Seduced By Distraction

…And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop '? "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,…
Job 38:10-12

I posted this verse on Facebook yesterday morning because it spoke to my soul. The verse is God's response to Job, and He is letting Job know that He, and only He can tell the ocean where it's boundaries are. He and only He commands the morning, He and only He caused the dawn to know its place.

Allow me to digress for a few moments, and I'll try to tie these verses into this sad tale of distraction. 

I have been toiling to transition from a recognized expert in the cabinetry manufacturing world, to the very least of those in the insurance world (a humbling experience at best), During this time, I have struggled with the same issues I struggled with when working to become an expert in the cabinet manufacturing world.

One of my few, but very dominant attributes (aside from a large nose and short stature) is an obsession with organization, and the jury is still out on whether it is a positive or negative attribute. When I started my cabinet manufacturing business in 1990, my second biggest problem was I did not have any work to do. This led to my biggest problem: no money to feed, clothe and protect my family. This "problem" forced me to stop attempting to get the stars to align with the moon (get every process working perfectly), and get my butt out to jobsites, and sell some cabinetry jobs.

You see, my heart, soul and mind would rather work on perfecting my processes than to sell something that utilizes my perfect processes. And based on all my years of experience as a business owner with employees, I'm not alone in this perverted distraction. For me personally, it is very difficult to distinguish between processes and industry. I can clearly see that for industry to take place, there must be a process. But I have a much harder time seeing that processes in the absence of industry are totally meaningless (a plant full of equipment with no jobs to process is utterly and completely useless).

Now, to exponentially compound my weakness of focusing on processes rather than industry, along comes computers, then software, then the internet, then email, then cell phones, then smart phones, all with the power to transform business processes, but also with the incredible power to distract someone like me. I am admitting here and now, I have been seduced by technology, and as often as not, technology distracts me rather than allowing me to focus. Thus, on a daily basis I am as psychologist Daniel Goleman termed it, seduced by distraction. 

I want to master the new piece of software, I want to utilize all the options on my smart phone, I want to capitalize on the cloud, I want, I want, I want, all disguised by the cloak of organization. I deceive myself into believing I am preparing to be effective. I find myself so busy trying to get all my ducks in a row that there end up being no ducks to put in a row. As Seneca the Younger, tutor to Nero, lamented "the love of bustle is not industry, it is only the restlessness of a hunted mind."

Hi, my name is Bob, and I am a digital junky. I dig my own pit of distraction and then lament being distracted. I pay more attention to managing my time than managing my attention and focus. I am in need of technological respite, of frequent and prolonged digital sabbaths.

I'm in desperate need of wisdom, I need to learn the discipline of telling distraction that I am placing boundaries on it, that I will set a bolt and doors between distraction and focus. I need to learn how to tell technology, "Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop."

How about you, are you easily Seduced by Distraction (I really, really want to know your thought on this)?