Today, there is no room for outside distractions yet there have never been more! For many, it seems like we are working more than ever, yet feel less productive. Often we are wasting too much time working on the wrong things.

If your goal is to sell and attract new customers yet your priority seems to be to clear out your email box every day, you’re probably missing out on truly productive activities. I think we all find ourselves trapped in distraction from time to time. And don’t forget about social media distractions, YouTube, texting and more. And it’s possible to do all of those things while you are on the phone! Multi-tasking may feel like you are busy, but focus and productivity most certainly suffer. And one of the biggest culprits in our lack of productivity is the lack of boundaries. People can reach you 24/7 and wonder why you don’t answer an email in a few minutes. If you make yourself readily available to all of these incoming distractions, you will never be able to stay focused long enough to address the tasks that are actually critical to your work.

The results of your work can be dramatically affected by distraction. For instance, marketing efforts today need to be more powerful than ever to attract mindshare with all of the competing distractions. It’s no longer good enough to have the same old website, seminar invitations, advertisements and email newsletters. In fact, generating powerful marketing for your business requires a sharper focus than ever.

So, you could try shutting off your email and checking it once an hour or 3 times per day. Or, consider having an assistant filter through your email to highlight the critical ones. Or check your social media in the evening, at home.

In this ADD world with no boundaries, we simply need to decide what is productive and what is not and sort through those appropriately throughout the day. Create your system for being focused on activities. Be intentional.

How will you resist the temptations of distraction today?