The Question You Need to Ask Yourself to Eliminate Distractions

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I am embarrassed to admit it, but I spend too much time watching TV.

I have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish as long as my arm, yet I don't accomplish as much as I like daily.

And I only have myself to blame. Myself and my TV.

I am a movie aficionado. I will always watch movies. Movies have been important to me since I was a kid.

I even have a Saturday evening ritual in which I make chicken wings and tater tots and watch a movie (we all have our guilty pleasures).

But I don't watch movies during the week.

I watch mindless TV shows as an excuse to decompress after work.

A half-hour turns into an hour. An hour turns into two. Then, the next thing I know, it's time to go to bed.

And every time I think of how much TV I am watching, I think of my friend Max, who doesn't even own a TV (and I know he's shaking his head right now at my lack of discipline).

Again, I only have myself to blame. I make no excuses. But, it is a problem I need to address.

But, as much as it is a huge distraction, the simple solution is not to turn on the TV when I get home.

I must be disciplined not to turn on the TV at home.

Why am I discussing my problem with watching TV?

Because I'm not alone.

According to a recent survey published by Statista, "U.S. viewers aged 15 years and older spent on average almost three hours watching TV per day in 2022."

Last week, I went to a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere for the week.

The cabin had a TV and a DVD library of movies.

I didn't turn on the TV from the moment I walked into the cabin until I left.

I had absolutely no interest in it.

My plan for the week was to catch up on that laundry list of things to do.

However, I was sick and wasn't as productive as I wanted to be.

So what did I do?

I went on walks. I read (I finished one book and almost finished another). And, I was still.

I spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to accomplish over the next month, the next three months, and throughout the year.

That's the beauty of escaping to a place completely different from your usual day-to-day environment (and why I will always invest the time and money to do so).

It allows you to step back and reflect on where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there.

I touched on this in the past newsletter article, "How to Find Clarity Amidst the Chaos."

But the truth is, I don't want to have to go on a mini-retirement or a getaway to a remote cabin to think about what I need to do and, more importantly, motivate myself to accomplish the goals I set for myself.

A little over a year ago, I drafted a Personal Statement that included the words, "use my time effectively and without distractions."

It's been such a distraction for me for so long that including those words in my Personal Statement was vital.

So, it hit me with what I must do instead of turning on the TV.

Before sitting down and even thinking of turning on the TV, I must ask myself one simple question, "Is this an effective use of my time?"

We all have goals we want to accomplish in life.

In fact, I have my goals written down on a 5 x 9 index card that I always carry with me to review daily.

Whatever your life goals are, financial or otherwise, the best way to accomplish those goals is to eliminate distractions.

Whether binge-watching TV, doom-scrolling social media, or wandering aimlessly on the internet, ask yourself, "Is this an effective use of my time?"

And imagine what you can accomplish by simply eliminating those distractions.

Interesting reads:

How to Find Clarity Amidst the Chaos

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!

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