Yesterday on the podcast I attempted to answer a question and went in the direction of what do you do when your day gets derailed? So hop over to listen or read that episode because it’s got some good stuff. Here’s the question I got:

“I was wondering if you could share a schedule on your page, or with me! Your post about distractions really opened my eyes. How do you schedule your day without too many distractions?”

So as I’ve been thinking about it, I decided I wanted to also address a different angle of this. I wanted to talk about distractions and how we can attempt to eliminate these distractions from our day. 

Listen to the Podcast:

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And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. 

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What qualifies as a “distraction”?

It starts with our priorities. I have these more fleshed out, but these are my priorities in order:

1. A Vibrant Relationship with the Lord
2. Passionately Pursue my Husband
3. Spend Time with the Kids
4. Craft a Healthy Home
5. Manage and run my blog and ministry

So when I’m attempting to look at what qualifies as a distraction in my day, it all flows out of my priorities. It can sometimes feel like a distraction when our kids come up and want us to sit on the couch to read a book because they are pulling us away from doing the dishes. But spending quality time with our kids is a priority as well. 

So first, we have to make sure we are thinking rightly about distractions and what they really are. 

Think really hard about your social media time

I am not about to say that all of social media is a waste of time. I think there can be really good times and moments for social media.

• You can use Facebook to keep up with family and friends who live across the globe.
• You can use Pinterest to learn how to better meal plan and find delicious meals for your family.
• Instagram can inspire you to create lovely spaces in your home and to read more books.
• Twitter can help you keep up with current events and news. 

But social media can have a hard side as well. Of course, it can suck up our time and make us zombies on our phones while real life goes on around us. But there can also be other effects.

• Facebook can overwhelm us with nasty articles and bog us down with every single tragedy around the world.
• Pinterest can cause us to feel envy over all the pretty things we don’t have, the kitchens we will never get, or the parties we will never be able to through.
• Instagram can make us feel like a failure when we compare ourselves to those other women who seem to have it all together.
• And Twitter can tear us apart over nasty comments, fights, and unloving attitudes. 

I got to the point where I took most social media off of my phone. Obviously this has the added benefit of not taking as much of my time. But honestly I did it because I couldn’t take what it was doing to my heart. It was causing me too much strife and heartache. 

So I took Facebook and twitter completely off my phone. I still have Pinterest because it’s handy to pull up a recipe or something on the go (and I don’t personally struggle with that one being a time suck). And I still have Instagram because it’s my very favorite form of social media, it’s very encouraging to me, and it’s not a huge time suck. 

So take a really hard and honest look at your social media streams. Should you turn off notifications through out the day so you don’t get constantly pulled away from your family? Should you delete an app altogether? Think through it slowly and intentionally. 

Recommended Resource: #ReformingSocialMedia: Using Social Media to Glorify God Rather Than Self by Mandy Hoffman

Other “good” distractions

For me, other really good things that can easily turn into distractions are: online courses, podcasts, and books can all easily become distractions. I’ve had to learn that as a busy mom, I have to restrict how many fiction books I read. I LOVE fiction books and get sucked into them. 

When I’m in the middle of a good novel, I literally don’t want to do anything else. It can be mentally distracting and I’m tempted to put off the housework or getting dinner started when I get sucked in. So whenever we go on vacation I stock up on books and usually during the weekends I’ll read fiction. 

Another source of distractions can be good things like online courses and podcasts. I obviously LOVE both and listen to a ton of podcasts throughout the week and have taken several incredible online courses. But the problem lies in being tempted to listen to these before or instead of the Bible. 

I’m tempted to start a podcast or listen to that next lesson in a course when I haven’t done my Bible reading that day. I have to discipline myself to listen to the Bible out loud for that day instead of putting on a podcast. I’ve made a rule for myself: I can’t listen to anything else until I listen to or read the Bible. 

Keep a Daily Log

A really incredible way to find out where you waste the most time or get the most distracted is to pick a normal day of the week and keep a log of everything you do. Just jot down each activity you do throughout the day and how much time you spend on it. 

This will accomplish two things: 1) It will help you see where you are really wasting time and 2) this one simple act will actually help you to stay on task more because you are already thinking about being distracted and wasting time. 

Think critically through your top priorities in life and when choosing what activity to spend some time on next, evaluate whether that aligns with one of your top priorities. Sometimes we choose things that don’t fit neatly into one of those boxes, but that’s fine as long as we are not spending 10 hours a day doing so. Or you might need to re-align your priorities. 

Join me for a Live Workshop! 

I know we just barely scratched the surface on this big topic, so I want to invite you to a LIVE workshop I’ve got going on Friday March 31st (and don’t worry, you can sign up for the replay video to watch later if you can’t attend live). 

The live workshop is called 5 Ways to Organize Your Time So That You Can Be a Rockstar Homemaker and it’s going to rock!!  Join us live to learn how to prioritize your time to put God and your family FIRST for greater joy and less stress in your home. 

My Newest Favorite Popcorn

I want to quickly welcome and thank the sponsor for today’s episode: Freeday Popcorn! They offer NON-GMO, farm fresh popcorn…and you can taste the difference. It’s fresher, crisper, and more flavorful. (Plus, I am a HUGE proponent of supporting small businesses!)

Now that I’ve had fresh popcorn, I’ll never go back! We use an air popper (you can usually find them for around $5-10 at thrift stores or new for only around $15-20 at Target or on Amazon) or you can pop the kernels on the stove. 

Just in Time for Easter! 

One of my very favorite things they have, is popping ears! I’ve never heard of these before. It’s an ear of popcorn that you place in the microwave and it pops right on the ear. My boys had SO much fun watching these pop. It was a science experiment, a learning experience, and a yummy snack all rolled into one. 

I am so excited to have something fun to put in their Easter baskets this year other than candy. You can check out their popping ears or this awesome Easter bundle that’s perfect for splitting up into Easter baskets (and it’s on sale)!! (Notice on that page that they have a harvest date in September. How cool is that to see how fresh this popcorn is?)

And through April 16th (just in time for Easter!) you can get 20% off your order with coupon code: HOMEMAKING. I have been so impressed with Freeday Popcorn and I will get getting my popcorn from them from now on! It’s way more affordable than I thought. You can get a 5lb bag for just $9.95 (plus get 20% OFF right now)! 

Check out Freeday Popcorn!