A lot is said nowadays about writing with distraction-free tools. I think, however, that these tools will not help you if your problem is distraction. Because, distraction comes from another issue, unrelated to the tool you’re using.
When a writer sits down to write, his brain literally changes. Neurology differentiates frequencies of brain waves depending on the person’s level of concentration. So, when an author is very focused on his work, his neurons change, the frequency changes, and distractions become impossible.
How many times have I written with unbelievable distractions around me, and yet, I was completely focused. I’m sure you already had this experience if you are a writer. People talk to you while you are writing, and you don’t hear a thing. Shit happens all around, like the cat pukes on your bed, and someone drops a glass cup in the kitchen, but thanks to your concentration, you don’t even notice. This happens because the brain entered that state of concentration in which the writing, the flow of the prose, becomes the only thing that it can process.
Writers who have problems with distraction are, in fact, having problems entering this hyper-concentrated state of mind. Removing noises and other distractions do not help so much.
One of the main reasons people fail to enter that state of mind is lack of interest. If you’re not interested in your text anymore, and you’re bored with your story, you will fail to get back on the horse and keep writing. Even if you remove all distractions, your brain will still not be focusing completely on the job.
How to regain interest in your work, then? This is a very subjective thing. You could, for example, read it again and consider the feelings that you were having while you were excited about the project. What did this project spark on you? What did it have that motivated you?
If you got yourself a “new toy,” i.e. a new project that’s more exciting, one thing you could do is: write the summary of this new project, keep it in the drawer, and go back to the old project. Don’t push new ideas away, but don’t give yourself entirely to them either.
Another issue that authors constantly deal with is procrastination. I hate this word. “Procrastination.” Nowadays, with this work-obsessed culture of ours, it feels like any period of resting and relaxation is considered procrastination, and is frowned upon. It’s late afternoon, and you want to watch videos on sewing instead of focusing on your work. That’s not procrastination—it’s rest. Sometimes, the mind needs to apply some effort in something interesting to be able to rest.
One of my favorite ways to rest the mind is by studying something
completely unrelated to my work. Just the other day, for example, I was
studying the inner workings of the FreeDOS operating system. I even used
FreeDOS to write a few of the blog posts of my website. I also learned
to use the extremely primitive text editor edlin, which I
had absolutely no reason to do. Unless, though, the reason was: by
studying something else, something random, my mind is able to shift its
focus. I step away from writing and towards another thing. Then, when I
go back to writing, I have a fresh point of view. When resting, I like
to study things like C, JavaScript, programming, web interfaces,
libraries. I like to learn about old software and hardware, and I watch
channels like LGR and
Nostalgia
Nerd. I didn’t even experienced these retro computers, so I don’t
feel nostalgia towards them. I’m merely curious about how people solved
common problems before many modern solutions came through.
Maybe, the problem that many authors have with procrastination is the lack of enough procrastination. People don’t rest anymore. They feel guilty about it. They think that they should work all the time. So, after a while, your brain forces you to rest, whether you like it or not. It’s like sleep: if you spend too much time without sleeping, your brain forces you, and punishes you for it.
As I started to comprehend this, my issues with procrastination and distraction ended. I realized that the peak of my procrastination always happened after several weeks of intense, constant, almost uninterrupted work. That was only a natural response of my brain, trying to force me to focus on something else and rest. As I learned to stop and rest, and relax, and spend, sometimes, a few days without working, I didn’t procrastinate anymore.
If you have a procrastination problem, ask yourself: how frequently do you take pauses and focus on something else? How frequently do you take a day off and simply don’t work? Do you focus on some unrelated hobby? Do you feel guilty for taking a time off, thinking that yo are not being productive enough?
And also, does your procrastination and distraction worsen after many days of intense focus and productive work?
If you say “yes” to any of these questions, the reason you procrastinate is simple: you don’t rest enough. The brain is like a muscle. If you move a muscle to its maximum capability, lactic acid fills it and you feel pain. After a while, you run out of certain minerals that move the muscle, and you suffer a kind of collapse where you no longer control the muscle. It forces you to rest. And, if you keep pushing it, you’ll get injured.
Irritation, distraction, and procrastination, are like the lactic acid warning, but for the brain. They’re the signs that you have been going too far and failing to rest. And, if you don’t rest, eventually, you’ll have some worse problem, like depression, sadness, desperation, confusion, insomnia, or some other symptom that will grant you a neat DSM V diagnosis.