Everyone faces distractions and they always seem to be the worst when we’re trying to get work done. I’m going to go over my top three, that you may or may not relate to, and how I handle them.

My first distraction: my cats. If you tell me your pet doesn’t distract you when you’re trying to work, I wouldn’t believe you. I have eight cats and they love getting attention and I love to give it. But it becomes a problem when their ides of getting attention means walking all across your laptop while work documents are open for editing. It’s the worst and as often as I pick them up to move them aside, they come right back more determined then ever. My solution: give them attention.

No seriously! I, at the point when they’re bothering me, probably could use a break from my work anyways, so why not take about five minutes away from the screen to give them a little cuddle? They get what they want and I get a boost of energy when then returning back to what I was doing. It’s a win win situation (though I admit sometimes they still bother me afterwards. But hey, you can’t win them all!)

My second distraction is more of an internal one. I’m zoning out, thinking about dinner, planning for events weeks away, rather than focusing on the now and what’s right in front of me. I usually have a simple fix for this: take a sip of water, write out a checklist, and put on some music. It almost always does the trick and helps me to focus to get what I need done. Sometimes even a walk around benefits me, and goes back to the first distraction solution, it gives me a quick break to destress.

The third distraction: Instagram reels. Did you guess that? You probably did, didn’t you? I can spend what I say will only be a few minutes, to hours, just scrolling through reels. I’m constantly on there for the sole purpose of taking note on audios that are trending and to get ideas for my own reels. But I get sucked into the world and I just don’t want to leave. My solution for this is to just work out a schedule and strength up your will-power. Plan out a few minutes for scrolling and then know when, and follow through with, calling it quits. Not the best solution, but it works for me. (Sometimes.)

What are some of your distractions? Do we share some of the same? How do you deal with them? Let me know in the comments!