Do you find there’s too much distraction in the world? Today, there’s too much distraction on my desk – there’s bits of paper, notes, my phone is flashing at me, reminding me of this and that, enticing me with messages, my laptop holds an entire wonderland of distraction that I know if I go there, I may never come back – e-mails, twitter, facebook, my website, other websites…there’s just so much distraction.
And that distraction gets louder and louder and louder the more I try to focus on writing today’s article. The truth is, I don’t know what to write. I have a couple of vague (very vague) ideas, but they’re coming to nothing. One, I forgot before I could start writing. Another, I wrote the title and then….nothing. I didn’t know how to start. I didn’t know what I wanted to say.
Time is pressured – I have a session in 23 minutes and I need 15 minutes preparation…so I’ve got 8 minutes to write. And I keep thinking of all the little things I could do now, instead of writing. All the damn distractions.
Maybe I’m just not in the right space or time for writing? Maybe I need to come back after the session, at which point it’ll be an hour or so later and maybe I’ll have a clear idea? Maybe that idea (of having a clear idea ‘later’) is another damn distraction? I suspect so, because even if I only have 8 (now 6) minutes…that’s still 6 minutes more writing than I’ll do if I go running off after something bright and shiny and easy.
What do you do when distraction calls? Do you answer? Do you employ discipline and close down facebook and just sit with what you want to do? How do you make yourself sit in the chair and do what you need to do?
As I’m writing about this today, you’d hope I have the answers right? That I’ll be able to tell you the magic pill that will stop you being distracted and get you sitting in your chair doing that thing you really want to do? Hahahahaha….I refer you to the above “too much distraction on my desk” comment.
What I do know is that none of this will help:
1. Do the washing up from lunch. And dry up. And clean the kitchen.
2. Pop to the loo and decide to put away laundry on the way back.
3. Open someone else’s website and search for something you want to read of theirs.
4. Pop into Facebook and start scrolling (stopping only when you realise hours have passed)
5. Get a vague idea but rather than test that idea by starting to write, wander off to check out a new product you noticed on Facebook…
6. Go off to twitter and ask for tips to deal with distraction…and get distracted by #writerproblems
7. Google ‘distracted from writing’…seriously, this is the biggest rabbit hole I’ve been down today! And I found nothing helpful. (Although I did sign up to a mailing list and got a free ebook, so it’s not a dead loss).
8. Get the munchies and wander off to get a biscuit.
9. Tell myself I have 8 minutes, 6, 5….oh dear God…NOT helpful!
Yep…I have done all of those (and more) today! So here’s some of the things I have done today that did help…
1. Give yourself 15 minutes (or 5) or whatever to BE distracted…if you do the stuff that’s fighting for your attention, you might be able to focus better.
2. Move your body – dance off the fidgetiness or do some star jumps to get rid of the jitters.
3. Calm your mind – meditate for a few minutes or do a centering yoga pose (balances usually work well for me – you don’t need to get the mat out and you do need to concentrate on them!)
4. Close windows and browser tabs on your laptop – facebook, twitter and any other website or program that doesn’t need to be open (you can always re-open them later if you need to)
5. Make a note of the stuff you need to do so you remember to do it later when your task is complete.
6. Ask for help. I’ve closed Twitter so I don’t know if I’ve had any helpful replies yet but reminding myself that other people suffer with distraction and putting a request out for help has helped in itself.
7. Chill. Distraction is normal. Google “distracted from (doing whatever you’re distracted from doing)…” There’s a ton of posts about it. Ok, I know I said it’s a distraction…it is, so don’t do it if you’re trying to write or study or finish a project, but when you have a few minutes (or hours) to spare, google it and see how common a problem it is! You might even find some good ideas. And some that blatantly won’t work – like having a totally clear work environment (nothing on your desk) and disconnecting from the internet and having zero noise. Uh-huh. And back in the real world…I get their point, but actually I think I’d find the sterility a distraction in itself. Back to my point: chill – distraction is normal.
8. Hide the clock. If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, set an alarm. Time pressure is not going to help you be chilled and get working, trust me!
9. Keep putting yourself back in your chair. Like a patient parent putting a kid on the naughty step over and over, just keep (gently) putting yourself back in the chair. At some point the flow will start and the distraction will go…and if it doesn’t, you tried, go goof off!
I’m serious. Some days distraction wins and rather than spend the day fighting it, you’d be better off going and doing something else! But first give yourself the chance to dance with distraction – the more you deal with distraction, the better you’ll get at dealing with it constructively and well, the more you’ll understand it, the more you’ll figure out the best strategies for you.
And if you have a strategy you’ve found that works for you I’d love to hear it…because I can hear distraction calling again now!
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