If you’re like me, you know the feeling: You’re busy all day but can’t point to anything meaningful you accomplished. You’re exhausted but not fruitful. You’re active but not aligned.
You’re distracted.
I am too. And nine days ago, I decided to do something about it.
How It Started: A Conversation with God
Nine days ago, I was talking to God about the two words He laid on my heart for 2026: Stewardship and Cultivate.
As part of that conversation, I had a profound recognition—much of my life was filled with distraction. I was even distracted while having the conversation with Him.
So I made a decision: I was going to track my time for 7 days, then return to the conversation with God and look at what is and isn’t working in my life. What is bringing me into alignment with His heart and will, and what is taking me out of alignment with Him?
The Tracking Process: No Judgment, Just Awareness
Initially, I approached it like I approached nutrition tracking or budget tracking. I didn’t want to make any changes. I just wanted a journal of what I was doing with my time. No judgment, no review, no editing or hiding. Just honesty.
The journaling was simple. Initially, it was just time and what I was doing. I added a column for notes because there were some things where I needed to write down observations. It didn’t happen for everything, but it did happen enough that the column was necessary. I also added a reflection space at the end of the day for notes that I felt were pertinent.
What I Discovered (Immediately)
What I found was there were a couple of things that were causing a lot of distraction across every aspect of my life.
I noticed one of these things by the end of day 2 tracking and one by the end of day 4. Those two things, I addressed immediately, rather than waiting. They were too detrimental to my time and the longings of my heart to leave them in place just so I could continue journaling them.
The two things were:
- Games on my phone – taking hours of my attention and producing nothing
- Notifications on my phone – from various apps and social media platforms
There was one other thing that changed in how I spent my time in those seven days, but that was a result of something God laid on my heart in church, and I wasn’t going to put off obedience just to make sure my tracking showed what I had been doing.
The Flexibility Factor: Grace Over Perfection
This showed me that if this is something I’m going to teach others, I need to build in a lot of flexibility and grace.
I needed to be able to do what God was telling me. I needed to be able to address things that were glaring concerns immediately. And I needed the permission to not look deeply at any other patterns until it was time to sit down and talk to God about the rhythm of my life.
The goal isn’t perfect tracking. The goal is awareness and obedience.
The Patterns I’m Seeing
One of the things I noticed because of these notes was that I have a tendency, when I pick up my phone to do something or look something up, to get distracted by other things.
I might go online to look up the definition of a word or put something on my calendar and end up on social media or email or both. And that happened almost every time I picked up my phone, no matter how valid the reason was for picking it up.
Needless to say, there was a lot of learning and discovery even as I journaled.
Where I Am Now: Day 9 and Counting
As I said, I’m only on day 9. I’ve done the 7 days of tracking, and I’m starting to have conversations with God and allowing the Spirit to show me what needs to be addressed.
I’m going to continue tracking after this weekend, to start making notes of how the changes I’m making are helping and where I’m falling back into the same patterns.
Cultivating awareness like this will help me become a better steward of my time and identify patterns of thinking, believing, and behaving that are not aligned with Kingdom living or who God has created me to be. It helps me see the places where change is possible because sometimes, when we don’t break it down or pay attention, we feel like our patterns are just what they are.
Journaling like this is serving as a good reminder that everything in my life is a pattern, and it can all be changed. I’m not stuck unless I choose to remain unaware.
Everything in life is a pattern and it can all be changed. I’m not stuck unless I choose to remain unaware.
This Isn’t Forever (But It’s Necessary for Now)
I don’t intend to journal and track my time like this forever, but I’ll do it for a while until I get a new rhythm established. Already, it’s helping me be more sensitive to the daily leading of the Spirit.
I’m asking Him what He wants my day to look like—not generally, but this day, specifically. I’m learning to let go of deeply ingrained patterns that don’t serve me or Him, things I once blamed on personality or circumstance but now see as just comfortable habits that can be disrupted and replaced.
You’re Not Alone: Join the Journey
I’m going to be blogging about this journey as well as sharing it on social media. And after just one video post, I’ve already discovered that I’m not the only one who desires to live an undistracted life.
Want to track your time with me? I created a free resource to help you get started.
Introducing: The UNDISTRACTED Quick Start Guide
In response to those who commented on my Facebook videos or sent me messages, I created the UNDISTRACTED Quick Start Guide.
This 27-page guide walks you through how I imagine the process going. Remember, I’m only on day 9 so things might change. It has a detailed introduction reviewing all four phases of the journey:
- Phase 1: Cultivating Awareness
- Phase 2: Honest Conversation with God
- Phase 3: Setting Intentions
- Phase 4: Respond
There is information and journaling pages that go with each of the four phases.
What’s inside:
- Phase 1: A sample of the first day of my tracking (so you can see how I did it) + seven days of tracking journals
- Phase 2: Reflection questions to jump-start your conversation with God
- Phase 3: A place to write out your intentions for moving forward, anchor scriptures, and accountability partner details
- Phase 4: An additional set of journaling tables so you can track your progress and continue your dialogue with God—with space to enter your intentions day by day
Get the UNDISTRACTED Quick Start Guide here → (Free download)
Let’s Do This Together
I’m sharing this journey publicly because I believe you and I are not meant to live distracted, scattered, or out of alignment with God’s purpose for our lives.
If you’re ready to cultivate awareness, have honest conversations with God, and start living an undistracted life, I’d love to have you join me.
Here’s how to follow along:
📖 Blog: I’ll be posting regular updates here about what I’m learning
📱 Social Media: Follow me on Facebook for real-time insights and encouragement → Anysia Derora, Author & Coach
📥 Free Guide: Download the UNDISTRACTED Quick Start Guide and start tracking today
I look forward to taking this journey with you!
