Creativity

Research proves that procrastination isn’t always bad for the creative process. If you procrastinate right, you can use it to solve the thickest of thorny creative problems and actually be more productive. But if you procrastinate wrong, it can send you hurtling into a negative, nail-chewing mind spiral that makes you question the existence of your own soul.

Being a highly prolific writer is sneered at in some circles. Some people think there’s a trade-off between quality and quantity. To do truly ‘great work’ – you can’t do very much of it. Science disagrees. Most of the world’s best writers, creatives and innovators – are also hugely prolific, productive people.

Like Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg’s wardrobe is stuffed to the gills with exactly the same clobber so he doesn’t have to think about what to wear in the morning. He does this because even the smallest smidgen of mental energy invested in deciding whether it’s a brogues or socks and sandals kinda day could be better spent. Zuckerberg never bothers his high-tech grey matter about his daily outfit because he removes the need to make a decision in the first place. In short, he has a system.

The last few weeks for first-time novelist Wyl Menmuir have been a blur. Since finding out his book The Many had been longlisted for the Man Booker - the most prestigious literary prize in the world - he’s been interviewed by national newspapers, courted by big name agents and has headlined literary events.

“Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. Both are very hard work. Writing something is almost as hard as making a table. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood. Both are full of tricks and techniques. Basically very little magic and a lot of hard work are involved.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez

You’ve made it — you’re a paid writer! Maybe you write advertising copy, video sales letters, memos and presentations, or greetings cards. You’re in this line of work because you love language and you were that child who always hung around the library: there was always a novel in you.

When your long term creative passion is an unpaid side-project, it’s tough to know if you’re moving forwards, treading water or just going round in circles headless-chicken style and never getting any better.

I don’t have an infectious disease but if I did, I imagine telling people you have one garners much the same reaction as telling people you’ve written a short comedy film. There’s normally some initial interest – even enthusiasm – but then a yawning chasm of social awkwardness opens as people think I might expect them to like the film or even worse – find it funny.

At the time of writing, the top two trending articles on Buzzfeed are: ‘15 Struggles You’ll Only Understand If You’re Obsessed With Cereal’ and ‘The 15 Emotional Stages of Mobile Phone Ownership’. It’s safe to say that Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, hasn’t read either.

Distractions like social media are enemy number one for the writer determined to finish. But distractions are only distracting because we let them – because they interrupt us when we’d rather be concentrating on the task in hand. Here’s our 5-step guide to keeping focused and beating your creative distractions.