Get Shit Done By Disconnecting From The World

Yuli Azarch | December 16, 2017 | No Comments on Get Shit Done By Disconnecting From The World

We live in a hyper-connected world, which means that we are literally connected 24/7 to everything. Our communication tools distract us, as well as social media and internet, together with the fast cities and environments that we live in. While it’s amazing to have all those tools, connect at a fast pace, and be free to be anywhere in the world to get in touch with people, having too many emails and people to deal 24/7 without any limits can be a huge burden on our shoulders when it comes to get shit done.

Don’t get me wrong; I use all the communication tools. I use email, Instagram, Skype, Facebook, Slack, but the problem is that when you use them all day long, it creates a distraction.

We need to allow ourselves to disconnect, and I think there is a great power in taking time without interruptions to finally get shit done.I personally use this time to work, and I have noticed that during this time I feel much better and I am much more productive and efficient. So, I invite you to find ways to disconnect a bit in whatever form you like and allow yourself to have distraction-free time.

Lessons from this episode:

1. Distractions From Deep-Work and focus (02:00)
2. Interruption-Free Disconnected Evenings (03:08)
3. Disconnect From The World To Be Inspired (07:20)
4. Beware The Big City Jam (09:01)

Get Shit Done By Disconnecting From The World

1. Distractions From Deep-Work and Focus (02:00)

If you want to get shit done, be productive and get great, beautiful work in whatever it is you’re doing, I believe in being disconnected. We’re all connected, but we’re not taking time to disconnect from our connected world officially.

I believe this is a problem I think we didn’t have ten, twenty years ago. Fifteen years ago, we didn’t have Skype, Facebook, Instagram, and Slack has been only here recently. These are problems which we didn’t have fifteen, twenty, one hundred years ago. So, this is kind of a new problem, and people are not taking the time to disconnect.

I think there is a great power in disconnecting because when you have distractions all day, you don’t get to go deep into your work. You can’t focus properly, and focus is the key element for success.

Focus is a key element to get shit done; for being productive, for moving forward and actually doing something, progressing and not getting stuck in the same place.

2. Interruption-Free Disconnected Evenings (03:08)

During the last year, I’ve traveled to the United States, to Central America and I’m recording this episode in Panama. Since most of my communications with my businesses happen with people in Europe because, literally, almost all of my team and partners are in Europe, it means they’re eight, nine hours ahead of me.

Right now, is 9 AM, more or less, in my time and around afternoon in Europe, and I’ve noticed that if I have to sum up my last year, I would say I’ve used all those tools I’ve mentioned until 4-5 PM my time in the afternoon.

I’ve noticed that during those times, unless I literally shut off my Wi-Fi, I have lots of distractions. I still use Skype, Slack, and all the tools I’ve mentioned above. But I’ve also noticed something very beautiful: magic happens during my evenings. In my evenings nobody is connected, literally nobody, because almost everybody I talk to is in Europe.

So, nobody will write for any emergency in no communication tool, even if the world is crumbling because they will be probably asleep. Nobody will say just “hello” on Facebook or any other platform. Nobody will respond to my emails, even if I go to my email and send something I believe is important.

That’s something I noticed, too, last year when I was in a different time zone. I realized most of the things I get to do a lot, I’ve done them during my evenings, purely because I’m not distracted. I’m disconnected from the world.

Of course, I’m still online; I’m still doing stuff, but I’m not responding to every email because it’s easy and nobody is actually writing to me. I have a moment during my evenings where I’m disconnected, and that’s where I get shit done.

And I don’t just get a lot of things done; I don’t have a headache afterwards from jumping around from one thing to another. I feel more satisfied. I’m happier, more productive, and more able to grow my business, especially during my evenings. And I think that’s a rare state for most people —even for me, and I’m fighting to get more and more such states and blocks of no distractions.

