A Call to Disarm Technology & Hype (And Boost Your Writing Productivity)

Photo by fatllama / Flickr
Photo by fatllama / Flickr

Today’s guest post is by author, editor, and publisher L.L. Barkat (@llbarkat). 


Stop the hype. Please. Your sanity and mine are at stake. And maybe the future of our writing.

In a recent article, Technology: Finding Our Way Back from the Flatness, I addressed the issue of how the internet and other technology keeps us on insanely high alert, ultimately producing an effect where we attend to everything and we attend to nothing (deeply).

It is my theory that this high-alert state is producing a fatigue that’s detrimental not only to our psyches and relationships, but also to the quality of our professional output. Fatigue is one reason I’ve recommended it is time for (many) writers to stop blogging.

This fatigue may have its roots in actual physiology. In The Plateau Effect: Getting from Stuck to Success, Sullivan and Thompson have discussed the chemical hits we receive when we see something like a new Facebook or e-mail alert. (I’m reminded of a dear friend who found herself diagnosed with adrenal exhaustion due to a 10-cup-a-day coffee habit. It took her months to come back from that and to rebound in her professional life.)

Sullivan and Thompson take the physiological issue a step further and declare that the alert-driven chemical hits to our brain may be producing actual addiction that keeps us in a negative cycle of interruption, costing the U.S. a cool $588 billion per year in productivity losses. To bring that down to a more personal level, when you let yourself get carried away by the high-alert cycle and give in to its constant interruptions, you lose 10 IQ points in each interruption moment (“the equivalent of not sleeping for thirty-six hours—or double the impact of smoking marijuana”), and it takes you about twenty-five minutes to fully return to your original project.

Some large companies like Intel have begun to fight this trend with Quiet Zones aimed at providing a more restful work environment, to increase productivity and literally cut their losses. The Quiet Zones are four-hour spans of time without meetings or technological connectivity.

Staking Out & Creating Quiet Zones

You can start by organizing a work-free space as part of your regular writing environment. But you can also, perhaps, commit to stopping the hype—halting a high-alert way of communicating—for the sake of helping create a culture that will benefit both you and others.

As an occasional book reviewer, a publisher, and managing editor of a top poetry site, I have committed to halting the high-alert mode that is so common in the current book and media industry. When I review a book, I do not recommend it to everyone as the must-read of the decade (!!!). I decide who might actually benefit from the work, if anyone, and why. I might also include cautions about who would not benefit from the book, as in this review of A Broken Thing: Poets on the Line—where I recommend that the book not be used as part of a vigorous classroom reading schedule. Likewise, as a publisher and a managing editor, I work hard to ensure that our group acts as a curator that sifts and sorts down to the good stuff and then shares it in ways that say, “This is for you if …”

The Bottom Line

Do you find yourself less productive as a writer, or fatigued, or working at lower levels of quality than you’d like to be? Maybe it’s time to seek out places that have stopped the hype—to create a quiet zone, if you will, around yourself, your work, and the work of others—for the future of your writing and the culture at large.

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darrelynsaloom

Laura, my quiet zone is mostly outdoors. I enjoy long walks without my cell phone. If I’m in the city, I take my phone on walks but turn it off. I find cell phones to be more disruptive than social media because I tweet and tumbl when it’s convient for me (unlike phone calls and texts). And I rarely follow socia media from my phone. That way I’m fully engaged in what I’d doing when I leave the house.

I’d love to read about your quiet zone (perhaps a future post?).

Every Day Poems

Hmmm. I see that for some reason I am replying as Every Day Poems. So be it. That is one of my quiet zones. Sitting at my dining room table (on a different side than I sit when I work), and reading Neruda poems in Spanish (slowly… because I’m learning the language). Or sitting on my back porch and looking out over my little herb garden with the broken shells from beaches I’ve loved. Oh, and almost every day, a walk. By the time I get home, I have a whole new world inside me. 🙂

Every Day Poems

Case in happy point. I disciplined myself to take my walk just now, even though I knew there would be conversations happening here that I’d want to listen and respond to. On that walk, as I turned my back on the river and rounded the corner, the first line of my next novel eased its way into consciousness. I did not know there’d be a next novel. The Novelist was only a dare I’d given myself to prove I could tackle fiction. I am a little daunted, because I realize this particular book is going to take some background reading and maybe some on-the-ground excursions. For which, I suppose, I shall need to support myself with further Quiet Zones 😉

Every Day Poems

And I should have said… I love your quiet zone. Those Louisiana sunsets are rich in my mind.

darrelynsaloom

Thanks, Laura. Soon as I left a comment yesterday, my computer went dark. My oldest son fixed the laptop last night, but I was able to enjoy a day of writing while listening to the rain.

Every Day Poems

oh my. Why do I love that so much? You were given a gift 🙂

darrelynsaloom

🙂

HisFireFly

no social media when connecting with the outdoors and the world? Yes, this!!

Every Day Poems

how else to listen to the pulse of the world? 🙂 Yes, yes.

Sharon

Hooray for this call to sanity. Glad to “have permission” to do the slacking off I’ve already begun. Let’s get back to quality of life.

Every Day Poems

Would love to know what your “slacking” looks like. Have you ever read ‘Last Child in the Woods’? It discusses the cognitive gains we make when we give time to “unfocused attention.” 🙂

Sharon

After seven years, I’m blogging only once a week, and even that schedule sometimes slips. I no longer keep a constant eye on Facebook or G+. Twitter? Never did figure that one out. I’m spacing out on most newsletters and blogs. I don’t want to lose track of onlline friends, and I do want to maintain my sphere of influence, such as it is, but I need SPACE. Room to breathe. And write. And “be there” more for close friends.

