In more recent versions of the Marshmallow Test, Walter Mischel tells children to pretend the marshmallow is only a picture of a marshmallow or a fluffy cloud. The children who employ their imagination could wait three times longer than kids who didn’t use their imagination. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter … More Step Away From the Marshmallow Part 2
Have you seen the Marshmallow Test? Four-year-olds are given a marshmallow and told that they can eat the marshmallow whenever they want, but if they wait until the researcher comes back, they can have a second marshmallow. The videos are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant as the kids devise different strategies to avoid the temptation or … More Step Away From the Marshmallow and No One Gets Writer’s Block
My intuition tells me there is something more significant about multitasking than just “don’t do it.” It’s about focus; it’s about the ability and freedom to choose what to pay attention to. Without that ability to focus, our struggles with writing resistance will be futile. My next couple of posts will explore this connection between … More Step Away From the Catnip and No One Gets Writer’s Block
The inability to sustain focused attention for more than five minutes is often the result of mental clutter. … More Mental Clutter
We can’t get into the waking dream of writing if we are constantly interrupting ourselves with trivia. Writers are particularly vulnerable to and negatively affected by our culture of distraction. … More Why You Need to Pay Attention to What You’re Paying Attention To
Is Your Attention Splintered? One of the best things I do for myself as a writer and a human being is to spend 45 to 60 minutes at least once a week in the dog park (in addition to walking the dogs out my front door every morning). We’re lucky to have a dog … More How Splintered Is Your Attention? Take the Quiz and Find Out
Bane of Your Resistance 