Distraction
I came across the title of a book called, Never Check E-mail in the Morning, by Julie Morgenstern. After reading the reviews I decided that this wasn’t the book for me. However, the title offers quite a challenge for avioding distraction.
Of course, the bold and the brave can get down to it and will be able to ignore the phone, and email. I do both of these things when I’m engaged on a commercial writing project because I’ve sold time to someone else who gets my full attention. So why is self-discipline for my own writing more difficult to honor?
The work of creation is work. It’s about regular action. It’s a habit, a custom. But habits, like obsessive email checking, can be mindless and monstrous as Shakespeare says (I do believe he refrained from checking his email or he wouldn’t have been so prolific.):
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
That monster, custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devil, is angel yet in this,
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery,
That aptly is put on.Hamlet Act III, Scene IV
Getting the habit to block out uninterrupted time is necessary for concentrated work. Sales managers understand that salespeople can’t make customers buy. The results are not in the salesperson’s control, but her actions are. It’s the same with any creative discipline. You show up and do it. Sometimes the results are appalling. Sometimes they are mediocre. Sometimes, just sometimes, they are wonderful.
Steven Pressfield’s inspiring and insightful little book, The War of Art, is about battling resistance, although he spells it with a capital R. Resistance takes many forms and certainly one of them is to check email in the morning. The act of checking email is an invitation to be distracted. For me, the morning time sacred. It’s when I can write at my best. Or at least that’s the story I tell myself.
I am susceptible to the stories I tell myself too (more about this later). And right now I’m going to tell myself that I shall not check my email until mid-morning. Let’s see…
