It’s so easy to take the things in our lives for granted.

 

Think about things such as the electricity in your walls, the food in your kitchen, and the water coming out of your taps.

 

It doesn’t have to be there, you know. It may be a normal part of life now, but of course it wasn’t up until recently. But we forget.

 

We forget that today we are all sparkly clean and living in luxury. That’s right luxury.

 

Think about it…

 

A hot water bath can be arranged in a matter of minutes. A few hundred years ago you’d have to be a king to get a hot water bath that quick, if at all.

 

And back then there were no electrical machines that wash your clothes either. You had to go down to the river and scrub for hours. Elbow grease right.

 

Plus, they didn’t have giant shops full of clothes, or with aisles upon aisles of food from all corners of the world.

 

It’s luxury my friend.

 

So why do we take it all for granted?

 

Well, besides the fact that we probably don’t need as much as we have (just look inside your garage or clothing cupboard for confirmation of this), there’s one word that comes to mind: distraction.

 

We are so busy today that we don’t take the time to appreciate the things in our lives. We’re constantly moving from one activity to the next throughout the day, draining our energy on social media, or perhaps a job that we don’t like.

 

So our minds are preoccupied – overloaded in fact – with everything that’s going on in this age of information that we find ourselves in.

 

And to give you an idea of how much information we consume – well, today it’s as much data in a single day as an average person living in the 15^th century would have consumed in an entire lifetime!

 

Now, one might blame this barrage of information for our distraction, but that has nothing to do with it. It’s about managing that information.

 

And to be clear, I’m talking about managing the information that we get when we’re online. I’m not talking about bus stops, billboards and alluring shop windows, as we can’t exactly walk around public spaces with a blind fold.

 

And so, in order to manage that information, one needs to go on a reduced data consumption plan as I like to call it. Kind of like an eating plan, but with data. You get it.

 

Anyway, here are a few things I highly recommend you do to reduce your data consumption:

 

 

Don’t constantly have your inbox open

 

Instead of checking emails every few minutes, rather keep your email programme closed and only check your mail at two or three predetermined times throughout the day. This will stop the multitasking, which is a practice of distraction.

 

It will also let people know that you aren’t going to respond straight away and so they’ll understand that their emails need to be fewer, better thought out and to the point.

 

 

Get off social media

 

Trying to increase your social status – or to feel relevant in the world – by broadcasting what appears to be a somewhat perfect life, is not healthy for you.

 

Get off social media and get back to reality.

 

There is virtually no benefit in broadcasting your life. If you want to share a photo of your grandma’s 98^th birthday, or holiday pics or whatever, then post it on your family group rather.

 

Trust me on this one – you’ll feel much better.

 

 

Phone on silent

 

If your job allows it, then keep your phone on silent.

 

Text messages are so popular, and many times preferred over calls these days, that chatting to clients via text is very commonplace. And you can always call back if someone did call.

 

Having your phone on silent means you will not be distracted by notification sounds and ringtones, leaving you free to focus on individual tasks. One. At. A. Time.

 

 

Less garbage in, garbage out

 

Stop filling your mind with junk on Netflix.

 

The more junk you’re going to watch, the more junk you’re going to think. It’s basically pollution for your mind.

 

So keep the movies and series to a minimum and start using your relaxing time to watch interesting documentaries or read non-fiction books.

 

…

 

So basically, if you want more gratitude then remove the distractions…or minimise them as best you can.

 

That’s all it is.

 

The good things are already in our lives. We just need to take the time to see them.