Eliminate These Distractions From The Workplace
Distractions don't belong in the workplace. We should try to eliminate them best we can.
Why they don't belong is simple: We're paid to do a job. Most if not all jobs consist of a list of tasks we need to perform each day. These can vary from day to day, of course. But on any given day, if we're reasonably well-organized, we know just what needs doing.
Some of us are paid by someone or some organization to complete our tasks well, and in a timely manner. Distractions present a threat to us doing this. Taken to an extreme, our employer may call us out, even fire us. But even if we're good at managing distractions, they're still an annoyance that we'd do best to eliminate.
The same applies if we're self-employed. We need to generate revenue to pay the expenses generated by our enterprise. We also need to pay ourselves. Distractions get in the way. They're sand in the gears.
Of course, sometimes we ourselves are the cause of distractions. Maybe our mind wanders too much. Maybe that's because of a natural inclination; or maybe it's that we don't find our work all that engaging. Either way, we need to do our best to minimize, ideally eliminate, distractions.
Our co-workers can be a source of distraction. Instead of focusing on their own work, they're sticking their nose into others' business. Maybe their work is boring or difficult and they seek some respite. Or maybe they're simply so distracted - for whatever the reason - they need to take a break to refresh and refocus. That's OK, but their break ought not necessarily involve you. Of course, sometimes it does. So instead of being considerate of the fact that you may be zealously pursuing the completion of the task at hand, they interrupt you and waste your time.
These too can be minimized or even eliminated. If necessary, we have every right to let the interloper know we're "kind of busy" at the moment to be listening or gabbing. However we express this, we want to be charitable.
While most of these distractions can be minimized. eliminating them completely may not always be possible. But there are some distractions that can, indeed, be squashed into oblivion. Some suggestions:
1) Daily News: Most of it's a lot of nothing. Over time, I've reduced my watching, listening, and reading "news" to the bare minimum. And I mean bare - maybe 5 minutes a day, at most 15.
2) Politics: You can't totally ignore what politicians are up to. After all, they tax us and use what they get for this and that. So, yes, be aware of how they're using your hard-earned money. But so much else that they think, talk about, and do focuses on their efforts to be re-elected; or, for many, their fulfillment of the overwhelming urge to exert their power - either that which they legitimately possess, or that which they illegitimately, sometimes nefariously, grab and use to aggrandize their own position.
3) Religious Disputes: These might consist of disagreements between Catholics and other religious sects, of course. But these days such disputes seem more common between Catholics. A broad generalization might pit those who prefer the traditional Mass vs. the Novus Ordo Mass. That's likely the least vituperative - or at least once was not so vicious. It gets worse from there. You may not have these confrontations in the workplace. But they do take up a lot of time and energy for some Catholics. And that time could include clipping a few minutes here and there online on the job.
Which brings us to...
4) Surfing the Internet: This may be necessary for your job, of course. But so many of us spend time online with matters unrelated to work. We'll wrap up with this quote from a book by Bishop Headley, written over a century ago. While it's subject is newspapers (remember those?), you can easily apply it to perusing the internet:
"Even when the newspaper is free from objection, it is easy to lose a good deal of time over it. It may be necessary and convenient to know what is going on in the world. But there can be no need of our absorbing all the rumours, all the guesses and gossip, all the petty incidents, all the innumerable paragraphs in which the solid news appears half-drowned…This is idle and it is absolutely bad for brain and character. There is a kind of attraction towards petty and desultory reading of this kind which is sure to leave its mark on the present generation…Immoderate newspaper reading leads, therefore, to much loss of time, and does no good, either to the mind or the heart."
All of these distractions can - should, really - be eompletely eliminated. Some may take a bit more discipline on our part; but shouldn't we Catholic men at work have a good dose of discipline in both our work lives and our spiritual lives already? If not, it's time to build it up forthwith.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee
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