Constantly diverted. It's what gets my step count up as I divert from one thing to another. And while it might take longer to complete a task, just think of what creative delights have lit the path along the way.
Substack is a debatable point. In the beginning, showing up with a completed piece every week was such good discipline after I'd finished writing another novel a couple of years ago. I actually thought I might leave writing there - done! After Covid, my view on what was left of my own personal life had changed.
But no, there were more book ideas in my head. I just needed the discipline. However, over time, Substack is demanding more and more of my reading and writing time, so must be controlled so that I can get back to being what I set out to be 14 books ago - a novelist. That's a hard thing to do.
In any case, back to diversion - a birthday cake to make, but oh wait, I need castor sugar from the village shop so maybe the dog and I can walk the beach on the way. Oh, 18 degrees - where's my favourite polo shirt? Gosh, the pink one's got a mark on it, laundry. Might as well put the washing on. But just half an hour to read emails first... You get the drift.
Ha ha, I can so very much relate! And I saw your beach photo with the terrier-you weren't kidding!
I agree with you about Substack. At first it was a delightful alternative to social media as it had so many longer, more thoughtful authors. And I learned to pay attention a little longer. Now there are too many interesting people to read! It has truly been the writers hour enforced one-hour writing only practice that is helping me gain some small ability to focus. But it is exhausting too!
The small and diverse things of beauty that tend to capture your attention remind me of the bower birds of north Queensland, the males of which assemble colorful and shiny objects, such as flowers and lost jewelry and bits of plastic, into small piles to attract mates. That is a good thing to appreciate beauty in many small things. Perhaps as "boomers" we have a unique perspective on the apparent, modern narrowing of our attention spans. I definitely noticed this trend in my students over the decades. Knowledge became increasingly bite-sized and internet-accessible, and the tendency of a student to plunge into a long or ambitious read to address a difficult topic—to work it through—increasingly rare. And I see that I too am quite vulnerable to this. In my case, deep book reading and bouts of writing, help to keep the sound bites at bay. Perhaps for you, your daily writing regimen may play a similar role. For this, I congratulate you!
I agree with your observation that writing and book reading help keep the sound bites at bay. There is still nothing more pleasurable than an afternoon spent reading a good book. And now for me, writing in one-hour sessions (although it is harder!)
I have heard similar observations from other academics: that teaching has gotten increasingly smaller-sized to address flitting attention spans, and challenging to entice deeper thinking and research. I hope we never lose that joy from a deep dive or a mind-absorbing flow that comes when we are fully engaged in a task. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Tim!
I loved so many things about this post: the quotes, the visuals, the way you interweaved all your magpie prizes through your own story. A really fab read! Even though I think I may have the opposite issue! I hyperfocus on my to-do lists and get genuinely stressed if anyone or anything pulls my focus. And I know by doing this that I miss out on opportunities at beauty and at playfulness. I'm also working on it. Maybe one day we'll meet in the middleground and shake hands!
Oh how interesting! We must meet just to see how we manage 🤣. I suspect hanging around you would be very good for my focus. It doesn't sound like I would be good for your mental health, although I have found with my partner that we discover double the things we see on any route as our foci are always in different places. Thank you for the kind words!
Those routes sound like a lot of fun! I’m sure you would be very good for mental health, you could point out all the nice and interesting things I would usually miss on my own :-D
Ditto what Jayne says. I have no problem concentrating and have no self-discipline problems. When I'm interrupted or when someone doesn't notice the invisible wall around me at my desk, which is an an open space dining and living room and kitchen, I get annoyed and heart rate goes up. My watch tells me I'm experiencing a higher level of stress than normal (which is practically zero). How can they not notice the wall?
By being so focused, I miss the opportunity for spontaneity and distraction that could lead me to wonderful unimagined places. I don't think I'd give up focus for distraction but I'd like to find a better balance.
When Jayne was writing her comment earlier I was thinking how much she sounded like you Andrea! And so it is! But I also totally get the frustration of being in a open space where boundaries are not rock solid. I learned over the last couple of decades that when I do focus, I focus hard, and get very grumpy when I am interrupted. I never thought to check my heart rate. I can't wait to see how the three of us behave when we are together! Thanks for your insights Andrea!
I am constantly distracted by my idiotic compulsion to concentrate 100% on every single thing that's happening in any given moment. It's exhausting and deeply counterproductive.
In my previous life, every time I ground to an inevitable halt I would make a lasagne - and oh boy, a LOT of lasagne came out of that kitchen. In fact, still now, every time I feel overwhelmed - multiple times a day - I find myself in the kitchen. This week, the freezer is bursting with soup, with more in the fridge which didn't fit. 🙄
Thank you so, so much for the link to Writers' Hour. What an awesome set-up! Am thinking of joining. xxx
Ha! I am always in awe of your cooking organisation: it is one of the things I absolutely need to get better at.
I am really interested in your intense concentration being counter-productive. I get the exhaustion part: is that what becomes counter-productive? The exhaustion? And you don't need to answer me, or here, but I am really interested in that. Sounds like you have a useful antidote though, so you are at least compensating well!
And I think you would really enjoy writers hour: it's company and encouragement without the need to actually engage with anyone, unless you want to. Let me know if you start going (I go at 1 pm and 4 pm our time) xx
Constantly diverted. It's what gets my step count up as I divert from one thing to another. And while it might take longer to complete a task, just think of what creative delights have lit the path along the way.
