Too Distracted To Be Intentional

Eek, over a month has passed since my last post.  It's pretty embarrassing to fall so behind on a blog about being purposeful and intentional.  However, it's a good lesson to me that this is a process, not a bandaid.  And if I don't keep making the intentional decisions, chaotic life creeps back in.

Over the past several days, I've realized just how distracted that I've become.  I let "things" catch my attention away from my goal.  However, let me be perfectly clear when I say that what I really don't want is to become a slave to this ideal of being intentional.  For me, people will almost always trump my own plans.  (Probably will be something to evaluate in the future.)

As a just-barely millennial, my life has been marked by huge changes in technology and communication.  And while the goal of these discoveries in technology is to improve efficiency and communication, in a lot of ways, for me, it has stunted my ability to be as productive.  Or rather, I've let that happen.

Instead of using my phone and computer as a tool and a resource, they've almost become a security blanket.  I find myself picking up my phone the moment I open my eyes in the morning, mindlessly scrolling through newsfeeds throughout the day (that I've probably already seen), and carrying my phone around the house, lest I miss some text or notification.

I'll be honest, it's actually really hard for me to admit just how much I've let my phone take over my daily activities.  It's embarrassing to me really.  I know that the reality is that life has changed, and my kids will never know a time when smartphones weren't the norm.  But that doesn't mean I have to, or even should, teach them that they have to be connected to it.  I'm not showing my kids that I am engaged if I'm scrolling through my phone while I sit with them at the table during lunch.  Yes, maybe I'm physically there, but certainly not mentally.

And for me, it has become a huge stumbling block to my time-management.  I have no idea how I would have been able to focus through 20 years of school if I had the kind of access that I have now.  Each day I try to create a checklist of the things that I need to accomplish.  Far more often than not, my list doesn't even get close to completed.  Sure, unexpected situations come up sometimes, but the truth is, usually it's because I've been distracted by my phone or computer.

I'm reading about other people's lives rather than truly living my own.  What I'd like to focus on in my next few posts is how I've let technology impact different areas of my own life, and how I hope to make changes to my habits.

I'd love if you'd follow along, and please comment your thoughts - struggles, triumphs, things that work, etc.  Until next time!

Kelly