There’s a lot of noise in the world. Since the evolution of television, computers, and mobile phones there’s been a gradual increase in the inputs into our lives.
Most authors write on devices that are connected to the outside world. This portal tempts us to dive out of the world of our writing and into the world wide web of social media, emails, google searches, and apps.
When we are constantly interrupted, we lose our train of thought. On average it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get yourself back on track after being interrupted, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine.
Sometimes I crave silence and, of course, I can turn off my screens and take time away but I’ve found that I’m hooked. In the last few weeks, I’ve been reviewing my use of screens and introducing more strategies to lessen screen time. One way has been to turn off notifications and put my phone on silent all the time.
I also purchased a digital notebook that converts handwriting to text. The notebook has no connectivity at all and helps me write without distraction. I used to write my first draft manuscripts in paper notebooks and then have them typed up to edit on screen. Ah! The good old days!
However, my brain has become rewired and I often find myself checking apps on my phone more than I used to, even when writing on paper. The point where I wonder how common it was for women to wear trousers during World War Two and go off on a Google search is when I lose the thread of my thoughts. Minutes later, I’ve found some interesting information but my story has stalled.
I’m not only affected by distractions from social media and Google but I can also get distracted by reading. Reading is an important part of being a writer, and necessary as far as I’m concerned, but the easy access to electronic books can mean that you finish one book and one click later, you’re into another. Reading too many stories can interrupt your own story-making processes.
I haven’t been able to stick to this for extended periods, but assigning one book a week is an excellent way of ensuring you’re reading enough while curbing the temptation to read too much. Another idea is to give a break of a few days in between books. This leads to more mindfulness and encourages more retention of what we are reading.
Julia Cameron in Write for Life encourages writers to have a week of media deprivation: In every life there is an “excess” of words, media, television, texting, surfing the internet, that, when avoided for a week, releases a great deal of self-empowerment and creative energy … The reward of media deprivation is a positive–and often prodigious–flow of words.
I have often put myself on a reading fast when I’m working on a book, especially in those intense weeks of editing, but a complete media fast? No phone? No email? The closest I’ve been to that in years is when I go camping off-grid once a year.
When I wrote in paper notebooks, writing used to be so easy for me and I’d spend hours without interruption. I want to go back to those days and it’s going to take a lot of retraining of the mind.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2 NIV
Doing the deep work of writing takes concentration and quiet. Jim Collins author of Good to Great says when you write ‘you have to go deep into the data, deep into the research, deep into the thinking, the long cycles of reflection, that’s how you get the ideas. And that’s how you do good stuff … This is the wellspring of the deep, quiet solitude of work.’
We need an approach to writing where time is allocated and dedicated to the different types of activities we engage in as writers who live in the real world. Thinking time, time to attend to life admin, family and friends, and time to write all need to be fitted into our very real, full lives.
The “secret” of people who do so many difficult things is that they do only one thing at a time; they refuse to let themselves be squandered away in “small driblets [that] are no time at all. Peter Drucker
Perhaps unconscious unplugging should become a feature of our writing practice.
Am I the only one who has a problem with distraction? How do you manage your writing time?
Hi Elaine, I totally relate to the being distracted dilemma. I have removed social media apps off my phone at different times to break the habit of scrolling and checking notifications. I’m reading and blog commenting on a week’s worth of ACW posts today because it’s more efficient to focus on one thing in a chunk of time. Switching my phone to do-not-disturb can also help me to focus on the task at hand.
A lot of my writing is “thinking time” and I’ve learned to do mundane tasks while my mind is brewing the story. I need that mental space preparation time before I can put words on the page.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Narelle. I’ve been fighting this for a long time and am realising how much time is eaten up by being online. I hope you find more time and mental space. 😊