A Man of Focus

This is my yearly excuse piece on why I haven’t written any new fiction in ages. Same excuse as last year, I’m still working on my PhD. Its started to dray a little bit, and there are plenty of distractions around for me to happily procrastinate with. I need to be more like the guy in the picture, ‘A man of focus, committent and sheer f****** will.’

The truth is that I am rubbish at multitasking. I can’t watch something on TV and hold a conversation at the same time. Same goes for reading (one book at a time), gaming (one game at a time), and unfortunately, the same goes for writing (one project at a time). That’s not to say though that I haven’t had ideas for new writing projects. Believe me, there’s at least four novels still buzzing around my head. I’ve also got some none-fiction Islamic works that I have been considering too. But first I have to complete this PhD so that I can move on with my life.

I actually do wish I could be more focused. I mean, this blog is another one of my procrastination techniques. My phone is within arms reach so I’m going to have to fling that to the other side of the room. There are a few reasons why we procrastinate, but for me its not an addiction to social media or doomscrolling. It’s not even that incredibly addictive game, Bubble Shoot Missions. The struggle is to stay in the channel of flow.

According to psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in order for us to be working at our best, we need to stay in the state of flow. Unfortunately, our ability to stay in the flow vaccilates based on the challenge level of the task we are working on. If the task becomes too challenging (or mildly challenging in my case) or too easy, we fall out of flow through frustration or boredom. How do you know you are in the flow? Csikszentmihalyi says we have flow when we are completely focused on the task with clear goals and rewards in mind. Time either flies or slows down depending on what the situation needs. The work or task feels effortless and your skills and knowledge seem finely tuned to deal with the job at hand.

To learn more about flow and how to get in it, watch this TED Talk by the Csikszentmihalyi.

When I’m in the flow, I experience some of the factors listed above. My brain sings like a V12 engine and the words flow from my mind to my fingers like a spring. Time dilates and before I know it hours have passed. Its only when my back starts aching, or my legs start cramping, or my fingers have become so cold they can no longer operate do I fall out of flow. Or when someone comes in and talks to me …

My top tips for staying in flow are: 1) Get rid of all distractions before you start working (chuck the phone in the other room). 2) Set yourself some clear goals that are achievable but stretch you a little, each time you sit down to write. 3) Give yourself timed breaks to give your body some relief from the cramped writing position. 4) Make yourself a large coffee in a travel mug so you don’t have to keep getting up to make coffee. 5) Reward yourself for achieving your goals.

Before you go, share some of your experiences of flow and your top tips to overcome distractions in the comments section.