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You are here: Home / blog / Escape the Distractions & Rabbit Hole

Escape the Distractions & Rabbit Hole

in blog, small business owners, social media marketing on 02/24/16

You can escape the squirrel & unnecessary distractions with these tipsIf you are anything like me, you can quickly get distracted with that dang Squirrel or run down the Rabbit Hole of hell the internet or social media. We have so many devices and ways to be distracted and we.. just…can’t… help.. it!  I know, I am with you there. So, thought I could write a quick little reminder to help you keep your focus and out of the rabbit hole and away from that pesky squirrel. Yea, good luck, right? Lol

Tips to keep from going down the rabbit hole

I consider the rabbit hole the internet or social media because one thing leads to another and 15 internet tab windows later, you think, what was I initially doing and how did this get started. Similarly, on social media, if you needed to post something and saw what your friend posted and next thing you know you are scrolling down your timeline to oblivion.

  • Post using third part tools! If you are a social media manager or posting for your business, schedule your posts using third party tools like HootSuite, Post Planner, Buffer or whatever you prefer. Facebook has scheduling too, but you’ll have to steer clear of your timeline.
  • Schedule your posts. Going online every day or however often you post is not ideal so be sure to select a comfortable amount of time like 3-4 days or a week and schedule for that set amount of time.
  • Set times to check in. Obviously we aren’t just posting, you have to see what is going on with your followers so set aside times to check in, like in the morning, lunch and before the end of the day.
  • Time your check in. Going to your feed to check in can turn into a rabbit hole/squirrel quickly so set a timer of say 10-15 minutes to remind you of your focus for those check-in times.
Get out of the rabbit hole & kill distractions w/ these tips. #distractions Click To Tweet

So, not only are those check-in timers crucial for your focus, but getting notifications on your phone, your email and your internet browsers are a serious distraction. So, though it would be prudent to share a few of my tips of how I curtail those distractions that I have.

Kill the notification distractions & that squirrelSquirrel syndrome can get the best of us, kill the distractions

  • Turn off your phone notifications. You can turn off your browser notifications but that doesn’t change your phone, tablet or other devices from notifying you, so you have to update all devices and turn off notifications. Think about it, if you are scheduling your posts and planning to check your social media clients or your business social media X number times of days, why do you need those notifications to pop up? You will be checking anyways.
  • Turn off email notifications. Same as above, if you plan to check your email 2-3 times a day, why do you need to be reminded of it? If you use Outlook, like I do, you can turn off that little pop up as well as that envelope that tells you… You’ve Got Mail. And, if you are really brave, exit the program completely. (I’m not there yet as I use it for task reminders and such) Further, if you use webmail, you can just close the browser and BOOM, done!  Same with your phone, you don’t need to be reminded that you have mail on your phone and your computer, seriously?!
  • Notifications per client per channel. If you manage more than one client or business, know that you will have to update those notifications for each business page AND on every social media channel.
You don’t need reminders from all your devices, only 1 or 0, you can do it! #killdistractions Click To Tweet

Bottom line

Hopefully that can help you stay more focused and kill some of your distraction problems. I still have some of these issues and I am working through them but being part of a group or having a coach or someone who puts your feet to the fire is also helpful. My Time Tips Pro, Jackie Harder, has been instrumental in helping me with my focus and reminding me to take things one at a time. I have the habit of looking at the whole picture, while often that is okay, but when you freak out, a bit, which I do, it’s not good; because, when you have a lot on your plate, adding more stress to that isn’t going to help.

Get your focus back

So, get your focus back, break things up in bite size piece, get help with someone who will put your feet to the fire, turn off unnecessary distractions and take back your life! I’m all for getting extra help and outsourcing when it isn’t something I need to be spending my time on.

Should you have any questions about the group I am in to help with distractions or if I can help with your load in social media management or marketing help, please contact me and we’ll devise a plan!

~Kristen

44 Comments

About Kristen Day

Kristen is a small business owner and thus dedicated to other small business owners by helping them improve their online presence with having a professional and mobile responsive website, then implementing search engine optimization and pay per click advertising all of which are necessary 'evils' in the digital marketing sphere but enables small business owners the opportunity to compete with larger companies. When not in the digital arena, you can find her hanging with her girlfriends, husband, drinking a margarita or shooting competition (not in that order).

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Comments

  1. Susan Mary Malone says

    02/24/2016 at 10:18 AM

    Great tips, Kristen. I often find myself chasing that cute cuddly rabbit! But “Time your check in,” will truly help me. Thank You!

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      02/24/2016 at 10:44 AM

      I feel you Susan.. and I am RIGHT THERE.. for sure. We have to keep trying, right!

