photo by Pink Sherbet Photography
I’ve been quite busy lately — full days, full brain. Although I’m getting a lot of things done, I’m also getting the nagging feeling that I’m doing them in a distracted way that keeps stunting my momentum. That nagging feeling has been building up for a few weeks, and when I finally stopped to think about where it came from, I knew the culprit immediately: multitasking.
Most of the time, multitasking feels pretty unproductive and unsatisfying. It sometimes makes me feel like I’m on a roll, sparking new connections and ideas, but that only works in small doses. If I’m constantly in that mode, a lot of good ideas fizzle into the deluge, drowned by a sea of seemingly fantastic ideas. When you’re doing tasks that don’t require much creative thinking, then it’s not as damaging — but our brains are still not well wired for switching modes. Every time you interrupt the article you’re writing to check how much time is left on that eBay auction, your brain scrambles to recalibrate its settings. All that scramble time takes serious chunks out of our actual doing and creating.
The obvious way to battle multitasking is to work on single tasks in blocks of time. I’m not going to start on a productivity spiel here, ’cause you’ve read it all before. Doing one thing at a time is, sadly, easier said than done — but I’m set on pushing myself back to that work habit, since I’ve wandered astray recently. But today I wanted to bring up my other weapon against mindless multitasking — pen and paper.
I was going to write a whole post about the glories of pen and paper, but then I remembered that I already did that — about 11 months ago, as the 3rd post on this blog. When I wrote “When to Stick to the Basics,” I was new to blogging and social media in general, so it’s interesting to compare my feelings about technology now and then. Essentially, my feelings haven’t changed. I’m still a faithful lover of pen and paper for capturing the raw flow of ideas, and I’m still a firm believer in the marvels technology has to offer.
So today I am honoring the power of pen and paper to center the mind and build your momentum. As I’m consciously moving back toward old-fashioned “uni-tasking,” I’m taking regular breaks from the computer to map out ideas, take notes by hand, and just write. I’m not promising any immediate epiphanies or life-changing ideas, but it really is a modest wonder to watch your hands unfold the big picture. At the computer, I find that I’m much less likely to take a step back and take stock of where I stand and what I’m really doing. I’m much less likely to flesh out the connections and ideas that pull together the different threads I’m pursuing. But I also can’t ignore that technology provides the tools to push those ideas into the wild — to move forward, fill in the blanks, and collaborate. Both factors are essential to my flow, but I find that it’s too easy to get sucked into technology’s sexy gaze. It’s often only when we get blindsided by technology that we come back crawling to the classic, reliable good looks of pen and paper.
If you’re curious, you can head back in the archives to read “When to Stick to the Basics.” And if you just want to get started, go ahead — put the computer to sleep and let the ink flow reignite your momentum.
So, when do you choose paper over computer screen? Does paper help you uni-task, or are you laser-focused on the screen? Where is technology’s place in your creative flow?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I return only to pen and paper for making lists. All my diaries – pre PC – are in long hand. I think with a different part of my brain when I connect pen to paper – which is why all the imporant lists get written out – places I want to go; people I need to write; goals I want to achieve.
I loved that line about checking the ebay auction and having to recalibrate the brain. Sometimes, I get so charged with tracking success I fail to create and I absolutely hate that.
.-= jen´s last blog ..some stories take courage to tell. this is one of them. =-.
I also love pen and paper, in many cases the pen is definitely mightier than the sword. Unfortunately not in editing and writing quickly, which is always such an important part of our over-full multi tasking days now. I revert to pen and paper for ideas, important lists, brainstorming,and the highly productive task of doodling. Isn’t it interesting that the three commenters are writers, creative people and all who choose pen over PC when it comes to idea flow. Is this part of the creative’s brain, or do other thinkers (right brainers) revert to pen and paper for ideas. I think not, and hopefully therein lies the future of the written word (not the typed one)!
I’m with Jen on this: has to be pen and paper for lists… I don’t know why. I am becoming more aware of just how draining multitasking is – never used to feel this way before I had an online social life! It’s got to the point where I have to turn off Twitter sometimes, just to focus.
But I still love it all!
.-= Emma Newman´s last blog ..What makes a good short story? =-.
I recently returned to college to take a couple English classes–American and British literary history. My first go at college was business school which involved toting my lappy everywhere and having it in front of me in every class. I was horribly unproductive. This time around I’ve left the lappy in the bag and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. If I get bored (which is a given in any college class) I can doodle, but that’s about it. The paper and pen channel my attention.
But it’s English of course, so I have to write, and when I need to write a paper the computer is the only way to go–it’s fast. And if I’ve done the paper-pen thing good enough, my focus can be acute when If finally crack the lid of the lappy.
I use pen and paper for first drafts almost exclusively and absolutely for my personal, creative writing. The reading responses and weekly synthesis essays I do for my master’s work often starts by hand and winds up on the computer, mostly because I can type faster than I can write, and those ideas all stack up and need captured in some form of words quickly. But for the novel or for short stories, it has to be pen in hand. There is something about the connection between my subconscious and my hand, between the pen nib and the paper – a flow I guess, almost a physical sensation from my head down my arm and onto the paper in the ink trail. It also affects the pacing of my scenes. If there is one that is moving too slowly, I will occasionally try it on the computer, to see if that will help it along, but only when pen and paper fail.
