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11.05.2011
Last Seen... Staying Focused —
How much time do you fritter away on email? How many minutes are lost tweeting, poking, following and linking-in? It’s very easy to start your day and check your messages, and find that two hours have gone, and guess what, you’re still… replying to emails.
With my current writing project, I suddenly decide I must know a fact. I zoom into Wiki, dive into Google Books, find an obscure online library archive, take a left-turn into an intriguing blog, a u-turn back to Google Books, a quick look at how much the book would cost if I bought it on Amazon, and it’s lunchtime and I haven’t written a word.
Admittedly those forays (and they are like delving into a myriad other worlds) can illicit useful information: another book to read or timely advice from another writer. I recently found myself reading the American novelist Barbara Kingsolver’s excellent Q&A for writers. To avoid getting distracted, the computer where Kingsolver writes is not connected to the internet; she does that in another part of the house. That sounds like a grand idea.
But if that’s not possible for you, there are a host of apps you can download which will limit (or block) access to the internet. In fact many writers—including Naomi Klein (No Logo, Shock Doctrine) and Nick Hornby (High-Fidelity, About a Boy)—swear by Freedom. According to their blurb this ‘simple productivity application locks you away from the internet for up to eight hours at a time.’
There are others:
Leechblock works with Firefox
Benedetto’s StayFocusd targets Social Media addicts by limiting time spent on Facebook and Twitter
SelfControl works on Macs and blocks access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers
Some of these apps are free, others cost a few dollars. I reckon it’s worth the investment—and the few minutes to download and install. Just as parents demand that their children have screen-free days, we writers need off-line days. That’s right, not a tweet, not a sly squizz at your favourite website, not even a compulsive look at your inbox.
Just a day to write, and that’s it.
Thoughts?
Comments
jane Walker — 13 May at 02:49PM
Really enjoyed reading this post. I had never heard of apps that limit your time online - brilliant concept. It seems to be the new modern challenge - how to stay focused when bombarded by info overload. I suppose that is where meditation and exercise can also help us stay grounded...here's hoping! Love the way you write. Jane
— 13 May at 06:55PM
Thanks a lot Jane for your comment. It's an increasingly strange world we live in. More choice, more information, more ways to connect, and less time to do it all in. I'm experimenting with the SelfControl app. I'll give feedback to see how I go! Claire.