Here’s how to resist distraction and be less reactive:

• Control your context: You can’t react to what’s not there.
• Stay calm: Stress makes you dumb. Stress and reacting leads to dumb behavior.
• Think about your goals: Get Stoicism, mindfulness and dopamine on your side.
• Make a deliberate decision: When you do, your brain is better able to resist no-no’s.

You don’t have to react and answer that text immediately. You don’t have to react to that delicious smell and eat all the cookies. You can pause, stay calm, think about your goals and decide to do the right thing.

We’re all so afraid of being bored that we run to any distraction that presents itself. But when we truly engage with the world and focus on our goals, we’re never bored.

And as David Foster Wallace said, “If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you cannot accomplish.”