The Ryan Leak Podcast - The Tax of Distraction

Episode Date: July 20, 2026

Nobody’s going to send you an invoice for being distracted. But research says it takes 23 minutes to fully refocus after a single interruption. Multiply that by a dozen times a day and you’re losing hours. Not minutes. Hours. We’re more connected than we’ve ever been and less focused than we’ve ever been. Ryan unpacks the hidden cost of the thing we’ve all normalized.In this episode, Ryan challenges you to do an honest audit of where your time is actually going, not where you think it’s going. Because distraction doesn’t just steal your productivity. It steals your presence. And the people you love deserve more than a distracted version of you.

What is going on, my friends? Welcome back to the Ryan League podcast, but we love to keep things short and sweet for you each and every week. Today's episode, I really believe it's going to help you move forward in your life. I believe that today's episode is going to help you accomplish some goals. I believe that today's episode perhaps is going to help with anything that you have been procrastinating on for a very, very long time, because today's episode is entitled The Tax of Distraction. The Tax of Distraction. Here's what you're never going to get

from anybody in your life. Nobody is ever going to send you a bill for being distracted. There is no invoice that is going to show up at the end of the month that says, hey, just so you know, you lost about 47 hours to your phone this month. That'll be $4,200. Okay, but make no mistake about it, my friends, distraction has a cost. And you're paying it whether you realize it or not. The tax of distraction, full disclosure, I heard this phrase being on the phone with a guy that works for Maxwell leadership,

that's John Maxwell's company, leadership company, if you're not familiar with Maxwell leadership, his name is Jared Kagle. And in the middle of a conversation, we were just talking about business and leadership and growth, he used this phrase, tax of distraction. I said, ooh, Jared, that's a book at minimum. It's a podcast episode. So, Jared, if you're listening, you need to write a book called The Tax of Distraction before I do. But for today, it's just a short and sweet episode on the Ryan Link podcast.

Here's the deal. When it comes to the tax of distraction, unlike your income tax, you don't get a refund. You don't get that time back. If you waste the time, you lose the time. I want you to think about the last time you sat down to do something important. Maybe it was writing a proposal. Maybe you were getting ready to have that hard conversation. Maybe you're just planning out the week,

or maybe you were just trying to sit down to read a book or spend quality time with your kids. And when you were going to go do that important thing, something happened. Something happened that happens to each and every one of us every single day. You get a notification on your phone. Your phone buzzed. your phone rang. Or you opened one tab and somehow ended up in a completely different YouTube

wormhole and you just got distracted. Or sometimes you didn't distract yourself. It was somebody. Someone popped into your office or if you're like me and my wife, we have two wonderful children who are 11 and 7. And I'm not going to call them a distraction. That would be not. kind thing to say about two human beings that you love, but I will say there are times where I sit down to do something and then they ask me to do something else. And here's a deal. It doesn't matter if it's a person or if it's a thing. There are plenty of things that can be distractions. And they come with a price. Every time you get pulled away from something that matters, you pay. you pay in time, you pay in energy, you pay in momentum, and the worst part is, most of us don't even notice the transaction.

Interestingly enough, research from the University of California found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully regain focus after a single interruption. 23 minutes, 15 seconds. So, let me just check social media. really fast. Let me just check the scores really fast. That small distraction didn't just cost you 10 seconds. It cost you almost a half an hour of deep focus. Multiply that by the dozens of times that happens every single day and you're losing hours, not minutes, hours. And here's what really bothers me. We're more connected than we've ever been before. and also we are less focused than we've ever been before.

We've got access to every tool, every resource, every piece of information on the planet, and we can't sit still long enough to use any of it very well. I speak to leaders all over the country, and I'll ask rooms full of executives, how many of you feel busy but not productive? Almost every hand goes up. That's the tax. And we're busy paying it. We're exhausted from paying it.

And we're not getting anything in return. So what do we do about it? I'm going to give you a few things that have helped me along the way. First, we have to name the distraction. We have to name the distraction. Most people can't fight what they have not yet identified. So I just want to ask you right now, what is the biggest distraction in your life right now?

What is keeping you from accomplishing your goals? What is it? Is it your phone? Is it a social media? Is it a toxic relationship that's consuming your mental energy? Is it a habit that's eating your mornings? Is it a commitment? You should have said no to six months ago.

Name it. Because awareness, I believe, is the first step to freedom. Second thing I want you to think about is you want to protect your best. hours. Not all hours are created equal. You've got two or three hours a day where you are at your sharpest. For me, it's the morning. For you, it might be different. But whatever those hours are, guard them. Don't give your best hours to your inbox. Don't give your best hours to meetings that could have been emails. Give your best hours to the work that actually moves your life forward. Third, create friction for things that distracts you and remove friction.

for the things that matter. Put your phone in another room. Turn off notifications. Delete the app for a week. Make it harder to be distracted and easier to be focused. Because right now, most of us have made distraction effortless and focus exhausting. Flip that. You want to put yourself in the right conditions to make sure that you're your focus. You want to make it harder to be distracted. And I'll be honest with you. I've had seasons where I got so distracted that I was present everywhere and effective nowhere. I mean, I was in the meeting, but I wasn't in the meeting.

I was at dinner, but I wasn't at dinner. I mean, I was with my kids, but I wasn't with my kids. My body was there, but my mind was somewhere else. And to be honest, the people closest to me could feel it. And that's the real cost. It's not just productivity. present. Distraction steals our ability to be fully where we are. And the people we love deserve more than a distracted version of us. Your goals deserve more than a distracted version of you. If you want to

accomplish something in this world, you are going to have to lock in. So here's my challenge for this week. Do an audit. Look at where your time is actually going. Not where you think it's going. it's going. I feel like my day just got away from me. No, no, no, no. Do an audit. What did you do from 8 to 9 a.m.? What did you do from 9 a.m to 10 a.m.? What did you do from 10 a.m.? To 11 a.m. It's your schedule. You have it. It does not have you. And then ask yourself, what's the tax I'm paying for distraction? What is it costing me in my career? What is it costing me in my health? What is it costing me in relationships. What is it costing me in my peace of mind because distraction doesn't just steal your time. It steals your potential. And you've got too much of it to keep paying a tax you'd never

agreed to. My friends, thank you so much for listening to the Ryan League podcast. If today's episode inspired you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend. And hey, it would mean the world to me if you take a moment to rate review and subscribe. Your support helps us reach even more people with these short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Thank you so much for being a part of the journey and we will catch you next time.