Dealing with distractions

During my writing session today I wrote about distractions. This is one of the main topics writers focus on when they start to fix their process. They set up a clean, uncluttered desk in the attic and set their status to Do Not Disturb.

First of all, there’s a bit of a universal law behind distraction: Each person has their own particular settings, and those settings can change from day to day. Some people can’t listen to music while writing. Others can. I can listen to French chansons or J-pop while I’m writing, but anything with English words will throw me off. Sorry, K R&B, I need you to come by later, baby.

But some days all kinds of music are too much for me, and I need to wear noise-canceling headphones and get absorbed in a gong bath.

Most people are going to prefer some level of background noise to fill the space. Silence can be just as distracting as noise. But I bet there are at least a few people who need complete silence.

Types of distraction

Distraction is about more than loud noises, though. My overly-analytical mind came up with five kinds of distractions I deal with.

• Time Sinks: Things that suck up my time and prevent me from ever sitting down. For me, that’s usually YouTube.
• Guilt Trips: Commitments and obligations that split my attention while I’m writing. Dang it, I really should be doing my taxes instead.
• Inside Jobs: Impulses that arise from the writing. I should research what kinds of trees this character would see in this setting.
• Outside Influences: Noises and visual distractions that trigger my reactive mind. What 's that crazy squirrel doing out in the yard?
• Busy Work: Real work that isn’t aligned with my goals or isn’t timely. Why am I writing about this character’s backstory? They’re just an unnamed side-character.

And of course, there can be compound distractions. A mother might hear her children yelling at each other (outside influence) and starts her thinking she should be watching them (guilt trip) and she starts researching parenting advice (inside job) and working on an idea for an article (busy work). Instead, she should just think, “They’ll work it out.”

How to deal with distractions

• Prevent them: Find ways to prevent or reduce distractions. Close the door. Turn off the cellphone.
• Handle them: Get the distractions out of the way. When the kids come in, bustle them back out the door or run them to the ER. Whichever is appropriate.
• Defer them: Set them aside with a promise to indulge them later. I often write research questions on sticky notes, for example.
• Ride them out: Surf the urge. Allow a bit of mental stress in the moment in order to train the brain.

Overall, the best thing I can do when dealing with distractions is practice reducing my outrage or disappointment. Whichever solution I end up using, I don’t want to multiply the distraction with my own reactivity.

If I am handling the distraction, I shouldn’t let it continue to disturb me when I am back at work.

This is an antifragile mindset. With this approach each distraction I face is actually my teacher.