Every Day Poems

here’s to space. And breathing. Always breathing 🙂

philipparees

I am with Sharon on thanks for permission…small caveat…how will I ever believe that any more writing ( which could elbow its way into newly cleared space) will ever see light of day when the horse I am currently flogging/blogging jes lays down and dies?

Every Day Poems

Say more? What are you worried about? I mean, is it an issue of having the work get shared publicly?

philipparees

If that is addressed to me, the answer is no, I would happily give away anything I write to find readers, just that for as long as one keeps rotating, blogging emailing there is a lurking belief that one or other thing might work…if I were to turn away (Ah bliss!) and write what beckons me daily I would do so undermined by any hope of more than an eternal monologue. This link my give a certain insight…http://bit.ly/16mwcBj

Every Day Poems

Probably would be good for you to seek out other writing platforms (as recommended in that “stop blogging” article here at Jane’s). Larger platforms will gain you wider readership and the chance, if you want to (but I don’t think you have to), to build your blog in more powerful ways. 🙂

philipparees

Thank you for thoughtful application to the problem! The trouble is my book is a whole philosophy, so no matter how circuitous I get it invariably relates…I have no ‘here-let-me-help-you’ skills…no advice on editing..nada ( since you read Neruda too) Good to have met another of those!

Every Day Poems

I think it’s good to maybe picture your career as going beyond a single book, since no single book ever captures an author’s fulness, and rarely will it make a successful splash that results in wide readership or $. For this reason, I’m thinking you want to build a broad platform that garners real “readers” and not just a community of aspiring writers (I’m guessing that’s the community you have at your blog? Maybe? Or, say more 🙂 )

philipparees

I have a novel and a collection of short stories waiting to be published, but the current Magnum opus has cost most of my pension so ‘career ‘ is probably unlikely! Most of my readers are readers rather than writers…very few writers have much time although three generous ones have both read and reviewed. The difficulty is that I do not fit any genre and i suspect a book that may appeal will not sell the next entirely different one…if I should be so lucky.

Maria Polson Veres

I’m spending a little extra time online so I can re-read and print your great post. I can’t help smiling at the irony of this. I’ve always put limits on my online/social media use. But in some ways, I think being online has made me more creative and connected as a writer. It’s always a tradeoff and a balancing act. Thanks for reminding us all of what really matters.

Every Day Poems

Some irony in it, yes. But there is much to be gained through technology. I think the trick is finding a way to navigate through “the flatness.” Ultimately, this will probably fall to a need for: better curation practices and systems, better personal organization systems, and better website and other technology design. That’s my instinct on the mater. 🙂

Melanie Ormand

By responding here, I’m admitting my guilt. Isn’t that self-defeating?

Every Day Poems

What’s the part that’s self defeating? 🙂

Marlene Cullen

Excellent post comes at a good time. . . . no wonder I’ve been feeling jangled! Guess I will go for that swim this afternoon!

Every Day Poems

oh, the swim. Yes! It will free the mind and boost the heart 🙂

MsLorretty

You did it. You convinced me of what the Spirit had already told me. Thankyou.

Every Day Poems

Any particular steps you can take to implement a new approach? 🙂

MsLorretty

I am going back to writing with paper and pen. I find that when I step totally away from the machine I have no excuse to check “just one thing”. When I am online now, I’ve been trying to set a kitchen timer. I don’t have a “smart” phone and I’ll avoid it for as long as possible. I’ve already noticed that having a Facebook and Twitter account has done very, very little towards generating traffic for my blog. What does move it along is word of mouth…which means I must produce QUALITY…content worth mulling over and passing along. I can only do that in small, meaningful batches through time spent offline. 🙂

simplyscott

Oddly, my quiet zone is at the office. I work in a secure environment where we don’t have access to the internet, my cell, etc., and it’s there that I find I have time to think, not just react. Also, because I walk there (about a mile), that is even more quiet time, time that I find myself using to write entire conversations or chapters in my head for this or that novel. Yes, it’s when I’m isolated that my brain feels like it has a nice break to do it’s own thing.

Every Day Poems

very cool. 🙂 My work environment is… complex 🙂

Rebecca

I completely agree with you but when I talk to editors or people in publishing they say that you need to have a on-line platform to get a literary agent. And as you know, establishing and building a platform takes an incredible amount of time. I find myself not having very little time to work on my writing.

Every Day Poems

This is changing, Rebecca. At a recent writing conference I attended, the buzz was beginning to shift. I think at least some agents and editors seem to be realizing the terrible price that is being paid, without comparable ROI.

Every Day Poems

Just wanted to add that we are a publisher and…

1. we do not work through agents

2. our top-selling titles are by authors who do not blog (but rather have offline platforms and write for big online outlets like The Atlantic, etc.). We believe that blogging and a lot of social media activity is not necessary for success. Well, because… it’s not 🙂

Debra Eve

Laura, this is so timely. Two days ago, the city took my street off the grid to do upgrades. For six hours we had no electricity, in the middle of the day. I’d charged up my lap top the night before, so I wrote. I read. I journalled. It was so quiet. I felt so calm. It’s not just the hype, but the electrical buzzing all around us.

When the electricity came back on, it was jolting. I immediately jumped online. I thought, “There’s a problem here.” You’ve described it perfectly and I’m definitely creating that quiet zone. Great article!

Every Day Poems

There are some very interesting studies on the issue of noise pollution. I’m thinking electricity pollution is related. I have trouble sleeping, because in my neighborhood (and even my house), there are too many intermittent, jolting sounds. Best thing I did for myself recently was to go away for three days and include a full day at a quiet cove. Amazing. My whole self (both physical and emotional) reoriented.

Curious to know how you’ll carve out a Quiet Zone 🙂