I am quite possibly the Queen of Procrastination and the most easily distracted person in the world and it doesn’t go unnoticed. I’ve often been likened to Dory from Finding Nemo or the dog from Up….SQUIRREL.
There is nothing I hate more than getting distracted and procrastinating whilst I’m trying to write. I reckon if I didn’t end up daydreaming I would have finished my novel already. So, how do you stop yourself from getting distracted and remove the urge to procrastinate? Well, here are five things I have found helpful.
1. GET OFF OF THE INTERNET.
Yes, I know, you are allowed to cry at this suggestion. ‘But, what about checking Twitter?’ I hear you cry. I know, I feel your pain. However, I think the internet is the biggest culprit. I spend far too much of my life on twitter, Facebook, BuzzFeed, YouTube, Amazon etc and not enough time focussing my energy on something a little more rewarding and important. I would be mortified to find out how much of my life I have wasted, refreshing twitter and stalking people on Facebook: I imagine it’s a good ol’ chunk of it. So, get off the internet and remove the urge to keep checking Twitter or sharing with the world the latest funny thing you found on BuzzFeed or a cute cat you found on YouTube.
The best way to deal with this is either sit in a place where you have no internet access: go to a library, a coffee shop, a park and just sit down with your laptop/notepad and write or turn off the internet on your computer whilst you write. I have a magic little button on mine which switches it to aeroplane mode meaning there is no internet connection.
Then, you have the chance to focus on what you’re doing and stop worrying about what you’re missing on Twitter (because I can guarantee, it won’t be much).
2. Take regular breaks.
This might be an obvious one but always take breaks to break up the monotony of staring at a computer screen and mechanically pulling a cup of coffee to your lips. I take short breaks regularly instead of taking longs breaks rarely. Sometimes I might write for fifteen minutes, get up and walk around the house for five minutes, get myself a glass of water and carry on. I might take a break and have a big stretch, look out of the window, read a few pages of a book: anything to let me take my mind of writing for a few minutes. Now, this doesn’t work for everyone; some people love to just sit and write and write and write. They don’t like taking breaks because it interrupts their flow. However, I guess I’m lucky in the fact I can walk away for a few minutes, come back and pick up where I left off. So, if you struggle with sitting still for a long period, try taking regular breaks.
3. Reward yourself.
Now, if you have the mental age of a five year old, like I do, then you might find you will be motivated by the promise of a reward. Write five hundred words and you get a square of chocolate, write one thousand words and you get a ten minute break to look at Twitter, write for an hour without distraction and take the afternoon off. It’s things like this that motivate me on days where I really just need a good kick up the bum! Us humans love the promise of rewards and we love working towards goals to claim the reward. So, set yourself a few goals, have a reward at the end and start writing!
4. Ignore the world around you.
I am the worst at this. I have the ‘loft’ or ‘attic’ room in the house and therefore have two very large windows; one which I sit by at my desk. I cannot tell you how often I find myself looking at the birds sitting in the trees and wonder how long I’ve actually been sitting like that for. Also, have you ever noticed how funny clouds are?
See my point? I get so distracted by the most mundane things.
To combat this problem, you need to get ‘in the zone’ and try and ignore everything else going on around you (ok, not everything, don’t ignore if your house is on fire or there’s someone at the door) but ignore enough so that you don’t find your attention grabbed by silly things. I often find I write best in the evenings when the curtains are closed, the room is relatively dark and there are no distracting sounds but I am slowly managing to find my little zone during the day. Plus, if you are really clever and can listen to music as you write (I can unless I know the words to the song otherwise it’s too much of a distraction because I just start singing) then you can help use the music to get you into a little world of writing.
5. Be comfortable.
I am often really restless (probably not helped by my morning caffeine intake) and I find I like to change position whilst I write. A lot. I start sitting normally, then might sit cross legged on my chair then tuck one leg under the other, sit with my back against the seat, sit right on the edge of the chair…I do it all! The reason I do it is because I get uncomfortable just sitting in one position the whole time and have to keep moving to stop my legs going to sleep. So, find a place where you can write comfortably so you don’t have to stop typing every five minutes to rescue your leg from underneath the other one because it’s full of pins and needles and won’t move itself. I’m still working on this one...
(I am noticing a pattern here…maybe I am just a very restless and attention deficient person…!)