      Reply
  2. Roslyn Tanner Evans says

    02/24/2016 at 11:30 AM

    I live in the rabbit hole unless I go away to do something else. But I do get my tasks done & I love my meanderings. If I really wanted to spend less time online, I will talk to you, Jackie & all the other folk who have helpful tips.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:00 PM

      Don’t worry Roz… you do not reside there alone. lol I actually yell at myself sometimes… focus Kristen! lol

      Reply
  3. Lisa Swanson says

    02/24/2016 at 12:37 PM

    The only thing that keeps me from getting distracted is time blocking. Otherwise I will fall into every rabbit hole out there! At least I know what my weakness is, right? Next is to choose which social media scheduling tool will work best for me.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:01 PM

      That’s awesome Lisa, just will power… but then again, as a personal trainer, you might have learned how to compartmentalize better! lol

      Reply
  4. Teresa says

    02/24/2016 at 12:57 PM

    I have a love hate relationship with social media. A good resource for connecting and marketing for business and yet so dang distracting and taking away precious time! I like to use tools to help schedule and important to block time. It is a must for me or I find myself roaming around a rabbit hole wondering after several minutes ..”hmm, now what was I doing?”

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:01 PM

      OH Teresa.. I am there with you on the love/hate! OMG.. and I have had that convo.. what was I doing here again? lol

      Reply
  5. Sabrina Quairoli says

    02/24/2016 at 2:25 PM

    I totally agree. I recently removed notifications my social media channels on my phone. It helped during the day when I am focusing on other clients. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:02 PM

      I am with you Sabrina, I would get email notifications on my computer and then my phone.. ummm, why? lol

      Reply
  6. Beverley Golden says

    02/24/2016 at 4:39 PM

    Great tips and happily I am on track with most of them, Kristen. I do use Hootsuite. I don’t get notifications on my phone or my computer. Although when I am home, my email is open all the time, so that is technically a distraction. I do choose times to interact with people, although I am attempting to reply to people as quickly as possible, so find I spend a lot of time on FB or Twitter interacting with people who have interacted with me.

    The great thing is when I am away from home, I get no emails, no notifications etc. on my phone. The challenge is when I get home and have 100+ emails to look at and take action on, I find I often get a bit “stressed” at how much time the online world takes. I see how the rabbit hole is very tempting and I have learned to limit my time on non-essential online stuff. I trust the things I am drawn to are enough for me, so I rarely go looking for more.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:03 PM

      So with you Bev.. amazed at how long online takes.. how did we ever manage before? lol

      Reply
  7. Joyce Hansen says

    02/24/2016 at 9:13 PM

    Good tips to keep focused Kristen. I started late last year to unsubscribe to emails that interested me but I never get around to reading them. That has helped tremendously in managing my email account. I limit myself in the morning to only the most important emails. Then, I play a game the rest of the day. If I get mentally stuck or board I allow myself 1-2 facebook responses and then it’s back to work. I do the same when I complete a project. Today was my first test case responding to facebook posts in our group. With each response, I felt I was making progress and not letting it all go and then trying to play catch up.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:03 PM

      YES Joyce, I did the same thing, unsubscribing from email lists I don’t take action on!

      Reply
  8. Elizabeth O. says

    02/25/2016 at 1:18 AM

    It’s the internet, there’s always going to be a lot of things going on and we need to keep our focus otherwise, we’ll drown. Lol. It’s important to have schedule, always! And a list of things you need to accomplish for your site too.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:04 PM

      Right Elizabeth.. drown for sure!

      Reply
  9. Beth Niebuhr says

    02/25/2016 at 8:41 AM

    Oh, those shiny objects that tempt us! It’s way too easy to get distracted. You gave good advice and notifications are a big distraction that can easily be managed.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:04 PM

      Thanks so much Beth.. those pesky squirrels! lol

      Reply
  10. Jackie Harder says

    02/25/2016 at 1:16 PM

    Love this, Kristen! You have made just amazing progress in the amount of time you’ve been in Time Tips Pro…I’m so thrilled that you’re making the changes you want to make with your time management. (And thanks for the shout-out, too, BTW). These are all super tips; turning off notifications has worked well for me. And here’s a little something to add to the mix: Just because the phone rings doesn’t mean you have to answer it. xxoo

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:09 PM

      Thanks so much Jackie.. still LOTS of work to do to get where I should be.. but all in time!

      Reply
  11. Carol Rundle says

    02/25/2016 at 2:23 PM

    I’ve turned off the notifications on my phone, but thanks for the reminder to turn off the email notifications on my computer. Facebook is my biggest time sump!

