“It’s not the chatter of people around us that is the most powerful distractor, but rather the chatter of our own minds.”

Our work environment rarely lends itself to focus. So get more comfortable with distractions.
Our brains are brilliant at noticing anything that doesn’t match a pattern. We’re drawn to novelty, which makes a distraction—like a loud coworker or hearing a one-sided conversation—in an otherwise monotonous workday very hard to ignore.

Unpredictable work environments

“Wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook.”

Living in a space of constant half-attention causes our brain to lose focus. 
Solution: Adopt a work schedule designed around single-tasking. for that, learn to prioritize. Because distraction might actually be just confusion about what matters.

Multitasking

<ul>
<li>Sensory distractions (External): The things happening around us, like colleagues talking, phones ringing, people moving around us, music playing, etc.</li>
<li>Emotional distractions (Internal): The thoughts that make our attention drift from what we’re doing. For example, remembering a phone call you need to make or thinking about a future meeting.</li>
</ul>

The 2 kinds of distractions

<ul><li>Remote work or a lack of social interaction.</li><li>Multitasking.</li><li>Unpredictable work environments.</li></ul>Emotional distractions are a symptom of our workplace culture

Main sources of internal distraction

Workplace isolation sends us to Twitter and Facebook. Or to check in on email and chat every 5-10 minutes to see if there’s a new message.
Solution: Creating a daily routine with time to connect with the people you work with and not just resorting to impersonal communication.

Lacking social interaction

"Wisdom is the art of knowing what to overlook," wrote psychologist William James. Unfortunately, if this is the case then few of us can honestly say we're wise. Knowing where to allocate our attention has become the great challenge of our lives. And we're not making it any easier by exposing ourselves to so many distractions.

WILLIAM JAMES

Similar ideas

2 Definitions for Wisdom

Let go of some things

ARISTOTLE