Inner Distractions

Before we delve into this chapter about Inner Distractions like suddenly remembering a task you need to do, let me say a few words about feeling sad or depressed.

Now I’m not a therapist and I have absolutely no business telling you what to do or how to deal with psychological problems. But there is this idea that artists need to be tortured souls in order to be successful and able to create great art.

In my humble opinion:

F*** that!

Be healthy. Be happy. Get help. No art is worth being unhappy.

And in my experience I create more and better comedy when I’m emotionally healthy. Because work suddenly isn’t an escape anymore or something else that is stressing me out but a thing I engage with happily.

When my work/life balance is in an equilibrium I sit down to write with joy and eagerness, ready to explore my mind without any fear of tripping over something I don’t want to think about.

So please take care of yourself!

Now… what about inner distractions like suddenly remembering that you have to do something like writing a text to your boyfriend or needing to buy soy milk?

For stuff like that I have a little piece of paper next to me where I write down all the things that I need to do later. Heavy emphasis on later. I write it down so it’s not occupying headspace I need to write.

Write it down on a piece of paper, continue working on your project. Easy peasy.

If it’s stuff like wanting to check Insta: Eliminate the possibility. Block your internet with an app while writing.

Naturally you could also deal with that by sticking to your Pomodoro and only checking your phone after you put in your 25 minutes of uninterrupted work.

Dealing with the feeling

Another thing you can do when you feel you want to check your phone or getting up for an unneeded glass of water is a technique I found in the book Indistractable by Nir Eyal: Focus on the feeling, acknowledge that it is there and feel it go away.

The urge to glance at your Twitter feed or wanting to stretch your legs and go talk with someone is called the Need Wave. And the more you focus on it and see it for what it is, the less power it has over you. By actually noticing it, being consciously aware of it, you will rob it of its power over your behavior. Dragging something from the dark into the light: It becomes way less scary!

Just be aware that this will take some time. It means engaging with what you are feeling and understanding why you are feeling it.

For me it’s sometimes that I am afraid that my jokes won’t be any good, so by looking at Social Media I don’t have to feel incompetent.

Or that I have been cooped up all alone in my room for hours and that I need some company.

My strategy to engage with what I’m feeling is to write it all down on a piece of paper. Describe it in as much detail as I can and hopefully by realizing what it actually is what I need or feel, it will go away.

What if I mess up?

Did you check your phone before the 20 minutes were over? Did you get up to raid your fridge? Did you listen to a podcast and called it research?

Yeah that happens. To all of us.

And you know what? Being angry at yourself won’t bring those minutes back. Being depressed about how much you COULD have worked in that time won’t help you creating better work the next time. Instead it will just increase the pressure you will feel at the next session because you think you have to make up for lost time.

Don’t.

Be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself.

But instead of just moving on, try and think about why you did what you did.

Was the workload too big and you thought you couldn’t do it? Make it smaller. Make it approachable.

Were you too hungry when you started your session? Next time prepare a snack you can eat while working. Have emergency granola bars in your desk drawer.

You didn’t feel inspired or motivated? Well think about the reasons that could be: When was the last time you took a break? A weekend of not thinking about work?

Have you been working on just one project for two weeks? Switch to another thing and let it rest so your unconsciousness can work on it for you.

What I want to say is: You only change by feeling good. So don’t be angry at yourself. Instead look at your behavior like a scientist would and try to figure out why you did what you did and if you can change so you get closer to your desired behavior the next time.

THE ONE THING

Write down THE ONE THING which was most useful to you from the chapter.

Then think about one way you can incorporate THE ONE THING in your comedy writing right now. WRITE! IT! DOWN!