You’re Avoiding Distractions - But Where’s the Growth At?
The sneaky, “productive” habits that are quietly holding you back.
Hi friends,
I hope you're all doing well! :)
A couple of days ago, I had a mini yap session with Mr. ChatGPT.
And as usual, he hit me with a line that felt like a little shake to my shoulders, and a point toward action. (Yes, I’m calling an AI model “he,” don’t come at me, lol)
Here’s what he said:
“Progress grows where distraction dies.”
As someone who’s way too often battling the self-improvement bug, it got me thinking:
If progress grows when distraction dies, then…what exactly am I distracted by?
What’s Missing?
For the longest time, I defined “distraction” as anything unproductive.
Binging Netflix → distraction
Cleaning my room instead of working → distraction
Doom-scrolling social media → distraction
But if I’m avoiding distraction, why hasn’t my progress skyrocketed yet?
Then it hit me - not all distractions look like mindless scrolling or binge-watching shows.
Some are relative distractions - things that feel productive but quietly pull your energy away from what actually matters.
That’s the step we jump past too often - figuring out what matters.
Ditch the List of Goals.
Many of us start with a master list of goals spanning from days to decades.
To turn a goal into a priority, you need to single out a few from your pool of goals.
Pick no more than three at a time:
Short-term: 1 goal for the next month.
Mid-term: 1 goal for the next 3-6 months.
Long-term: 1 goal for the next 1-2 years.
That’s it.
This way, you can identify what is actually a distraction from your select target goals.
Ask yourself: What do I need to do every day to get one step closer to accomplishing this goal?
Let’s take my typing challenge as an example.
Goal: Get my typing speed to 100 words per minute.
This is a pretty lofty goal since I started at a measly 9 words per minute using home row. So, setting it as a 3-6 month goal.
What do I need to do every day? → Practice typing on keybr.com for 15 minutes using home row.
Clear and trackable.
What do I need to accomplish by the end of each month? → Hit my daily practice goal for at least 25 days.
What are some relative distractions for this goal?
Typing freestyle instead of home row on everyday typing tasks → reinforces a bad habit and creates false progress.
Testing my speed every day to see if I’ve improved → This creates impatience, not improvement.
Typing while looking at the keyboard → delays muscle memory.
Focusing on speed over accuracy → creates false progress and slows long-term growth.
Another example - fitness.
Goal: Create a fitness habit to stay functional into old age.
Timeline: 1-2 years.
What do I need to do every day? → Move intentionally for at least 30 minutes each day (walking, mobility, strength training).
What do I need to accomplish by the end of each month? →
Stay active for at least 5 days per week
Push to muscular fatigue (failure) at least 3 out of those 5 days.
What are some relative distractions for this goal?
Watching workout videos → Feels productive, but it’s really procrastination dressed up as planning.
Only doing what’s fun, easy, or ego-driven → A daily walk is not sufficient exercise outside of active rest days. Maxing out machines is not going to build functional strength into my 50s. The key is to balance between fun and doing what’s actually required to gain and maintain functional strength.
Avoiding rest days → At some point, I pushed myself to work out daily, pushing to failure nearly every day - that got me nothing but burnout and pain. Recovery is part of the process, and ignoring this important part quickly became counterproductive.
This is the distraction Mr. ChatGPT meant - subtle, sneaky, and deceptively “productive”.
The key is to be clear about what distracts you from your specific goal.
And kill it.
That’s how we build growth that compounds and sticks.
Generic distractions are easy to spot.
The real challenge is identifying your distractions - the ones that feel like progress but are the reason your growth is stuck.
Socials:
Verdanticsoul (Instagram + TikTok) - My digital journal where I document my learning journey and share bits and pieces of my life.
Rabiastudycorner (Youtube) - This page has been mostly dedicated to “study with me” and study vlog format videos, working on including more learning related content in the near future.
Justanotherrabi (Instagram + Youtube + TikTok) - My fitness page where I document my journey and share recipes.
I appreciate having you all here, and I hope this week’s newsletter brought you some benefit!
Until next time,
Rabia 🥰