6 Steps for Conquering Writing Distractions

Distractions are the great writing-killers. They’re subtle, nasty, and have a sneaky habit of inserting themselves into our good intentions. Many a good intention have succumbed to the odorless poison that is distractions until, gradually, all that is left are the ashes of time, lost and forgotten.

Maybe that’s a taaaad extreme, but if you’re a writer, filmmaker, or really any type of creative, I’d wager you’ve gone to battle against distractions and trudged home victor-less more than you’d care to admit. Me too.

While some distractions are certainly legitimate (i.e., family emergency), too many could easily be avoided by 1) Knowing what these little enemies look like, and 2) securing a plan to evade, avoid, or eliminate them.

1. Plan with your family.

First things first. Family-time is not (should not) be a distraction. Since having kids, the weight of not wasting my time with the little ones has crashed upon me with a resonance that few other major life changes have carried. Time with family is precious and, if used to its fullest, should outweigh most other aspects of life, including writing.

But, especially for the hope-to-be-someday-published author, writing is also a vital part of our lives.

So, how do we reconcile the two?

Plan. Set aside specific writing time. Make sacrifices that do not involve your spouse and kids.

Realistically, how does this look?

Ultimately, it will look different from individual to individual. For me, it involves trading-in an hour or two of sleep most days in exchange for writing time. Since the two-year-old has not yet discovered the productivity of early morning hours, the hours before sunrise are prime work through a blog post or bits of the work-in-progress.

For you, it might be different. Perhaps at night, once everyone is slumbering might be the best time to crank out a few paragraphs. Or during your lunchbreak at work.

It may take a bit of creativity (but hey, you’re a writer!), but at least a few snatches of time is there, IF you’re willing to look for it and make personal sacrifices.

Now, that’s not to say that you should NEVER write when the family is up and bustling about. But, sit down with your significant other and together work out a plan that allows you to support your family while still committing to your writing.

Really, it’s all about managing expectations between you and your loved ones. If you tell your kids that from 5 to 5:30 every evening is your writing time, they will gradually accept (and hopefully respect) the fact that those hours are your time for pounding away at the keyboard.Plus, it gives them an expectation for when (at 5:30) to look forward to spending dedicated time with you.

Naturally, emergencies and other events will arise, but if you can be flexible and treat your family with MORE respect and joy than your writing, this will allow you to stay committed to both.

2. Write at the same time every day.

As we just considered, writing at the same time isn’t always possible…BUT, it’s massively important to try!

Why?

Writing at the same time every day will train your brain that THIS is writing time. Slowly, your subconscious will start to prepare for this time (6am, for example), and brush off the quickly accumulating brain-cobwebs in preparation for what you’ve now made a daily habit.

Ultimately, you’re training your mind to get ready to write so that you don’t need to spend precious minutes “getting in the mode”.

Now, if you can’t write at the same time every day (rotating work schedules, for example), this isn’t an excuse not to write. But whenever possible, start training your mind to expect to write at the same time every day (or, if you have something like a rotating schedule, around the same activities, such as a lunchbreak), and your brain will gradually mark that time as writing time. Therefore, the process of getting those first daily words on the page will get easier.

3. Write in a consistent space.

Same logic as #2. Teach your brain that this space is where you go to write.

Now, one of the beauties of the writing profession is that we can do so nearly everywhere we have access to paper and pen, or even a phone.

Additionally, many authors thrive on travelling to new locales to inject their writing routine with freshness. Some plop down on a boulder in the midst of the wilderness to scribble away on a piece of parchment. The joys of writing anywhere are boundless.

However…the bulk of most writers’ output comes from dedicated time in the same place. The sense of familiarity provides a wee bit of security that the writer’s brain latches onto, often thrusting away other distractions. We know our environment and because of this, we know what distractions will attack. Therefore, we can be more vigilant in fending off the writing-killers before they have a chance.

So, choose a place that will henceforth (or, at least for a few months) be known as your writing locale. It could be as simple as the kitchen table…or an office…or a coffeeshop. Or it could be an exotic cave somewhere in the Swiss Alps.

Your choice. Just dedicate the bulk of your writing to that space for a time, then, if you need to, switch it up after a while.

4. Keep your space clean (but don’t use writing time to clean!).

I’m not a neat-freak. Yes, I try to keep the sink clean and the floors swept, but I don’t necessarily jump en guard at every dust bunny that rolls into the living room.

But the writing space (remember that area we just talked about?) is a different storybook altogether.

Here’s a thought: why do we close our eyes to pray? Shutting our eyes when speaking to our Savior isn’t a Biblical commandment, but most of us do so nearly all the time.

Namely, we do so to eliminate our vision – our vision that takes in so many distractions. We want to solely focus on the Creator of this universe and give Him the attention He deserves without other unimportant thoughts jumping in at any ole’ moment. So, we close our eyes to focus on the Lord.

Now, picture your writing space. Is it in shambles? Is there random junk in the room? Toys strewn about? A conglomerate of papers requesting filing scrambling for your attention?

Friends, this is where so many of our writing distractions come from. Even when we’re focused on the page at hand, we know that junk (whether it is rightly so or not) is still there, taunting us ever so gently.

At some point, that stuff’s gonna break our concentration. Maybe not a big deal if we choose not to deal with it during writing time, but when our attention is taken off our writing, it can take a few minutes to get back into the groove. Precious minutes.

To quote everyone’s favorite monster, “Put that thing back where it came from or so help me!”

Just don’t clean during writing time!!!

I know, it can be overwhelming, especially if months’ or years’ (or, gulp, decades) worth of stuff is attempting to conquer your writing area, but take a few minutes every day to gradually get your space clean and as distraction-free as possible.

Bonus tip: to avoid the seemingly inevitable take over of writing time by the cleaning process, do your cleaning during the opposite time of day as you do your writing. Do you write at night? Take a few minutes first thing in the morning to locate and secure those long-forgotten cheerios your child hid away for a rainy day.

5. Take care of the necessities first.

It is common knowledge that one can “hold it” with relative ease until a project, event of importance, or any other factors arise that eliminate all access to the corresponding facilities.

Trust me on this one:

Use the bathroom before you start writing. Even if you don’t have to “go”.

You’ll thank me later. Probably.

6. Put out a few snacks and a water bottle.

Some people swear by their honey roasted toasted almonds dipped halfway in dark chocolate sprinkled with sea salt and Cajun seasonings with a shelf life of 9 seconds.

Others do the intermittent fasting thing (I’ve found that skipping breakfast gives me more energy in the morning and eliminates the after-lunch sleepiness).

If you’re one of those who loveth their almonds, plop them down, right over there by your pen. See that. You can snag a few whenever you want and don’t have to waste time springing to the kitchen when those hunger pains gnaw.

Actually, how much you wanna bet that those rumblys in your tumblys are one of those nasty distractions!?

Defeat that distraction! Get your snacks and water en-route from the aforementioned restroom trip to the also aforementioned writing space.

Share your thoughts! What ways have you uncovered for eliminating writing distractions?