This week I have faced nothing short of a plague of constant distraction. There are so many things I want to read or learn or find out about that the multitudinous hours of the day seemed to have compressed down into just a few.
At first, I blamed my distractions on the internet. The fact that information is incredibly abundant on practically any subject makes it harder and harder for me to choose just one topic to immerse myself in.
While I have achieved a lot of things I wanted to this week, I have also wasted countless hours reading information that I will probably forget before I make it useful. I have also fallen back into the checking email/social media pitfall. How did that happen?
I came to the conclusion that the reason for most distraction was its convenience. For example, it is far more convenient to check one’s email than to write content for the website one is aiming to launch soon. It is far easier to read useless news articles or seemingly useful blog posts instead of creating anything meaningful for myself.
So I decided to use the internet as a tool to fight against the very same distraction that I hold it responsible, that is, I decided to search for a tool that would make the distractions less convenient than doing productive stuff.
I found a few things.
For my Linux based netbook I found PyRoom. A fantastic and free program written in Python. It is a very minimal typing program with very few options, all of which are accessed through keyboard shortcuts. PyRoom also does not have any option to exit full screen or minimize so if you really want to check your email or anything else besides the text you are writing, you have to save your progress and quit. Definitely more convenient to just keep writing.
Sadly, was more trouble than it’s worth to make PyRoom run on my Mac. Enter OmmWriter. This fantastic program (which also has a very capable free version) is not just about writing, but the whole experience. It combines relaxing sounds with a minimal and even hip looking interface. It even has different keystroke sounds you can enable. Very cool. When I first ran OmmWriter, it minimized my web browser, disabled all system notifications and opened in full screen. I have been so intrigued that I haven’t quit yet (yes, I’m writing this entry in OmmWriter). I guess making a typing program so cool that you don’t want to quit is even better than making it a hassle to go elsewhere.
Another great free product that I’ve been checking out these past couple days is a new free ebook by zenhabits.net author Leo Babauta. The ebook is called Focus and it’s about reclaiming your focus in what he calls “The Age of Distraction” aka now. Check it out, it’s free.
Now I’m off to write some short stories in OmmWriter. Cheers.
