When A Tool Becomes A Distraction
Today, I decided to write a blog post without using an electronic device.
This idea came to me when I noticed I couldn’t complete writing a thought without picking up my phone or taping on my laptop to check for a definition or spelling of a word using Google. It has become a distraction to my writing.
So, in advance, a girl is asking for some grace.
Once I pick up the phone to use tools to help me write, I suddenly find myself looking at reels on Instagram to send the funny ones to the appropriate friend who appreciates good humor. In my quest to make a friend laugh, I have lost 30 minutes of writing time. I try and dedicate an hour a day to my craft.
On another occasion I found the distraction arise during my morning meditation. While looking up multiple versions of a “scripture of the day” on my Bible Gateway app, I was soon responding to a comment on a post I had made on Facebook. Again, minutes were lost on the Facebook rabbit hole.
The internet and its buddy, social media, I admit are a distraction for me. I can excuse the behavior and say it is a part of my job; that’s a fact. I can excuse the use of the internet because I don’t have hard copies of a dictionary or a thesaurus. Does anyone anymore?
I acknowledge the distraction, but now I have to create a course of action to keep it away from my writing time.
Our devices, with all their resources at the tip of our fingers has moved from being a convenience to-in times like these - a distraction.
Shonda Rhimes, creator of the popular television series Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, shared some advice for writers to get motivated in a recent Instagram reel. She said, “Go in a room, get your drinks and snacks,” she said, “Get your pens, paper, and write!” She also slipped in, “Turn off the internet!” as a directive.
Shonda got me. She knows the distraction the internet can be.
Stephen King, horror fiction writer said once in an interview, “There should be no telephone in your writing room, and certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with.”
Again, he understood the distractions.
So I guess I must learn to train myself to not reach so quickly for my phone, but to write first and check work using the internet later.
We’ll see how it goes. I’m nervous already.
