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In Defense of Distractions
An Essay on the problems with fetishizing focus, and the forgotten magic of things that pull us away from our tasks.
When I first got roped into the world of productivity and personal development literature, I became obsessed with an idea: distractions. If you were to make an analogy between that world and zealous religion, distractions would be the great Satan.
What’s keeping you from quitting your soul-sucking job to start your own billion-dollar business? Distractions. What’s keeping you from having six-pack abs and winning cross-fit competitions? Distractions. What’s keeping you from meeting the person of your dreams? Distractions.
And while distractions can certainly aggravate us sometimes — and they certainly pull us away from other things — do we need to be so contemptuous of them? What do we gain by eliminating distractions? I think that question has been answered time and again. But I propose a different one: what do we stand to lose by eliminating distractions?
After all, distractions are only problematic if there’s no possible way that what is pulling you away from what you’re doing won’t bring value to you. And how can we — in our infinitesimally small foreknowledge — know the full extent of what is and isn’t going to bring value to…
