and how has these things affect you during the game? 

what are some things that are considered chess distractions

Loud noises.

and the affects?

They're distracting.

The phone always rings when I have less than a minute left on my clock:)

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Kids.

I think they depend on the person.  I know guys that wear ear plugs, cover there ears with there hands, and still let every litttle noise disturb them.  Then there is me :-)  I was married, had kids, and I practice with the TV on as backgropund noise, so noise/distractions dont bother me as much.

thanks. I find it hilarious when someone goes through the trouble to help one another out. 

That's why I am afraid to have kids one day. I'm afraid my thinking prowess would go down the drain completely.

Yes women would be one. But how would you keep your mind clear from them?

You must be a stock broker.

Having loud kids in the background would allow you to train to ignore distractions. After a while you should be able to concentrate at a rock concert. 

lol feels like a way to dupe someone into having kids early on thinking that it wouldn't be a problem.

Is that the only way to overcome distraction is to expose yourself to them? I've read about this on another article written by a chess teacher. He proposes the idea of exposing kids to external noises to train his student's auditory thought process. 

Former world champion mikhail botvinnik said he used to practice against heavy smokers.  Because he disliked being around smokers, he forced himself to practice against them so he wouldnt bother him. 

A p[erfect example was just yesterday.  I played in a tournament, and it was the last round.  I had a nice position, with some possibilities.  The game next to us had a player that just cant seem to understand chess ettiquette.  He can get rather noisy, with no regard to anyone around him.  My opponent started getting visibly upset, and he allowed it to distract him.  A few moves later he played a horrible move that lost. 

So the goal is to not listen to good music while playign to enhance dealing with distractibility.

Thank gawd I only play online so I don't get any distractions, except for an occasional comment from a butthead. But, I'd say finger-drumming would put me off....yeah, finger-drumming.

The problem with kids is not only noise. You take the risk to start a game since they seem to be calm, and suddenly they start to fight, run across the house and fall down like bowling pins.

You've never heard great finger-dumming before?

But you cannot ignore it which is the major problem with kids. 

Indeed.