Right, so there are my five tips on how to stop being so distracted when you write. They certainly help me (apart from number five, I’m yet to crack that one) and I can see a huge improvement in my productivity when I follow them.
Also, get enough sleep, keep drinking water throughout the day and don’t be too hard on yourself if you have a few blips!
Happy writing friends!
1. GET OFF OF THE INTERNET.
Yes, I know, you are allowed to cry at this suggestion. ‘But, what about checking Twitter?’ I hear you cry. I know, I feel your pain. However, I think the internet is the biggest culprit. I spend far too much of my life on twitter, Facebook, BuzzFeed, YouTube, Amazon etc and not enough time focussing my energy on something a little more rewarding and important. I would be mortified to find out how much of my life I have wasted, refreshing twitter and stalking people on Facebook: I imagine it’s a good ol’ chunk of it. So, get off the internet and remove the urge to keep checking Twitter or sharing with the world the latest funny thing you found on BuzzFeed or a cute cat you found on YouTube.
The best way to deal with this is either sit in a place where you have no internet access: go to a library, a coffee shop, a park and just sit down with your laptop/notepad and write or turn off the internet on your computer whilst you write. I have a magic little button on mine which switches it to aeroplane mode meaning there is no internet connection.
Then, you have the chance to focus on what you’re doing and stop worrying about what you’re missing on Twitter (because I can guarantee, it won’t be much).
2. Take regular breaks.
This might be an obvious one but always take breaks to break up the monotony of staring at a computer screen and mechanically pulling a cup of coffee to your lips. I take short breaks regularly instead of taking longs breaks rarely. Sometimes I might write for fifteen minutes, get up and walk around the house for five minutes, get myself a glass of water and carry on. I might take a break and have a big stretch, look out of the window, read a few pages of a book: anything to let me take my mind of writing for a few minutes. Now, this doesn’t work for everyone; some people love to just sit and write and write and write. They don’t like taking breaks because it interrupts their flow. However, I guess I’m lucky in the fact I can walk away for a few minutes, come back and pick up where I left off. So, if you struggle with sitting still for a long period, try taking regular breaks.
3. Reward yourself.
Now, if you have the mental age of a five year old, like I do, then you might find you will be motivated by the promise of a reward. Write five hundred words and you get a square of chocolate, write one thousand words and you get a ten minute break to look at Twitter, write for an hour without distraction and take the afternoon off. It’s things like this that motivate me on days where I really just need a good kick up the bum! Us humans love the promise of rewards and we love working towards goals to claim the reward. So, set yourself a few goals, have a reward at the end and start writing!
4. Ignore the world around you.
I am the worst at this. I have the ‘loft’ or ‘attic’ room in the house and therefore have two very large windows; one which I sit by at my desk. I cannot tell you how often I find myself looking at the birds sitting in the trees and wonder how long I’ve actually been sitting like that for. Also, have you ever noticed how funny clouds are?
See my point? I get so distracted by the most mundane things.
To combat this problem, you need to get ‘in the zone’ and try and ignore everything else going on around you (ok, not everything, don’t ignore if your house is on fire or there’s someone at the door) but ignore enough so that you don’t find your attention grabbed by silly things. I often find I write best in the evenings when the curtains are closed, the room is relatively dark and there are no distracting sounds but I am slowly managing to find my little zone during the day. Plus, if you are really clever and can listen to music as you write (I can unless I know the words to the song otherwise it’s too much of a distraction because I just start singing) then you can help use the music to get you into a little world of writing.
5. Be comfortable.
I am often really restless (probably not helped by my morning caffeine intake) and I find I like to change position whilst I write. A lot. I start sitting normally, then might sit cross legged on my chair then tuck one leg under the other, sit with my back against the seat, sit right on the edge of the chair…I do it all! The reason I do it is because I get uncomfortable just sitting in one position the whole time and have to keep moving to stop my legs going to sleep. So, find a place where you can write comfortably so you don’t have to stop typing every five minutes to rescue your leg from underneath the other one because it’s full of pins and needles and won’t move itself. I’m still working on this one...
(I am noticing a pattern here…maybe I am just a very restless and attention deficient person…!)
Right, so there are my five tips on how to stop being so distracted when you write. They certainly help me (apart from number five, I’m yet to crack that one) and I can see a huge improvement in my productivity when I follow them.
Also, get enough sleep, keep drinking water throughout the day and don’t be too hard on yourself if you have a few blips!
Happy writing friends!