“There is something under my skin recently.” One day, M told me on the way back home.

“What is it? Why do you think so?”

“I do not know. But I hate someone else sitting beside me while I am in the office. I am not able to concentrate on what I am doing.”

“Hmm. That is difficult. You have to share the office with somebody else except you yourself are the boss.” I teased her.

Actually, her problem was just too easy to get disturbed. I believe people have different thresholds for distraction or disturbance. Take one of my colleagues as an example. He always felt annoyed about receiving emails from our secretary, who, in average, informed us 6-7 times through email daily. He used to spit out sarcastically that she really needed a hobby. I do not know why it bothered him so much. She simply thought it was the best way to finish her job. Don’t like it? Delete it. As simple as this.

Living in a community, one unavoidably meets those whom he/she is not able to get along with or even dislikes. Not surprisingly, those pet peeves irritate people from time to time, if not always.  People do need private space and a peaceful mind. So, how to filter and deal with annoyance? My techniques include setting up a goal and focusing on it, trying to understand the way people behave and leave it alone. Most importantly, choose to have a positive healthy attitude towards those distractions. It is only you who is qualified to control your mood, action and life.