pay attention – Bane of Your Resistance

When Mental Clutter Limits Your Writing, Clearing Your Mind Takes New Meaning

June 14, 2018

If you feel scattered and find it difficult to focus your attention on your writing, you’re not alone, not weird, not wrong. You’re probably suffering from mental clutter. Your brain is filled with too many things to think about, remember, ponder, take action on. You’re struggling to make sense of a cacophony of demands on … More When Mental Clutter Limits Your Writing, Clearing Your Mind Takes New Meaning

Train Yourself to Resist Resistance: Second Trick

May 11, 2017

In the previous post, I promised that you can train your brain to follow two simple commands that will transform your writing no matter how resistant you are. The first was Sit-Stay. The second is: Pay Attention To the trainer, Pay Attention means “look at me, make eye contact with me” (which is why some … More Train Yourself to Resist Resistance: Second Trick

Master Resistance with Two Simple Commands Part 2

October 13, 2012

In the previous post, I promised that you can train your brain to follow two simple commands that will transform your writing no matter how resistant you are. The first was Sit-Stay. The second is: Pay Attention To a dog, Pay Attention means “look at me, make eye contact with me” (which is why some … More Master Resistance with Two Simple Commands Part 2

You Know What to Do (to Care for Your Writer Self and Eliminate Writer’s Block)

November 16, 2011

Self-care is recognizing what you need most and giving yourself that. In an appreciative inquiry, I asked the students in my Entering the Flow class to write about the good things they did for themselves as a writer in the past week. Because one of the key principles in appreciative inquiry (AI) is that we … More You Know What to Do (to Care for Your Writer Self and Eliminate Writer’s Block)

Track Your Way Past Writer’s Block to Writing Success

September 27, 2011

Writing habits trump resistance. If you want to make it easier to write and write regularly, you need writing habits. (I suggest regularly showing up for short sessions of Process, Product Time and Self-care as the basic habits every writer should give her/himself.) To create or improve your writing habits (or to change any other … More Track Your Way Past Writer’s Block to Writing Success

Step Away From the Marshmallow Part 2

June 2, 2011

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

Step Away From the Marshmallow and No One Gets Writer’s Block

May 31, 2011

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

Step Away From the Catnip and No One Gets Writer’s Block

May 27, 2011

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

Mental Clutter

September 8, 2010

The inability to sustain focused attention for more than five minutes is often the result of mental clutter. … More Mental Clutter

Why You Need to Pay Attention to What You’re Paying Attention To

August 25, 2010

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

Bane of Your Resistance

Stop distracting and fighting yourself, Surrender perfectionism and procrastination, Give yourself writing habits and outcomes you are proud of

Tag: pay attention