Do you like to get phone calls during dinner time, from strangers selling products you don’t want? Really? Me either. And yet every night around the world dinners are interrupted by ringing phones. The companies calling must be having some level of success to justify the cost right? Why would they do it if it wasn’t working?

For the past two weeks my wife and kids have been travelling and I have been holding down the fort on my own (red meat and ice cream!!). Each night when I get home from the office I immediately grab the mail from the box. I barely flip through it before adding it to the growing pile on my kitchen table (its over 5 inches high). When my wife is in town, she gets the mail. She goes through the pile and removes all the junk. By the time I see it only the important letters remain (mostly bills L). This morning, as I stared at that pile of wasted paper, I thought, “What is the point”? Does anyone ever read this stuff? It must have some value to justify the cost right?

This morning as I got up I flipped my phone to Facebook, just to check in anyone new had “liked” my latest post. 15 minutes later I realized I had seen enough cat photos and kids blowing out birthday candles to last a month. I hadn’t accomplished anything, didn’t increase in knowledge, and (honestly) wasn’t even entertained. It was kind of a waste. Why would I sit on Facebook for 15 minutes? It must have had some value or I wouldn’t have done it right?

Thankfully we do not have our tv hooked up to ESPN because I know exactly what would happen tonight when I finish work. I would head home, sit on the couch (with ice cream) and watch Sportscenter. As soon as that ended I would switch to ESPN2 and watch the replay. And before I know it, it would be 11:30 and I would know everything there is to know about the latest sport scandal. I would ask myself, “What was the point?” Obviously there must be some value or I wouldn’t do it….right?

Today at work I had a productive day. I cleared out my email box, I rewrote my to do list, I filled up my water bottle 27 times, I had a very productive social lunch with a colleague and I organized my file folder. I didn’t get everything done on my list, I ran out of time to make those sales calls and I didn’t quite finish that proposal but I feel pretty good. I got stuff done. I added value to my company didn’t I? I wouldn’t have spent so much time on those tasks if it wasn’t effective….right?

It is easy for us to say that we hate telemarketers and junk mail but do we recognize that there are things in our life that are like telemarketers and junk mail to our personal and work goals? Each of us has our own distractions and time suck traps that we are tempted to fall into and can derail us in our productivity and impede our journey of success.

To avoid telemarketers we can use caller id and not answer calls from out of state or numbers that we do not recognize. With junk mail we can ignore the letter and immediately filter it into the garbage without wasting another minute. But how do we avoid the time and energy sucks that we have in the other parts of our lives? Here are 4 ways that we can keep focus and priority and progress.

1. Have a plan- I recognize in my life that ESPN is a huge temptation and a rabbit hole that tempts me in. So I made the choice to disconnect my cable. I didn’t just unplug it, I put the cable box in my garage a flipped off the light. Are there things that I miss? Of course. But I have not regretted taking back control over what I am doing in my life. Do you have goals and objectives that you refuse to let fail? Do you have a plan to accomplish them? You cannot hit a target you do not have.
2. Reward focus- When I was training my dog to “stay” I would sit him a few feet away and I would tell him to “stay”. If he did I would smile, tell him he’s a good boy, scratch his ears and give him a biscuit. It didn’t take long for him to learn that “staying’ was a good idea. The same thing can work for you in your life. Rewarding and reinforcing positive behavior trains your brain to continue. Tell yourself that when you make these 5 sales calls you will go to the movies (or get a scoop of ice cream).
3. Set limits- Do you have the discipline to set limits? Can you force yourself to turn off Facebook after 15 minutes or stop scrolling through Twitter? Yeah? Me either. So I have found that I need to set stronger enforcement. Often I will set an alarm that triggers me to react or you can use one of the many webtools or apps that limit the length of time that you can stay slippery internet slopes. Another option is to remove the notifications from social media on your phone.
4. Reinforce your why- Maybe the most effective way to cut through the junk mail in your life is to know your why. What is the reason for you productivity? You have goals, processes and procedures but ultimately why do you want to accomplish your assignment? Knowing that overriding purpose can give you the discipline and focus to cut through the distraction and stay focused.

So, if you are calling during dinner tonight from an out of state number please understand that your call will go unanswered. And tomorrow, if you want to chat about the latest MLB melt down or scandal, know that I will probably not won’t have a clue what you are talking about. Oh, and if you need me, I’ll probably be making sales calls or eating ice cream. I hate junk mail and telemarketers.

Question; How about you, how do you stay focused on what is truly valuable in your life? Leave your comment below or by clicking here.

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