Technology has advanced our productivity, our efficiency, and made it possible for writers everywhere to create, share, and publish their work. Technology has also advanced the procrastination game to new heights, making it easier than ever to get incredibly distracted from your goals for hours at a time. How?
Thanks to capitalism, the devices that were invented to make our lives better have now pretty much become the number one way to hi-jack our brains to try and sell us things. Colorful apps designed to get us scrolling and clicking keep us browsing meaningless content for hours. Sure, it can be fun to play an iOS game or check out the sale section on your favorite store’s app, but what do you do when you find yourself compulsively scrolling your endless social media feed instead of getting writing done?
Avoiding digital distractions while writing is an essential skill for any writer who uses an internet-enabled device to write. Whether that’s your laptop, phone, or the computer at your local library, writing while connected to the internet can be like walking through a sea of temptations.
We’re taking a look today at the discussion between interviewer and neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman and author of Deep Work Dr. Cal Newport. If you want to listen to the full episode, I highly recommend checking it out here. They discuss practical tools and skills that you can use to improve the productivity of your writing sessions by cutting through the noise and avoiding digital distractions.
Balancing work with digital distractions
The first thing you need to know about balancing work with digital distractions is the Internet is not the problem. Just because you’re working over Wi-Fi doesn’t mean you can’t avoid digital distractions when writing.
To balance work with digital distractions, understand that the internet is not the issue. Products like social media that can send push notifications are the real productivity killer, as notifications on your phone divert your attention away from your work and pull you into the never-ending scroll.
Notifications are designed to grab our attention. Working with your phone on your desk will inevitably lead you to become distracted as the texts and push messages come rolling in. Sometimes, your phone even lights up when you don’t have a text!
Why? Because your phone wants to be looked at. Here’s why.
Overcoming digital distractions when writing
Advertisers won’t make money unless they have your eyes, and this means your phone will be begging for your attention when you sit down to write. Here are some practical tools you can use to minimize those distractions.
- Leave your phone in another room
- Turn your phone off
- Set your phone to Airplane Mode or Do Not Disturb
- Set your background to an all-black color
If you can’t ditch your phone entirely, you can certainly make it less enticing when it comes time to write. Silencing non-essential messages and changing your background to a boring color will ensure you don’t won’t be reaching for it to get some much-needed dopamine when you hit a writing roadblock.
Here’s some more advice from Penguin Random House on avoiding digital distractions.
To overcome digital distractions when writing, you need to make your phone as boring to you as possible. You won’t be reaching for it when you need dopamine if your background screen is black and notifications are set to essentials only. Better yet, turn it off completely or leave it in another room.
It’s tempting to reach for social media when you hit a writing rut or feel like you deserve a break. Check-in with yourself before you check Tumblr or Instagram and ask: can I afford to lose 20 minutes out of today’s writing session? Because that’s what’s going to happen, and the worst part is, you might even feel productive while you’re wasting time! Here’s why.
Digital distractions are pseudo productivity
Writing is knowledge work, which means it is a very individualistic process and therefore difficult to determine what “productive writing” even means. Some writers don’t feel productive unless they get a few thousand words down, while others are comfortable spending an entire day solely on research.
One thing is for certain, however: digital distractions are pseudo productivity. What does that mean?
Pseudo productivity is ascribed to behaviors that make you feel productive but are actually time-wasters in disguise. Busyness does not equal work, but checking your email for the hundredth time can feel like work. Digital distractions can give you the appearance of working while you produce nothing.
When you sit down to a writing session, minimize digital distractions as much as possible. Your time to write is sacred, and you should protect it. While you might feel productive clearing out your email or sorting through notifications, if you’re not putting words on paper, you might be tricking yourself.
That said, you don’t have to be a robot when it comes to your writing session! Believe it or not, balance is possible.
How to balance writing work with social media distractions
Balancing writing with social media distractions is possible for you, and it can even work in your favor! Taking a break from hard concentration can be beneficial to your writing when done right.
Here is a sample writing schedule you can follow to balance your work with your phone time.
- Put your phone in the bathroom.
- Sit down to write for 30 minutes – 60 minutes – bring a big water bottle and drink it all!
- Take a break from writing when you need to – and get a few minutes of phone time in.
The important thing is to not have the phone near you when you are trying to write. It doesn’t have to be the bathroom – although your skin will look amazing from being so hydrated! Carlow University has some more great tips on building in break times, but remember that to deserve a break, you need to have done some work!
Why are digital distractions bad for writers?
Switching focus from one task to another takes energy which is why many writers employ warm-ups at the beginning of their writing practice. The first 15 minutes of concentrating is hard before you get into the flow, which is why digital distractions can be so damaging. A quick look at your phone can cause your brain to reset, meaning you’ll have an even harder time returning to your writing.
A way to balance writing with digital distractions is to designate a special place in your house for writing with as little technology as possible. Never bring your phone in, and only open the necessary tabs on your laptop browser for writing. Set a timer and devote that entire time to your work.
There’s a big difference between allowing yourself to become distracted and taking a much-needed break. Knowing the difference between deciding to take a break and letting a distraction tempt you can take some practice.
Steps to improve focus, productivity, and creativity
Next, let’s dig into some more ways you can improve your focus, productivity, and creativity for writing. Here’s a list to get you started.
Start a no-tech ritual
When you sit down to write, create a ritual as part of your writing practice to turn the phone off, close all of your distracting tabs, and get to work.
Create no-tech habits
Allow yourself to get bored when you hit a writing rut. Don’t reach for social media or messaging apps to fill the “silence”.
Motion and silence
When the body is in motion, it can be easy to turn the mind’s chatter off. Consider incorporating exercise like a spin bike at the beginning of your writing practice to clear your mind and let ideas come organically.
Silence and noise
When the body is still, you can whip your mind into overdrive. Consider this alternative method of idea generation: sit still in a comfortable position and think as much as possible.
Analog, baby!
Seriously, buy a notebook. Capturing ideas in notebooks has been a tool in the author’s kit for a long, long time.
Set your personal OOO – Be out of touch!
Set an expectation that you will not be reachable during your writing practice. People love to jump to conclusions when they don’t get an immediate text back, but if you set the expectation that you won’t reply instantly, you create a more sacred world for your writing practice.
Avoiding digital distractions when writing – final thoughts
Having your phone on your desk is one of the worst things you can do to your writing practice and productivity. Having that temptation sitting there means that the moment your mind slows down, you’ll reach for something to fill the gaps and the silence.
Training yourself to accept these moments and work through them without getting bored or frustrated is critical to improving not only as a writer but as a human being, too! But if you aren’t there yet, just move the phone somewhere you can’t see it for an hour. No one has ever reported, in any technology study, that they have been made worse by reducing their screen time or taking a break from digital distractions. And when you overcome digital distractions, your writing will increase and improve.