Look for the discomfort that comes before the distraction.Focus on the internal trigger that precedes the unwanted behavior, like feeling anxious, having a craving, feeling restless, or thinking you are incompetent.

The internal trigger

While we can’t control the feelings and thoughts that pop into our heads, we can control what we do with them.But we don't have to fight them, we just have to find better methods to handle them.

Dealing with intrusive thoughts

If you find yourself wanting to check your phone when you can’t think of anything better to do, tell yourself it’s fine to give in, but not right now: you have to wait just ten minutes.It helps you deal with all sorts of potential distractions, like googling something rather than working or eating something unhealthy when you're bored.

The 'ten-minute rule'

Get curious about the sensations you're feeling (fingers that twitch, butterflies in your stomach etc). And stay with the feeling before acting on the impulse.

Explore your sensations

Write down the trigger, the time of day, what you were doing, and how you felt when you noticed the internal trigger that led to the distracting behavior. The better we are at noticing the behavior, the better we’ll be at managing it over time.

Write down the trigger

These are the transitions from one thing to another throughout our days (like picking up your phone while waiting for a traffic light then finding yourself still looking at your phone while driving).What’s dangerous is that by doing them “for just a second,” you’re likely to do things you'll later regret.

Beware of liminal moments

A common problem I have while writing is the urge to google something. It's easy to justify this bad habit as "doing research," but deep down I know it's often just a diversion from difficult work. Bricker advises focusing on the internal trigger that precedes the unwanted behavior, like "feeling anxious, having a craving, feeling restless, or thinking you are incompetent."

The 'ten-minute rule'

Similar ideas to The 'ten-minute rule'

The 2-Minute Rule

The Five Minute Writing Session

The Two-Minute Rule