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Use These Strategies to Stay Focused and Avoid Distractions. 3 Things to Know Today. Stay in the know in 60 seconds.

By Andrea Hardalo

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Distractions are a normal part of life, but they may be affecting you more than you realize. Research shows that returning to your original focus, following a distraction, takes on average, a full 23 minutes and 15 seconds.

So how can you deal with distractions? Try "contingent planning." With contingent planning, the idea is to account for the disruptions that can seep into your day and structure your day around them. Acknowledging that you'll have distractions isn't a bad thing, but instead a key to making the most of the time you have.

Also a tip that can help you stay focused is simply deleting distractions. Lyft co-founder John Zimmer says that he removed both Safari and news apps from his phone.

Andrea Hardalo

Social Media Editor

Andrea Hardalo is the social media editor of Entrepreneur.com. She previously managed social for Scout Media.

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