Distraction is easy. Giving over to something temporary to satisfy an immediate need or temptation.
Giving up on any kind of discipline is simple, even insidious.
Besides my “Shadow Career,” I found plenty of unproductive and unhealthy ways to distract myself from writing. It takes energy to continually pull yourself away from something you know you should do, and want to do.
And that’s when I learned something from Steven Pressfield. After turning away from writing for so long, you come to understand at some point that “the effort to avoid writing is actually more difficult than the writing itself.”
This was a turning point for me, and it is true. As much work as it takes to write and pull a book out of your mind, it takes more work to avoid it. It doesn’t feel like it when you’re self-medicating or indulging in fun distractions. But when you look at the two side by side, you see that writing is easier – still hard – but easier than avoiding it.
That’s when I took the effort I had been putting into avoiding writing and turned it toward the discipline of writing.
Where do you notice yourself distracting yourself from your creative work? What helps you have the discipline to turn away from those distractions?
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