Click Here To Purchase From AmazonThe Eight Demons of Distraction

Geraldine Markel, Ph.D. gets right to the point in “Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction” by identifying them all right in the introduction to the book. The first chapter follows with a summary of each one and the remainder of the book focuses a sharp eye on each one individually.

The layout of the text is visually pleasing and the natural speaking tone of the text enables the reader to focus on the content of the words without being distracted by a stuffy style. At 155 pages, the concepts are concentrated rather than watered down with unnecessary verbiage. Markel clearly edited carefully to allow the reader to absorb the strategies and think about how to apply them personally. Using lists and bullets facilitates remembering the points associated with each distraction demon and the detailed Resources section leads the reader to sources to study a particular demon of interest in more detail.

Some of the demons are as familiar as a bowl of Cheerios in the morning: stress, fatigue, procrastination. Others I hadn’t thought of as distractions until reading Markel’s book. Defeating the Technology Demon is a good example. I hadn’t realized how the tools of technology can actually hinder rather than help until I read this book. My ignorance of how much time I spend searching through cluttered computer files and locating forgotten logins/passwords wasn’t bliss. A gift that comes with a USB connection delights me but learning how to use the gadget can certainly be a distraction. Markel gives me some sensible tips on taming this demon.

Another chapter addresses distractions that come from others. I think this demon is the largest of the bunch and the most difficult to tame.  The author says “Many people know what they need to do to decrease distractions, increase attention, and improve performance at work, home, or school. Almost in the same breath, however, they give you a laundry list of excuses regarding why they can’t change.” How true! Markel casts a tough eye on how to deal with the “others” distraction.

Dealing with illness and medication is another under-realized distraction and the author offers some very practical strategies for managing both personal illness and the effects of caring for others who are ill. A common theme throughout the book is that every distraction directly impacts a person’s productivity in some way or other. Multiple distractions contribute significantly to an individual’s stress level and learning to deal appropriately with them yields immediate results in lowering that stress level.

I didn’t realize that hyper focus, what I think of as tunnel vision, could be a distraction. Markel does a good job of raising awareness of how this demon impacts others as well as the individual who favors this demon. The “racing mind”, as she terms it, has kept many of us awake at night, thus feeding yet another demon, the demon of fatigue. Bookmark the demon buster list for frequent reference.

Defeating the 8 Demons of Distraction is a practical reference guide in an easy to read and digest style. It is however, more of a primer than a deep study of each of these energy interrupters so reader beware that you will need resources beyond this one to fully explore the distractions you are most interested in dispelling.

Click Here To Purchase From AmazonThe Eight Demons of Distraction

The above review was contributed by:  Paula Buermele: Paula is the author of The Dream Catcher Tour and has extensive experience in corporate writing, process documentation, and writing training materials.

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