Distraction vs Traction - Deepstash

Distraction vs Traction

To-do lists allow us to get distracted by the easy or urgent tasks at the expense of the important work. We get pulled off track by distraction — the kind we succumb to without realizing it’s happening. We run faster and faster in the name of getting things done, without realizing we’re headed in the wrong direction. Then when we finally realize we didn’t allocate the necessary time to work on the most important tasks, we tell ourselves, it’s okay. I crossed five things off my list. I’m good.

5

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How To Study Effectively For Exams

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Effective note-taking techniques

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Make three to-do lists

We usually have more tasks on our to-do list than we ever can complete. This causes us to get caught up in a never-ending cycle of doing the easiest and most urgent tasks first and putting off the harder ones that are most important.

Instead of working...

Prioritize

If we are just ticking things off our to-do list without any order, the important tasks may not get completed.

Determine the urgency of your tasks to figure out which requires priority. 

Why it’s hard to ignore urgent tasks

A few explanations as to why it’s so hard to reject urgent tasks:

  • The completion bias. Our brains crave the reward we get from checking off small to-dos from our list.
  • Tunnel vision: When we get overwhelmed by the things we have to do, we ch...

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