I can’t get them every single time, but when I get a few hours, it’s just magic. I noticed how I get shit done. Just done. I’m progressing. Even if I’m just using email or Slack to communicate something important and people don’t respond right away, there’s no jumping. I can focus on what I’m doing and work longer because my head hurts less just from not being jumping around.

I personally believe that if you have to respond to two hundred emails, two hundred social media messages —or any other platform— you’re going to have a big headache; and you need to recover from that. In my case, this allows me to work longer, be more focused and get shit done.

The key is being disconnected, something which is very rare, but every time I do it, I see its amazing powers. And I hope this I’m saying serves as a reminder for you to disconnect or create some sort of disconnection. Either just connecting to the internet during certain hours or being disconnected from a whole day.

There is really a big power in being disconnected, but with Wi-Fi everywhere we’re used to being connected all the time. But it’s also true that we sometimes need those tools. For example, I need them because all my businesses are 100% remote and I want to grow them. I want to run remote companies, and I need to communicate if I want to live in remote places.

The problem is when you communicate 24/7. So, please don’t do it. Create some space in your day, your week, or your month and start to disconnect. Nothing will happen; no emergency will happen. Usually, that’s something I was fearful of, but every time I’ve disconnected nothing ever happens.

3. Disconnect from The World to Be Inspired (7:20)

Now, let me clarify something: it’s not just being disconnected from communication tools, which are there 24/7; it’s also being disconnected from the world has power if you can create some of those spaces in your life.

Let me give you an example: I get to travel a lot, so I move around a lot and sometimes spend time in big cities and others I spend time in remote villages where there are less people and no noise.

For instance, I’m recording this episode in Panama, in a small town. It’s a completely remote place with 200 foreigners. I’m right now looking at trees, I hear birds singing, there are almost no cars, no noise. And I noticed that in these places where I have no distractions, I’m clear and have much better thoughts on what to do on my business. Here, I have ideas that can grow me and improve my life, I’m much more creative in environments like this one.

But I don’t think I’m unique in this. I believe these environments are great for everybody.

The same is true for every place I’ve been in the last three years. Every time I’ve been in a remote place where I have no people and no noise, I can just think and journal. And it’s where most of my magic happens.

And I’ve also found that the way I grew my businesses to be seven figure businesses, was not so much doing something but knowing what to do to make them grow.

By thinking clearly, you can actually focus on the things that matter and get shit done, rather than just doing random things and working hard without really progressing.

4. Beware The Big City Jam (09:01)

Let’s compare this experience with being in a big city. Last week, I was in Panama City which is a really big city, and there I had much more distractions. Besides my online tools, there were a bunch of people and noise everywhere. There were no trees and no birds singing in my apartment. There was, in fact, another building in front of me.

All day long I had noise from the other buildings, the cars —literally, tens of thousands of cars. There were tons of distractions. Not only from online tools but also from not having peace because of the cars and the noise. Back there, I didn’t have time and space to think clearly.

And while this might not be the case for most people; for me, when I’m such spaces, I can’t think clearly and, accordingly, I don’t get shit done. It’s tougher for me; I get distracted, I’m less productive, progress less in my goals, and ultimately grow less.

If I have to summarize, I’d say that we live in a hyperconnected world.  Disconnect, even if it’s one or two days a week, a weekend, or even two or three hours a day where you disconnect to think clearly.

I invite you to find ways to disconnect. I think it’s really powerful and it’s becoming rare. And like all the rare things, it’s becoming more valuable in our world.

Last Words and Key Takeaways

• Focus is a key element for success
• Go for one thing at the time instead of jumping through tasks
• Don’t communicate with your clients and workers 24/7
• Find a time to disconnect from distractions
• Growing your business is more about knowing what to do than doing a lot.
• Often, secluded places are great for having a quiet time alone

So, I hope this was a good reminder to you or a good lesson, and I’d love to hear your feedback. If you found this episode valuable, don’t forget to add a five-star review.

All the best until next episode,
Yuli