Pen to Paper: Distractions (P5)

Presented below is a thought from me on writing, a quote from someone else on writing, an excerpt from that writer, and a discipline/habit to implement… 

We will be focusing on distractions today.

A Thought

Distractions have an annoying way of diverting our attention from what truly matters.

– Austin Alford

A Quote

“We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.”

– C.S Lewis (author of Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters)

An Excerpt

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S Lewis

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said, “Look out! Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her.”
“Sharp’s the word,” said Peter, and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room. But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it, into the Library, they suddenly heard voices ahead of them, and realized that Mrs Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs – instead of up the front stairs as they had expected.

And after that – whether it was that they lost their heads, or that Mrs Macready was trying to catch them, or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere, until at last Susan said, “Oh bother those trippers! Here – let’s get into the Wardrobe Room till they’ve passed. No one will follow us in there.”

But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage – and then someone fumbling at the door – and then they saw the handle turning.
“Quick!” said Peter, “there’s nowhere else,” and flung open the wardrobe. All four of them bundled inside it and sat there, panting, in the dark. Peter held the door closed but did not shut it; for, of course, he remembered, as every sensible person does, that you should never never shut yourself up in a wardrobe.

A Discipline/Habit to Implement

Distractions are lurking around every corner, just waiting to pounce on our productivity. It’s time to ask ourselves, “What is diverting our attention away from the task at hand?”

To combat these distractions, let’s adopt the “out of sight, out of mind” mantra. Take video games, for example. If you find yourself spending too much time gaming instead of writing, why not hide that gaming system away? (I’ve done it, it works!) Make it a hassle to set up and tear down, so you’ll only indulge when you genuinely want to play.

And let’s not forget about social media. Simply deleting those tempting apps from your phone and accessing them solely on your trusty laptop or computer can do wonders. Alternatively, you can hide the icon on your phone so it’s not constantly enticing you.

The secret here is to make what you need for writing more visible in your life. By doing so, you’ll naturally gravitate towards it more often than those other alluring distractions that aren’t as prominently displayed.

Give it a shot and comment to let me know if it works for you!

Put Pen to Paper this week and have fun!

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