Savannah Watson

Confession time: I am a distractable person. I can go from hyperfocused to “oh look, a squirrel” in seconds. And in our world of media, notifications, and technology, it’s way too easy to become distracted by things. In fact, I counted how many times I got distracted (texting, internet videos, or just getting up from my computer for no real reason) from writing just this one post… 10 times.

Many things cause me to get distracted, but there are two major culprits.

The first culprit is boredom or frustration; the second is a lack of inspiration. If I hit a wall while writing, get stuck on a scene, find that I’m not fully invested in whatever I’m writing at the moment, or feel otherwise uninspired, I am quick to pick up my phone and scroll through Pinterest for “inspiration” (*cough cough*) or start watching a Youtube video.

The problem is: distractions are the enemy of productivity.

Ultimately, I need to remember that getting distracted doesn’t do me any good. It detracts from the task at hand – making it take longer to finish – and it breaks up the train of thought. Instead, I should be sitting with the boredom, frustration, or lack of inspiration; I should give my brain time to process without interrupting. I’m not going to find inspiration on Pinterest… I will get sucked into random posts about exercise, goth fashion, and all of my other interests except writing. Texting or watching Game Grumps (and I love me some Game Grumps, just saying) isn’t going to make the blog post be finished any faster.

So, how do I combat my distractability?

Do Not Disturb is my best friend for this. I have set up (and actually use) the DND feature on my phone to limit text, phone call, and notification interruptions – in fact, my parents, partner, and best friend are the only notifications that come through.

However, self-control and discipline are key to avoiding distractions. When I get the itch to grab my phone instead of working on a tough scene or watch a video instead of writing a blog post (I say after another very long hiatus…), I need to stop myself. I need to remind myself that my dream is to be a writer, and to be a writer, you must write. Honing the self-control to stay focused is a crucial skill.

Finally, and most importantly, I need to remember that it’s okay to waiver. It’s okay and normal to get distracted. As long as I get myself back on track and try to do better each time, I will be able to get my distractibility under control. And I’ll get more writing done, which is the ultimate goal 🙂

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