If you want to reduce the impact of distractions, design an environment conducive to that. Willpower doesn't work. Checking email or Facebook is an impulse, not a choice.
<ul>
<li>Use a Distraction Blocker.</li>
<li>Work in Full-screen mode.</li>
<li>Leave your phone out of the room.</li>
<li>Keep your inbox closed by default.</li>
</ul>

Reducing the Impact of Distraction

We can reclaim our time and our attention. Unlike a physical space, we can wipe the slate clean in our digital environment.If you clear apps from your phone, nothing will happen. You can always reinstall the ones you use.

Become a Digital Minimalist

Most people do not consume content deliberately. They just click on whatever moves through their feed. 
Deliberate consumption means you consume what you decide on beforehand. If you consume less and are intentional about it, you'll get more out of the content you consume.

Deliberate Consumption

If people's physical lives were anywhere near as cluttered as their digital lives, their kitchen sinks would be full of dishes, their closets would be jammed, and their houses would be in chaos. 
But our digital lives are limited to our devices, so we don't notice how messy they are. Our news feeds are filled with updates we don't care about. We're subscribed to 100 podcasts but listen to only a few.

Cluttered digital lives

<ul>
<li>Clear your browser history.</li>
<li>Unsubscribe from newsletters, podcasts, blogs, and anything else you consume.</li>
<li>Delete all the apps that are currently on your phone and desktop or laptop (as long as you don’t have to buy a new version of anything).</li>
</ul>

Digital Declutter

<ul>
<li>Carry a physical notebook. It's a distraction-free tool.</li>
<li>Read physical books. We retain more when we read physical books.</li>
<li>Meet people in person. The digital to human contact ratio in most of our lives are entirely out of balance.</li>
</ul>

Go Analog

To find out what to keep, determine how much value something is adding to your life. Decide which are "optional" that you can take a break from for thirty days. As a rule, consider the technology optional unless its temporary removal would harm your life.

Consider the value

Every app you use, social network you join, link you click, blog you read, podcast you consume impacts your mindset and thinking. 
<ul>
<li>Does it make you happier?</li>
<li>More productive?</li>
<li>Successful?</li>
<li>Speak to your heart?</li>
</ul>
If the answer is no, don't allow it into your world.

A Digital Life That Sparks Joy

A few days ago I sent an email to my readers asking why they had clicked on a podcast, but didn't listen. After the following response from a reader, it was clear that we need to tidy up our digital...