Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about being distracted.
I‘ve started using my phone more and more over the last few weeks for various reasons. And it feels like this is slowly getting out of control. While I still notice those moments of „woah I‘m distracted right now“, they are getting less and less.
I notice this during meditation, but also during my day-to-day life where I reach for my phone more often every day.
Interestingly, I know exactly what I need to do for this to improve (I have written a whole article about it). But there is always a part of me that says „Ok this week I still need it, next week I‘ll improve.“
So let‘s use this month‘s Retro and Planning to get a hold on this. Maybe it‘s similar for you?
✏️ Retro
(Like always, you can download the Notion template to take structured notes.)
What goals did you set for yourself last month, and how well did you achieve them?
Make a list of your goals (even if they were only implicit) and score them from 1 (low) to 10 (high). You are not allowed to pick a 7. Take notes as you go.
Is there something that is blocking you?
What held you back last month? What can you do to avoid this next month?
What did you learn?
Did you learn something about yourself, your environment, or about the work you do?
🔭 Planning
What are your top 3 priorities next month?
Why are they important to you?
What goals do you set for yourself in light of these priorities?
To beat procrastination, make sure to split every higher-level goal into small subgoals.
What are potential obstacles or challenges you may face?
How can you prepare for them?
🌈 Bonus
How distracted to you feel?
Things you could think about: situations in your day-to-day life, your phone usage, how your mind feels now vs. how it felt a few weeks ago, etc. Do you like it that way? What would you improve?
🙏 Thanks!
Thank you for being a part of Mental Garden. I sincerely hope you found this email useful.
I‘m now off for a week in Sweden which seems to come at a very good point in time. No phone for me.
See you next month!
With gratitude,
Marc