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:09 PM

      I am with you on FB Carol

      Reply
  12. Stacey Werner says

    02/28/2016 at 4:17 PM

    I’ve also heard of people using browser add-ons to limit their time on social media. I’ve toyed with this idea since I tend to get lost in the rabbit hole known as Facebook 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:10 PM

      The facilitator on my Time Tips Pro group, that I mentioned in the post, Stacey, she uses that.

      Reply
  13. Molly says

    02/28/2016 at 9:00 PM

    I’ve tried to implement a lot of these already, and it really does help. I still find myself wandering every now and then though, don’t even get me started on browsing Pinterest, lol. But, I do schedule a time in my day to work on blog stuff, and it’s the best decision I ever made instead of just doing it randomly throughout the day. Great ideas, thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:21 PM

      That is awesome Molly! Great job!

      Reply
  14. Deb Nelson says

    03/01/2016 at 2:15 PM

    Oh this post is awesome, Kristen. Get out of my head and stop reading my mind:) I started using buffer so that I would be more effective with social media posts. Turning off the notifications is my biggest challenge. So…I just don’t open any applications when I’m trying to get work done. It is so easy to follow that fluffy little bunny…

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/01/2016 at 6:22 PM

      I know, right Deb… we both needed this! lol I needed to write it, you needed to read it.. and we both need to do it! lol

      Reply
  15. Heather Johnson says

    03/02/2016 at 11:32 AM

    I get distracted so easily! I do a lot of groups on Facebook, and, while sharing other posts, I tend to get distracted by reading. I have to make myself focus on what I need to get done first!

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/07/2016 at 2:27 PM

      You are not alone Heather, I have that SAME problem… esp because I love to learn!

      Reply
  16. Holly @ Woman Tribune says

    03/03/2016 at 3:07 AM

    I struggle quite a bit with staying focused, and it can be really difficult for me to avoid the rabbit hole. Timing your check-in is a really great idea and something I haven’t tried before.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/07/2016 at 2:34 PM

      You are not alone Holly.. I have the same problem.. reassessing all the time!

      Reply
  17. mary says

    03/03/2016 at 12:03 PM

    Best post I’ve read all day. I get so sucked into facebook. I have now hired someone to help take over my work on facebook because of this. And, YES to turning off notifications on the phone. DISTRACTING!

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/07/2016 at 2:36 PM

      Awww, you totally made my day, thank you so much! Glad you have outsourced your social so you can focus on what makes you money!

      Reply
  18. Katarina Andersson says

    03/03/2016 at 4:53 PM

    Good tips Kristen, luckily I am only managing my own so far…but if had several clients that I did social media for I would definitely turn off the notifications. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/07/2016 at 2:38 PM

      I know, right Katarina… could you imagine 15 clients and ALL the notifications? lol

      Reply
  19. LauraOinAK says

    03/07/2016 at 12:25 PM

    I’ll admit to being guilty of falling down rabbit holes. I do need to start batch scheduling social media shares again as it helps SO much with staying focused.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/07/2016 at 2:40 PM

      I’m guilty as well Laura.. we can dig out together!

      Reply
  20. Rachel Lavern says

    03/11/2016 at 10:24 PM

    Hi Kristen,
    Your post reminds me of what I call this entrepreneurial ADD. One of the best things about being an entrepreneur is the ability to have an endless amount of options and ideas. On one hand it’s great. But on the other hand, there are so many potential distractions. We multitask, start something new before we finish the last project. We stretch ourselves too thin. There we go down rabbit holes and, before we know it, we get lost in what we’re doing and having nothing to show for it. Then we wonder where the time went and sometimes, why isn’t the money coming in.

    And easier way for me is about making choices…making hard decisions,..finding time and space to focus. And limiting the amount of distractions I have.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      03/16/2016 at 9:31 AM

      You are so right Rachel, we just try to do it all, esp since we are just starting out.. but it’s not the right way. It is hard to find the time and space to focus. Hang in there!

      Reply
  21. Christy soukhamneut says

    05/13/2016 at 4:34 PM

    Ah yes distractions. I keep my to accomplish list but then squirrel

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      05/13/2016 at 9:43 PM

      OH yes… well aware girl.. Christy we are on the same page. lol

      Reply
  22. JESSICA says

    05/14/2016 at 1:45 PM

    I don’t have ADHD, but definitely have some of those tendencies. I have to turn off distractions if I’m to get anything done. It’s so hard to stay focused otherwise.

    Reply
    • Kristen Wilson says

      05/14/2016 at 3:54 PM

      I don’t either Jessica…. but I have them too! lol

      Reply

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