Last week, I was working with a group of emerging leaders. During our opening check-in, the facilitator asked: “What are you putting aside to be present this morning?” One of the participants said she was silencing the “things that ding” – and that phrase stuck with me through the morning (thanks Nicole!).  

The Things that Ding worksheet is a way to identify and map the common distractions in your context. Life is busy. There is always something that needs your attention. Some of it is urgent and some of it can wait, but we’re rarely uninterrupted for long.

Your task for this worksheet is to list the interruptions you encounter on a regular basis. Start with the short, frequent distractions like app notifications and text messages; then move to the intrusions – unscheduled activities that require you to switch tasks or focus your attention elsewhere; and then, dive deep to identify the ideas and thoughts that are plotting incursions on your concentration.

The Things that Ding worksheet includes some common interventions that you could employ to reduce distractions, but they won’t all work in your context. Choose the ones that do and then commit to one tangible action that you can make to reduce the distractions in your environment. Give your brain a break!

Things that Ding Worksheet (1.2MB)

Copyright, Use and Distribution

This worksheet is part of our Worksheet Wednesdays experiment. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are free to copy and redistribute this worksheet. You can remix it or adapt it to your purposes, providing you share your revised version too. If you use this worksheet, please attribute Thirdway Think and link to thirdwaythink.com

Source of Inspiration

Perry, E. (2022, Sept 13). Boost your productivity: how to avoid interruptions at work. Better Up. https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-avoid-interruptions-at-work