We were already living in an era of distraction, and that was before a polarizing presidential election and breaking news coming at us fast and furious. My social media feeds used to be an eclectic mix of a range of interests. Now? 100% politics.
I keep getting sucked into reading the news, getting into discussions, waiting to see what is going to happen next, and not getting nearly enough writing done.
I’ve never lived in a time less-suited for quiet concentration. And yet isn’t that precisely what we all need right now?
How are you staying productive? Anyone managing to block out the noise? Any tips?
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I'm a junky for this kind of stuff, the intrigue, etc. But I've felt the need to purposely stay away from it some of the time. Trump is so active, he's creating a sensory denial-of-service attack. I try not to listen to news or go online on the weekends, and I turn off the radio for 10 minute intervals from time-to-time on my long commute.
I'm staying productive by reminding myself that's the only way to make a difference, at least for me.
Should I not respond if the answer is hysterical laughter?
I just finished a big writing project, so this is a natural time for me to take a break. But I'm not rushing into the next project because, at the moment, I feel that political involvement is more important for me. It's what I want to be doing.
Keeping my priorities at the front of my mind with a combo of Bullet Journalling and Zen to Done. And staying off or skimming Facebook. :'(
I'm finding that my writing (poetry and short stories) is flowing well right now. I'm hitting the internet for news for 30 mins in the am and then THAT'S IT. No internet, facebooking, or blogging until after 9pm. I've been more productive in the last four weeks than the last four months.
I've found living in Canada helps…
I seem to be mainly producing online comments at the moment, in other words distracting other people!
Move to Arizona and give up television. Limit online interaction. Concentrate on what positive impact you can make in your own community. Read for pleasure(and escape).
I've definitely had some days of no productivity since the election. There are days when the news is just too much for me.
That said, I'm settling into a routine of setting aside separate times for activism and writing. I try to do the week's activism first so that I can feel like I've done my part before turning off social media and concentrating on my WIP.
Freedom, which blocks the Internet, is helping me.
I'm a moderate Republican whose personal FB feed has a balance of roughly 75-25 on the political spectrum (75 moderate, 25 liberal) and for the most part I have ignored the gnashing of teeth on the national level as the state level is what affects me the most. Now couple that with the fact that I spend on average less than twenty-five minutes total per day on FB & various forms of social media while cutting down on blogging and my productivity has increased dramatically. On a break while my current project is with a few beta readers, but I should be picking up the writing again this weekend.
Since last week, I've been checking the news at midday and evening. I avoid social media until midday. Perhaps I should feel a little guilty about this, but I unfollowed everyone on Facebook posting about the news including the news — NYT's, Washington Post etc. My feed is pretty silly now — bird photos, updates on the next season of Game of Thrones, Sports articles. I left my Twitter feed alone since I find it easier to visually pick and choose. I've never watched or listened to Trump since he's taken office. I can't bring myself to hear/feel his arrogance.
Various work projects have me so busy that I don't have a choice but to keep going. I do energy work as well as write. My clients need me, so I don't have the space really to to go blank which is what was happening before I made the changes. I started to feel frozen with fear of what is next.
Activism also keeps me going. The good hearts have to keep fighting, going, expanding, relating. I've never been much of an activist, so I'm busy figuring out how to be "activisy".
Even though, we are living in an extremely difficult era where everything appears to be a battle, I also stay productive because I still believe that good, kind-hearted people will prevail. Keep your chin up; smart, brave people are fighting hard. Love will win.
I try to end each day by doing something I want to do, often by writing and then with prayer. Since I begin the day the same way, my activity is bookended by being constructive. It's in the middle that I think of all that's been lost and destroyed and the future that I fear for my grandkids (meaning I fear for everyone) and that makes my heart shriek.
I've stayed creative by letting current events drive my creativity. I created a protest sign that I used in Edinburgh after Trump's Executive Order limiting entrance to the United States, which you can see (and all the press it received) at: https://dulemba.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/im-with-her.html . Several people requested that I make my sign art available for sale, so I have obliged by creating a Society6 and Zazzle store for folks to use the image themselves (links are in the blog post). I couldn't afford to donate to the ACLU on my own, so this was a great work-around. A portion of all Lady Liberty sales will go to the ACLU. The rest will help fund this artist's very expensive education, where I am also trying to stay focused on creating picture books – encouraging literacy in an effort to create better informed citizens. I start at the source!
Write it out: My writing has turned somewhat darker and more conflict driven as I react to the many issues I see in the news, many of which affect me at a very personal level. But it helps me deal with the news to write it into my fiction and deal with the emotions there.
I find the saddest news story I can (oh, the bounty these days) and that usually puts me off for a good while.
I stay productive by working with my camera. It is a great complement to writing.
Breaks are important. But unscheduled Internet breaks can keep you from ever getting into the “flow” of work.