Well, did you look? Of course it wasn’t perfect. But I found a few things that I was hoping for and also a bit of a surprise about how embedded I am with a 24/7 connected world.
Things That I Found
Phone As Alarm Clock
I knew that my mobile phone could be distracting. I get too many alerts and should manage them better. One alert that I hadn’t thought about is the alarm clock function that wakes me in the morning.
The problem is that once I pick up the phone to cancel the alarm its become quite natural to then just check the weather and then the news headlines. I hadn’t realised just how seamless this had become.
Although I had set the phone to Airplane Mode for the no Look November exercise it was just too easy to just take a look at the weather. That couldn’t be too harmful… right? Well, once you are in it’s a very slippery slope.
So, I now leave my phone in another room overnight and use simpler technology to wake up.
Of course I could resist looking. But its just easier to retrain a habit and I’m not against easier methods.
I’m not sure of the value of combining so many functions in one clever device. I think that this is a bigger subject that I don’t have time or space for here. But suffice to say finding that I had become so integrated with my phone is a bit of a wake up call.
There is a benefit to writing early in the day
This simply works because my head is clearer. I’ve not introduced any other things that I have to think about.
I find that its OK or even helpful to take a walk first. You brain need oxygen to work well. And I’m sure that doing a little light exercise first warms things up a little.
I can write later in the day if I’ve avoided trying to sort any problems out. The issue is a clear mind. And the earlier in the day it is generally the simpler and more reliable it is to be clear.
Separate Research From Writing
This step has had double benefits.
First the writing is much smoother if I have done the research first. I don’t know how I had got into muddling them up together.
Second, by separating the writing from the research my focus on the research path also becomes clearer to follow.
Research is prone to become a diversion. The world is interesting and you can come across fascinating things that you didn’t expect or intend to follow. By not thinking about getting back to writing its one less thing to juggle in your mind at a time.
The Pomodoro Technique Works
I had already found that cutting a task into small timed chunks does work. I’ve found that for me writing in 10 minute intervals works well. I’m sure that its personal so if you are going to try it then experiment to find a good medium.
The additional thing that I have done for November is record the number of words that I have written in each 10 minute interval. I don’t set any targets. I just simply record and observe the progress. Doing this gives a measure of satisfaction along the way for each little step. I’ve actually found to be really helpful.
I think the way that this works is that by working in short blocks it helps to focus. You are not thinking about how to put all the text in a subheading together let alone the whole document. Its almost like you are at peace with each sentence one at a time.
Perhaps this is something that won’t be so marked once I believe that I’m accomplished. But I do think that on top of building the skill of writing there is also a confidence element. Only having to focus within a 10 minute interval seems to send all other concerns away.
In summary
I’m quite pleased with what I have found. I have new pointers on which to act to build a better workflow.
I think that the issue of a connected world and how to manage it is actually quite a big subject and has much wider impact that just writing blog posts.