𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗖.𝗦. 𝗟𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀?
No way! 😅 In fact he’d likely roll in his grave if he saw how many struggling writers are so distracted by electronic devices these days.
Put aside Lewis' dated and chauvinistic language and think about how the man's main point applies to us: clearly social media, texts and emails are stealing our focus as writers—and our creativity. Tomorrow's erstwhile Novel Prize winner of literature might be too addicted to games today to ever realize his or her true calling. I think that for all our constantly being connected via our phones many writers are paradoxically struggling more than ever before to understand and connect with their readers.
Years ago, I ditched my smartphone for a flip phone for three months. It wasn’t glamorous (T9 texting, anyone?), but after feeling irritated for a week the ensuing mental clarity was completely worth it. It wasn't till I fasted from my phone that I realized how much pointless noise was in my mind and how little I was actually accomplishing. I was able to read a few books every week, something I had not done for a long time.
Reading Lewis’s message below, his advice still holds true: 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀. Digital distractions are the worst kind in that they follow us around in our pockets and purses, robbing us of the focus we need to think deeply and write well.
To be honest and fully transparent, I do heavily use a smartphone to get work done I couldn't easily do otherwise, but certainly not when I'm writing some serious and my mind needs to focus. I've found that if I am not carefully using my devices with full awareness they can easily become a huge time suck.
We all have limited mental bandwidth, and if we are distracted and preoccupied then that does our ability to work no favors.
What’s your biggest distraction—and are you ready to silence it?
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