction is myself! It is tempting to be all things to all people, emails and socials. I ask this many times a day: "What is the best use of my time right now?" The key is "right now." Waiting two minutes for a meeting to begin? Scan email. Need time for strategic planning? Block things that beep. Need downtime? That's okay. Making a conscious choice takes the pressure off.
- Catherine Mattiske, TPC - The Performance Company

I’d say a daily distraction is the phone. When I am trying to focus on something and a text or notification comes in, it takes me away from what I was doing. I would recommend at least turning off the ringer. But if that doesn’t work—when you really don’t want your internal cadence interrupted—turn the phone over (turn off vibration mode) and put it inside your desk!
- Whitaker Irvin Jr., Q Hydrogen Commercialization

Multitasking is my biggest challenge. I find myself losing energy and focus while context-switching. Important tasks take a backseat to less important, easier tactical items. To overcome this and build focus I meditate often. Establishing a conscious intent for the day and ruthlessly delegating everything else helps. Taking short breaks to break up the day helps to stay fresh!
- Vikram Ahuja, Talent500

There are always the folks in our environment and lives that have nothing to do and will either call, text or visit without warning, distracting us from what we need to get done. These people never have to be anywhere or have deadlines but feel bored and want to be entertained by you. Being able to place good boundaries around them will save you from losing time and being distracted.
- Ginny Estupinian, Ginny Estupinian PhD

With the pandemic forcing us into home offices, switching between personal and professional duties during working hours initially diluted my focus. A smart hack has been to print out my daily calendar and put it up on my closed door. Free slots are marked in green and meeting timings in red mean do not disturb. I also use daily objectives and key results (OKRs) by focusing on and monitoring specific and measurable actions.
- Devapriya Khanna, 212° Brand Lab

Our phones buzz once every 12 minutes. Research shows it takes on average 23 minutes to get back to our original levels of focus after each interruption. We don't decide when to get these interruptions and we can't turn notifications completely off either. The solution is to batch notifications and check them only at set times of the day, ideally three times a day.
- Ranjan Jagannathan, Synapse Inc (Daywise)

Today there are so many distractions—if not opportunities—for total information overload. Social media was my distraction until I learned how to maximize it and make it work for me and my company, by growing my network with high-quality connections. Therefore, this changed the negative to a positive, moving from distraction to resource! Determine if the distraction helps or hurts. Focus on the end goal.
- Olivia Friedman, Institute of Higher Global Studies

Meetings without time to reflect on the next steps before jumping into another meeting are the biggest distraction to productivity. Our company holds speed meetings, 25 to 50 minutes long, and sticks to a clear end goal of the meeting and agenda. This allows the host to control the meeting and give everyone time to digest action items, take a mental break and prepare for the next one. Less is more.
- Emilia D'Anzica, Growth Molecules

The biggest distraction is usually human resource-related tasks. The best way to combat it is to have a dedicated team member who can help you with this type of task because it can be very time-consuming.
- Dimitri Akhrin, CRMDialer

Monotony is the anathema of a successful business. Repetitive work leads to disenchantment eventually. The key to building an empire is to always love what you do. How you procure that love for work depends on how exciting and challenging you find it. Push yourself to explore. Move courses around to reach your targets. If you excite your mind and your abilities, the rewards will follow.
- Shakeel Ahmed, Atlas Surgical Group