You Don’t Need More Time—You Need Less Distraction
Most people don’t need more hours in the day. What we really need is less noise. Less distraction. Less mental clutter pulling us in a hundred directions. The world tells us the opposite. Culture insists we’re behind, late, always...
MikeTyes
Most people don’t need more hours in the day. What we really need is less noise. Less distraction. Less mental clutter pulling us in a hundred directions.
The world tells us the opposite. Culture insists we’re behind, late, always short on time. So we race through our lives—multitasking, checking notifications, scrolling endlessly—all while telling ourselves we just need better time management. But the truth is simpler and far more powerful: it’s not that you don’t have enough time. It’s that too much of your time is being stolen.
Seneca wrote, “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing.”
That quote has haunted me ever since I first read it. Because I know it’s true. And if you’re being honest with yourself, maybe you do too.
We are capable of doing great things. Creative work. Meaningful relationships. Purpose-driven lives. But distraction is the silent thief that robs us of all of it. Not suddenly—but slowly, subtly, imperceptibly—until one day we look up and realize we’ve been living a life of reaction instead of intention.
Social media. TV. Streaming platforms. Emails. Ads. Endless articles and videos. Our devices never stop calling for our attention, and most days, we answer without even thinking. We’re scrolling more than we’re living. Watching more than we’re doing. Consuming more than we’re contributing. It’s no wonder we feel behind or unfulfilled.
One of the most impactful books I’ve read on this subject is Things That Matter by Joshua Becker. In it, Becker explores how distractions—both digital and internal—keep us from living lives of meaning and impact. He writes with clarity and conviction, not just about the problem, but about how to reclaim your life from it.
In fact, much of his work at Becoming Minimalist centers around this idea—that we must remove the excess to uncover what truly matters. It’s a message that resonates more deeply than ever in a culture obsessed with doing more, owning more, and always staying busy.
Two lessons from the book continue to shape how I live today:
You can’t pursue what matters if you’re always reacting to what doesn’t. Most of us aren’t failing to live purposefully because we lack motivation—we’re just constantly reacting to trivial things that don’t actually matter. Notifications, comparison, busyness for the sake of busyness. When you clear those distractions, you finally make space for meaningful pursuits. Distractions don’t always feel bad—that’s what makes them so dangerous. A night of Netflix, a scroll through your feed, even a few hours shopping online… they don’t feel harmful in the moment. But collectively, they become the reason your dreams are still sitting on the shelf.It’s tempting to believe we’ll get to what matters later—after work calms down, after the kids are older, after we finish this season, this project, this stage of life. But time doesn’t wait. And your calling, your creativity, your passion—they need your attention today, not tomorrow.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire life overnight. You just need to start paying attention to what’s pulling your focus away. Ask yourself:
What is stealing my attention and giving me nothing in return? What have I stopped doing that once gave me energy, because distraction took its place? What could I accomplish if I removed just one major distraction from my day?If you want a deeper dive into how digital clutter affects your life, this article on digital clutter is worth reading. It offers practical ways to reclaim your time and attention in a world that’s always online.
Sometimes the most revolutionary decision you can make isn’t to hustle harder—but to slow down and look around. To turn off the noise. To reclaim your presence. To stop chasing happiness in places that never deliver. The culture may call that laziness—but the truth is, it’s a return to strength. To clarity. To purpose.
Productivity isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most. And you don’t need more hours in your day to do that. You need less distraction.
If this idea resonates with you, I’d also recommend reading this piece on how to simplify your life—it’s a practical reminder that simplicity isn’t about doing less for the sake of it, but about clearing space for what truly matters most.
Start by removing just one thing: one app, one notification, one habit that pulls you away from your deepest values. See how it feels. Then remove another. And another. And eventually, you’ll start to hear something you haven’t heard in a while—your own thoughts, your own dreams, your own soul calling you toward something better.
The quiet isn’t something to fear. It’s where your focus returns. It’s where creativity wakes up. It’s where meaning begins again.
If you’re tired of feeling scattered… you’re not broken. You’re just distracted. And you have the power to change that—starting today.
One less distraction at a time.
