A summary of thoughts based on Oliver Burkeman’s talk, ‘How Distraction Works’, from the Waking Up App.
Distraction is often positioned as an obnoxious thief — as something that takes us away from the important matters of life like our relationships and our work.
But if you really pay close attention to what’s going on in the moments leading up to you becoming distracted, you may be surprised to find that you’re at times more complicit in the crime of being led astray than you think.
When faced with a difficult problem to solve or a conversation that needs to be had, it’s not unusual to find solace in menial things like a news feed that, if you desire, can keep you occupied for hours. In these cases, you’re not diverting your attention because the news feed or menu of push notifications is more meaningful to your life, but because they’re easier to deal with.
If any of this sounds remotely relatable, then there’s an inconvenient albeit invaluable truth to come to terms with, which is that sometimes the biggest obstacle getting in the way of accomplishing important things, developing deeper relationships, and experiencing personal growth is your own unwillingness to come into contact with moments of discomfort.
Bingo.
However I go a different route from there than you end up. In my life it's never been about being okay with discomfort. That's a part of it but just a prerequisite.
And when i've stopped digging at pre-requisites, i usually fall for doing things that fulfill the pre-req in a very visible manner but doesn't get to the root.
In this case i would do things i was uncomfortable with that was so obviously uncomfortable when after so many years the deeper issue was why should a news feed of irrelevant information be more comfortable than my own life?
It's not about being okay with discomfort in that case. It's more about questioning... why isn't our "
For me it was because i wasn't living life the way i wanted to. For other reasons will vary