How To Stop Being So Distracted While You Write In WordPress

How To Stop Being So Distracted While You Write In WordPress Simple, less, fewer, quiet, white space–these are the trends. We want to live by the motto of less is more. We want simplification. We want our lives to be free of distraction, and we want our technology, devices, and apps to reflect that. Minimalism then, with complete functionality. This has carried over into other activities, like writing. Simplified distraction-free writing is all the rage. Written on inkpen.in, one of many online distraction-free writing apps. Distraction free writing app Draft works great, too. SimpleNote will work, too, if you want a basic writing program. Do a search on distraction free writing and youre going to find an endless number of apps and software for every device and operating system: everyone is going distraction free with their writing. Why Use Distraction Free Writing Tools? A 2011 research project by Nathaniel Welch  explored the viability of minimalistic writing software. He began by surveying people who wrote, asking them what they wrote, and what they liked and disliked about the tools they used to write. In Welchs survey, he discovered two kinds of writers: People who wrote in a corporate or academic environment want lots of features and formatting options. People who wrote for their own enjoyment or wrote fiction wanted something more minimal. What can we take away from what Welch discovered? Distracting Tools Slow Us Down Welch points out that software is made to be generic.  Microsoft Word (the king of bloated writing software) can do just about anything for everyone whether academic or corporate or personal use. That means it is so packed with features (spreadsheets! ebooks! resumes! posters! desktop publishing! memos!) that most of us dont use half of them, though if you pool all of the users they all get used somehow. Bloated and distracting software comes when you make a tool for the largest common denominator.   This means writers are carrying a 200 lb. backpack as they climb the mountain of creativity when they only needed a 5 lb. backpack. You might just want to write poetry, but youre carrying the entire toolset for corporate word processing. Distracting tools slow us down. #DistractionFreeWritingWe Are In A Battle Against Features Welch also discovered that [e]very single one of my responders despised Microsoft Word’s auto-correct but thought spell check was the most essential feature any word processor could have. We all want some features and formatting options, but we dont all want the same amount of features. Features quickly become bloat and take up space both on the screen and in our decision making process. Welch then went on to do an overview of several word processing programs, explaining that you could minimize some of those excessive features that many writers didnt want, but that it wasnt easy. Its not a simple one-click option like it is in WordPress (more on that in a bit). You had to fight against the software to make it less distracting. Why go through all that work just to turn off the features that a writing app or software is touting as its strength? Because most of us need to go into Do Not Disturb mode to really get things done. No, multi-tasking doesnt work. No, youre not going to write a detailed an insightful post with useful facts when theres a three-ring circus around you.  It wont happen. Features and options are just more things to fiddle with when you really need to just get words written. Too many features require more decisions, a waste of creative energy. #DistractionFreeWritingWriting Is Like Flying A Plane When I was a student pilot, one of the things that was drilled into me was being aware of cockpit distractions, referred to as keeping a sterile cockpit. Essentially, during any stage of flight that isnt cruise flight, pilots are required to avoid distractions that keep them from performing taxi, takeoff, landing, etc. This includes unnecessary talking, using electronic gadgets, and so forth. Pilots are supposed to pay attention and be mindful of what needs to be done. Distraction-free writing is the sterile cockpit rule for writers, especially  with blogging where  simpler is better, both in the visual look and how we approach content (even  long form content). Of course your writing isnt the same as flying a plane of people safely, but the point is clear: distractions all around us keep us from doing the job well. Noise, discomfort, and visual: these are all distractions.