Ready…Set…

My kayak was moving faster than I had expected. The water was freezing. The Nantahala River was bobbing me around on its surface like a cheap toy as I approached my first rapids. I scrambled to remember anything I’d been taught during the intro-to-kayaking class that led up to this moment.

“Active paddle. Active paddle. Active paddle.” The only lesson I could hold in my head at this point started playing over and over, and my arms obeyed.

It seemed ludicrous that my pitiful little paddling movement, in the face of powerful rapids, could make a difference.

But it did. “Active paddle” was the only thing keeping me from being overtaken, rolling over, or getting slammed into the tree branches hanging over the edges of the river.

Productivity expert Nir Eyal recently pointed out that the opposite of “distraction” isn’t “focus,” it’s traction.

And in both, you see the word “action.”

The point: a vague notion of “staying focused” in a world that’s full of attention-grabbing beeps, flashes, and other notifications isn’t enough.

What works is to choose action— to set an intention for what you’re going to do, then do it in a way that holds you, even when something else tries to pull you in a different direction.

Stick to your intention. Keep an Active Paddle.

Even the phrasing of “choosing the action” vs. “not getting distracted” creates a more powerful stance, doesn’t it?

Choose the action you want to do today (even if that action is choosing the rest/leisure you’ll do).

When distractions come (and they will), choose that intentional action again. Then again.

Active paddle. Active paddle. Active paddle.