What is your biggest distraction throughout the workday?

Expanding further on my initial response .............I've now reached the stage where after using critical analysis, I am effectively removing access to certain applications and platforms, as I feel they are leading to my 'information overload' and I'm not receiving a proportionate ROI (Return on Investment). When I mention 'Investment' it is in terms of time and effort.

Like Brett, I'm also on Discord and had multiple accounts on there. I've deleted all of them 'bar one' and will just retain that one for a while.

Similarly, with Reddit, I will only retain one account moving forward, but I'm not as active user as I was in the past and have no great need to use it - so I may cancel it in the long term.

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Kadi M.

Digital Marketing and Communications Consultant

I'm so surprised you were able to manage more than one account on Reddit and Discord! I would never leave haha. Though I do manage multiple Instagram/Facebook accounts for some clients. So when I'm scrolling, I like to tell myself that I'm working...🙃

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BC

Bashir C.

CISM | CRISC | CEH Cyber Security Professional

Hi Kadi,

Maybe it is an age thing, but I am starting to downsize all my applications - hopefully, it will make life easier and more manageable.

Yes, the multiple Discord and Reddit accounts became overwhelming, so I had to take action by reducing the accounts to just a couple each. I'm grateful I did.

Are you looking to reduce the number of your Facebook and/or Instagram accounts?

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Bashir C. · Answer 2 · 2025-02-07T17:59:33-06:00

BC

Bashir C.

CISM | CRISC | CEH Cyber Security Professional

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Answered 5 months ago

Hi Kadi,

Just as Brett mentioned, 'it's so easy to be distracted', as there are so many distractions even in a workplace. Social Media, News, Personal email, LinkedIn etc are the main culprits. But then there are others - paying utility bills, shopping (Amazon, Ebay and thousands of other sites), booking a 'surprise holiday', some people checking their bank balances or stocks and shares, some people playing computer games (during lunchtime and even worktime) etc.

And when you need to get away from your Laptop you can switch your attention to your phone.

Distraction and lack of focus are too of the main reasons that are killing concentration and productivity now.

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Alex N. · Answer 3 · 2025-02-11T08:02:24-06:00

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Alex N.

20-year Marketer and Marketing Automation Expert

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Answered 5 months ago

Slack, Teams, Skype. Having to be on these as well as working in day to day systems ends up being a distraction. They also use up system resources, particularly MS Teams.

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Kadi M.

Digital Marketing and Communications Consultant

This is such a good point, Alex! I did a project with Salesforce a few years ago (the now owners of Slack lol) and there was always SO much going on. Every project and every team had their own channels and then there were plenty of others that were "fun" channels. I had to go in and mute most of the channels I was added to. They did have a lot of Slack Etiquette guidelines (I wish they'd release to other companies as defaults). Specifically, the sending multiple messages one after the other was a big no-no. That helped slightly with the distraction, but it was still a lot.

Teams (and whatever other equivalent companies use these days) has always been a thorn in my side. I've consulted with companies that don't outlaw the random call and that always drove me crazy. I'd be working on something and Teams would start to ring. Such an interruption!

In a remote world, I'm all for using these platforms to build relationships with colleagues. And I have to remind myself that those distractions occurred in-office as well. But nonetheless, an interruption that you have to embrace these days!

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Brett N. · Answer 4 · 2025-02-05T17:32:17-06:00

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Brett N.

Community Manager

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Answered 5 months ago

I love this question, Kadi. I actually touched on this in another thread several weeks ago. The bottom line is that it's way too easy to be distracted, but I know myself well enough that I've added some safeguards to help.

For most of the work day, I keep my phone on the charger in another room. When it's right next to me, it's just too easy to grab it and browse X or open Discord. (The vast majority of what I read about is related to Cleveland sports, by the way!)

I also try to break up my day, with some designated blocks between different kinds of tasks. For example, if I need to take a deep dive into some data, but I also have to do some long-term planning/brainstorming, I'll have a nice reset built in between those two things.

I'll schedule my lunch once I'm done with the data project, and enjoy a nice brain reset by browsing my phone while I eat.

Reddit can definitely be an addiction – I can relate to that one too! What are your favorite sub-Reddit's?

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Kadi M.

Digital Marketing and Communications Consultant

I have migrated away from X...even deleted the app from my phone! In fact, I've done that with a lot of apps that distract me...or at least turned off notifications.

Reddit is a combo of things...and honestly, I don't think I have a favorite. But I'm active in several:

Sports: I'm really active on the Cavs sub-reddit right now and the Guardians in the summer. The Browns' is a cesspool of negativity, so if something big happens, I'll pop in there, but I try to stay out of it.
Location-based: I also bop around the Cleveland sub, though it's become a steady stream of people saying, "I'm coming into town this weekend. Where should I eat? blah blah." I am still on the New Orleans locals sub - I still "work" down there, so it's important for me to stay hip and groovy to everything that's going on...the owner of the bars I work for isn't great at communicating, so I get a lot of my info from there.
Music: I am on the subs of a lot of my favorite musicians...mostly to keep track of tour dates and any other news I may have missed.
Random: /retailhell (I had a seasonal retail job and worked front-line for almost 20 years, so I love reading people's stories). /LinkedInLunatics (some of the things that pop up in here are just...wow). /Millennials (These are my people. I love a little nostalgia).

How about you? Curious if we've come across each other in the Cleveland sports subs.

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BN

Brett N.

Community Manager

The fact that there is a fellow die-hard Cleveland sports fan within Icons brings me an unlimited amount of joy.

–I still like X because there is just no better place to get sports news. That's really been the reason I've been on there since the beginning. Probably 90% of my follows are sports related, but I don't ever post – just read.

–I'm the same way on Reddit. I'm in all of the main team sub-reddits, but I never post – just lurk. Similar to you, I am in some local sub-reddits also – mostly for foodie purposes :)

–I will actually post on a few Discord servers. Some of my favorite Cleveland Sports podcasts have Discords for fans of the show, so that's where I come out of my lurker shell. It's fun to watch the games and live react with other fans, because my wife couldn't care less, so it's nice to have that camaraderie.

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