Welcome to part 3 in a 10 part series designed to help you blast through creative blocks and get unstuck when you feel like your creative work is turning into quicksand. Stick around til the end to score a spicy journal prompt to really drive the point home!
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me how to be less distracted so and do creative work, I wouldn’t have to run a business. I’d be like Richie Rich on his pile of gold.
Fortunately for you that’s not the case, but unfortunately for us all distractions are VERY real.
Today’s Creative Urge is dedicated to all the time we’ve collectively lost doing the bidding of the Distraction Demon and how to break free from its nasty spell!
What does ‘distraction’ mean?
First thing’s first, because I’m a copywriter by trade and poet by calling, we’re going to dive into the definition here:
A thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.
Extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
Something that serves as a diversion.
Pretty straightforward, right? BUT THERE’S A TWIST… Not all distractions are created equal.
Distractions are neutral
We can’t always blame other people for being distracted just as much as we can’t always blame ourselves, either.
And to make it even MORE convoluted, distractions are neutral… we’re the ones who colour them good or bad. Heck, sometimes we don’t even know if they’re good or bad until it’s too late!
Let’s look at an example: Day one, you have some creative work you want to do but you’re not feelin’ it, so you set up a good binge sesh on the couch. You laugh, you have a good time, then you eventually do a little work.
Day two, you tee up the very same binge sesh and all of a sudden you’re giving yourself a mental beating. You also get zero work done that day.
Distractions can be internal or external
Maybe the reason you the binge sesh on day one was so awesome is because it fulfilled one of your internal needs, like entertainment, rest or learning.
So when you picked up the remote for day two, needs fulfilled, the binge sesh became an external distraction because it was preventing you from doing the other thing you said you wanted to do (creative work).
And when you don’t follow through on your word, your self-trust takes a hit.
So, how do you deal with distractions? Identify what kind of distraction you have and reframe your distractions as unmet needs.
For the sake of simplicity, distractions can be plonked into two groups:
Internal: Anything happening inside of your body, like hunger, fatigue, illness, worrying or daydreaming.
External: Anything happening outside of your body, like social interactions, text messages, visual triggers, phone calls, etc.
Internal distractions are pretty easy to satiate: if you’re hungry, eat something. But external distractions can be a little trickier to manage, mostly because they’re a bit of an illusion.
External distraction = an unmet needs in disguise?
That’s right – what if the things that are distracting you are actually trying to help you?
Having needs does NOT make you ‘needy’, just as being distracted doesn’t mean you’re lazy.
Let’s say, for example, you keep pulling away from your work to check your phone. First, understand that we’re all likely addicted and that’s not our fault. But second, instead of beating yourself up, ask: when was the last time I had a really deep and nourishing conversation with someone I trust?
When you use the lens of self-compassion (aka being kind to yourself) to get curious about your distractions, what you may find is an opportunity give yourself something you needed that you weren’t consciously aware of.
Journal prompt
What is your biggest distraction? Is it internal or external? If you were to look at it with self-compassion, is that distraction covering an unmet need? If so, how can you fulfil it?
Creatively yours,
Dr Maz xoxo
PS: Did you see my shiny new Squarespace website launched this week?! I AM OBSESSED. The branding was created by the genius of Ignatio (Iggy) Rivaldo, a Bali-based graphic designer I met in my travels. I talk more about the process on Instagram, but take a look and let me know what you think :)