I totally thought I had invented the word “unitasking,” but everyone seems to be using it. There are probably like 1,200 people who independently came up with it and thought it was a clever new coinage no one else would think of.
http://www.phoenixoflove.com/2008/12/02/unitasking/
I do a lot of my writing on the computer, and I do find that I get distracted by other things too easily. Having everything there in one machine makes it too easy to “quickly check your emails”, nip onto Facebook or waste time Twittering about seemingly insignificant stuff. So every now and then, I will sit down with a pen and paper and write longhand. I find the quality of what I write is usually dubious but at least I’ve produced something concrete, something I can physically hold in my hands, and which I can edit on the computer at a later date.
Of course, the other, more mundane, advantage to pen and paper is that its not subject to random crashes, power failures, incompatible software or Windows tantrums…
Hey Zdub…
I always find it interesting coming here after some time away. It seems we’re on a similar wave-length often times, and you’re always so good at articulating it. So thanks for that.
I have been noticeably (or so it seems to me) absent from technology these past weeks primarily because of productivity issues. I just felt like it (twitter, reading blogs, etc) was slowly whittling away each day and, though I remained busy/active all day, I hadn’t really accomplished anything. Not ideal when you’re trying to make significant changes in your life.
So I got a pack of black and white composition books and started writing things down. To do lists, crossing items off as I go. My vision for where I’m headed, what I’d like to see myself doing in the months/years ahead. A schedule for each day that at the very least provides a guide for action. More than anything, just clarifying for myself what I’m doing here. There’s nothing like pen and paper when that’s the goal.
I feel a bit more in control now, and am slowly coming back, to some extent, to the things I value most that only technology can deliver (which is why I’m here).
When I was in VA, I frequented a pizza place (Dr. Ho’s – if you’re in Charlottesville, you owe it to yourself to drop in for a pie) that had a sign over the kitchen area that read simply “Keep yer kids in check, yo!”.
Lately, I’ve been working hard to keep my technology in check…yo.
@ Jen – I’m with you on that. I always do to-do lists by hand, and I just can’t do big goal lists on the computer ever. It’s as though holding the pen in my hand allows a very personal stream to rise up…
@ Natalie – I don’t believe the written word can wither away! Well, not anytime too soon, anyway
. I think there’s something about physically drawing out the language on paper that can never quite be captured by technology… though I’m sure in the future, it could become an art that only those who take the time to learn can master!
@ Emma – I suppose it’s good that we go through these phases of wanting the “detox” of tech… because it reminds us to focus on the core of value that these tools offer. Ah, the ebb and flow…
@ Ryan – I always did notes by hand in college too. Tried the laptop a couple times, but it never really did it for me. It’s interesting when profs incorporate tech into their classroom — especially when they manage to maintain students’ attention!
@ Stace – Very cool…love that you switch between pen and keyboard to balance your speed and flow. I’m also impressed that you’re doing much of your novel longhand. I haven’t written anything novel-length, but I imagine that makes it a really different experience.
@ Michael – Thanks for sending the link to your article! Yep, it’s that kinda-original-but-not-groundbreaking type of word
. We’ll see if it ever makes is into the OED…!
@ Icy – That’s a good point about writing quality. When I do longhand creative writing, it’s very hit or miss. Sometimes I’m quite happy with what comes out, but sometimes it seems like a flood of crap… I suppose the crap has to be let out somewhere, though
.
@ Jeb – That sounds so wonderfully simple and effective. Like I commented to Jen, I think longhand is a must for doing those lists, especially important “life lists.” Makes me feel honest. By the way, love that quote — guess the bottom line is that we all need to keep our tech in check!
Pen and paper just cannot be replaced. I do most of my writing on the computer, but I still need pen and paper for poetry writing and for any kind of brainstorming. I think it’s the tactile nature of holding the materials in your hands… it’s more conductive to creativity.
@ Melissa – Oh, poetry is another one — though I’ve not been writing poetry since living in Thailand, I’ve never been able to write poetry on the screen. Now that I say that, I’m thinking of reading some poetry to infuse my mind, then give it a go… it’s been so long!
I love it! I get most of my writing ideas by writing in my notebook in the morning using my grandfather’s fountain pen. From those scribblings come blog ideas to be typed on the computer.
For me single tasking makes the most sense. I like to say that I can do many things at once half-arsed, or I can do one thing at a time very well.
I’ll go back and read your old post now. I did a post the other week called How to Simply Write. Keep up the great work.
.-= Sean´s last blog ..Weekly Wrap Up III =-.
@ Sean – Fountain pen, now that’s really old school! Yes, I’m trying my hardest to stick to uni-tasking too… helps that I carry around a couple notebooks everywhere I go, cause they’re really good for zooming in focus.