Substack is a debatable point. In the beginning, showing up with a completed piece every week was such good discipline after I'd finished writing another novel a couple of years ago. I actually thought I might leave writing there - done! After Covid, my view on what was left of my own personal life had changed.
But no, there were more book ideas in my head. I just needed the discipline. However, over time, Substack is demanding more and more of my reading and writing time, so must be controlled so that I can get back to being what I set out to be 14 books ago - a novelist. That's a hard thing to do.
In any case, back to diversion - a birthday cake to make, but oh wait, I need castor sugar from the village shop so maybe the dog and I can walk the beach on the way. Oh, 18 degrees - where's my favourite polo shirt? Gosh, the pink one's got a mark on it, laundry. Might as well put the washing on. But just half an hour to read emails first... You get the drift.
Ha ha, I can so very much relate! And I saw your beach photo with the terrier-you weren't kidding!
I agree with you about Substack. At first it was a delightful alternative to social media as it had so many longer, more thoughtful authors. And I learned to pay attention a little longer. Now there are too many interesting people to read! It has truly been the writers hour enforced one-hour writing only practice that is helping me gain some small ability to focus. But it is exhausting too!
Glad it is not just me...xx
The small and diverse things of beauty that tend to capture your attention remind me of the bower birds of north Queensland, the males of which assemble colorful and shiny objects, such as flowers and lost jewelry and bits of plastic, into small piles to attract mates. That is a good thing to appreciate beauty in many small things. Perhaps as "boomers" we have a unique perspective on the apparent, modern narrowing of our attention spans. I definitely noticed this trend in my students over the decades. Knowledge became increasingly bite-sized and internet-accessible, and the tendency of a student to plunge into a long or ambitious read to address a difficult topic—to work it through—increasingly rare. And I see that I too am quite vulnerable to this. In my case, deep book reading and bouts of writing, help to keep the sound bites at bay. Perhaps for you, your daily writing regimen may play a similar role. For this, I congratulate you!
I agree with your observation that writing and book reading help keep the sound bites at bay. There is still nothing more pleasurable than an afternoon spent reading a good book. And now for me, writing in one-hour sessions (although it is harder!)
I have heard similar observations from other academics: that teaching has gotten increasingly smaller-sized to address flitting attention spans, and challenging to entice deeper thinking and research. I hope we never lose that joy from a deep dive or a mind-absorbing flow that comes when we are fully engaged in a task. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts Tim!
I loved so many things about this post: the quotes, the visuals, the way you interweaved all your magpie prizes through your own story. A really fab read! Even though I think I may have the opposite issue! I hyperfocus on my to-do lists and get genuinely stressed if anyone or anything pulls my focus. And I know by doing this that I miss out on opportunities at beauty and at playfulness. I'm also working on it. Maybe one day we'll meet in the middleground and shake hands!
Oh how interesting! We must meet just to see how we manage 🤣. I suspect hanging around you would be very good for my focus. It doesn't sound like I would be good for your mental health, although I have found with my partner that we discover double the things we see on any route as our foci are always in different places. Thank you for the kind words!
Those routes sound like a lot of fun! I’m sure you would be very good for mental health, you could point out all the nice and interesting things I would usually miss on my own :-D
We'll try a short visit to begin!
Ditto what Jayne says. I have no problem concentrating and have no self-discipline problems. When I'm interrupted or when someone doesn't notice the invisible wall around me at my desk, which is an an open space dining and living room and kitchen, I get annoyed and heart rate goes up. My watch tells me I'm experiencing a higher level of stress than normal (which is practically zero). How can they not notice the wall?
By being so focused, I miss the opportunity for spontaneity and distraction that could lead me to wonderful unimagined places. I don't think I'd give up focus for distraction but I'd like to find a better balance.
How interesting! I relate to all of this. Sounds like we are exactly the same!
When Jayne was writing her comment earlier I was thinking how much she sounded like you Andrea! And so it is! But I also totally get the frustration of being in a open space where boundaries are not rock solid. I learned over the last couple of decades that when I do focus, I focus hard, and get very grumpy when I am interrupted. I never thought to check my heart rate. I can't wait to see how the three of us behave when we are together! Thanks for your insights Andrea!
I am constantly distracted by my idiotic compulsion to concentrate 100% on every single thing that's happening in any given moment. It's exhausting and deeply counterproductive.
In my previous life, every time I ground to an inevitable halt I would make a lasagne - and oh boy, a LOT of lasagne came out of that kitchen. In fact, still now, every time I feel overwhelmed - multiple times a day - I find myself in the kitchen. This week, the freezer is bursting with soup, with more in the fridge which didn't fit. 🙄
Thank you so, so much for the link to Writers' Hour. What an awesome set-up! Am thinking of joining. xxx
Ha! I am always in awe of your cooking organisation: it is one of the things I absolutely need to get better at.
I am really interested in your intense concentration being counter-productive. I get the exhaustion part: is that what becomes counter-productive? The exhaustion? And you don't need to answer me, or here, but I am really interested in that. Sounds like you have a useful antidote though, so you are at least compensating well!
And I think you would really enjoy writers hour: it's company and encouragement without the need to actually engage with anyone, unless you want to. Let me know if you start going (I go at 1 pm and 4 pm our time) xx