{"id":2168,"date":"2014-10-28T10:19:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T16:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/?p=2168"},"modified":"2022-09-14T09:47:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T15:47:49","slug":"freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of a Distraction Free Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2169\" src=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction.jpg\" alt=\"The Art of A Distraction Free Life\" width=\"650\" height=\"927\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction.jpg 650w, https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction-210x300.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In our culture of multi-tasking, hyper-activity and praise for doing it all, taking the <em>one at a time<\/em> approach or (gasp) doing nothing at all can make us feel unproductive and unworthy. On the surface we do our damnedest to keep up, catch up, stay afloat and do more than everyone else, but at the heart of it all, we know it&#8217;s crazy making.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s easy to\u00a0reflect on the days when everything got done\u00a0with pride, but don\u2019t forgot about the times when you gave all of your attention to one project, one person, one task. It\u2019s in those one at a time, distraction free moments where\u00a0your heart opens and the magic happens.<\/p>\n<h2>Distraction free living provides an opportunity for<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>your best work<\/li>\n<li>the people in your life to be and feel\u00a0seen and heard<\/li>\n<li>you to be\u00a0completely content<\/li>\n<li>time to stand\u00a0still<\/li>\n<li>your body to\u00a0heal<\/li>\n<li>your mind to\u00a0focus<\/li>\n<li>your heart to engage<\/li>\n<li>joy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A distraction free life might not always be possible, but creating an environment with less distraction, and distraction free blocks of time will raise your level of engagement and lower stress and overwhelm. A distraction free life is art because you have to create it. It is intentional and made with purpose.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/artofdistraction.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2170 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #090909;\" src=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/artofdistraction.jpg\" alt=\"The Art of a Distraction Free Life\" width=\"299\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/artofdistraction.jpg 299w, https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/artofdistraction-140x300.jpg 140w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 299px) 100vw, 299px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Shorten your to-do list.<\/strong><br \/>\nInstead of a notebook full of to-dos, try a 3 or 5 item list. If you are worried about forgetting things, make a <em>to-do today<\/em> list and a\u00a0<em>to-do tomorrow<\/em>\u00a0list. If you finish your 3-5 items, go for a walk or do something just for you instead of jumping into the <em>to-do tomorrow<\/em>\u00a0list. Even though you think you\u2019ll catch up or get ahead of things, the reality is that the list keeps growing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Work with passion.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen you get lost in your work because you are so wild about it, distractions slip away. You\u2019ll discover the things you thought were urgent and important are not.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Be confident about what matters most.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhat matters most to you is different from what matters most to me. It\u2019s also very different from what other people think you should think matters most. Trust your heart. You know what matters most. Defend it by giving it all of you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Turn everything off.<\/strong><br \/>\nDistractions come from all directions, but most frequently from digital devices. Turn them all off when you are working or engaging in something meaningful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Ditch passive email checking.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhat\u2019s the point of checking email if you aren\u2019t ready to respond? Instead of passively watching email come in all day, set a 20 minute block to get in, respond briefly and get out. Repeat as needed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Under schedule.<\/strong><br \/>\nJust because there are 24 hours in a day, doesn\u2019t mean you have to fill that time with obligations and commitments. Leave blocks of time with nothing to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Give in to joy.<\/strong><br \/>\nIf something joyful is tugging at your arm, or your heart, give in. Let the email wait. Leave the dishes in the sink and check your voice mail tomorrow.\u00a0Deny the distractions and make right now all about joy.<\/p>\n<p>Distractions are\u00a0a part of life, and there are some that you can\u2019t predict or control. That said, the majority are self-inflicted. Get creative about protecting your time, your heart, and everything that matters most.<\/p>\n<p>Then, make way for laughter, joy, rest and contentment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our culture of multi-tasking, hyper-activity and praise for doing it all, taking the one at a time approach or (gasp) doing nothing at all can make us feel unproductive and unworthy. On the surface we do&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-simplify-your-life","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.1 (Yoast SEO v25.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Art of a Distraction Free Life - Be More with Less<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Distraction free living provides an opportunity for joy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Art of a Distraction Free Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Distraction free living provides an opportunity for joy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Be More with Less\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bemorewithlessdotcom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-28T16:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-14T15:47:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Courtney Carver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bemorewithless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bemorewithless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Courtney Carver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Courtney Carver\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2239981d8cb0a390981bb0355976c6f4\"},\"headline\":\"The Art of a Distraction Free Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-28T16:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-14T15:47:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\"},\"wordCount\":571,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/denydistraction.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Simplify Your Life\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bemorewithless.com\/freedom\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of a Distraction Free Life - 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