
Hello to you!
Thank you to everyone who wished me well for my dental surgery. (i have a bone defect in my upper jaw) I’m still not totally fine and there are still many months of procedures left, but I’m thankful that I’m back to at least working on my own now. (i couldn’t even properly eat on my own, and i probably won’t for a while)
Anyway, thanks again!
And apologies for the silent cloud here on Eclipsed Words for the last couple of days.
I wanted to address the issue of “Aishwarya, would you please give me some advice on writing?”
Well, I’m back here and decided to begin with the respective query.
before i type anything further,
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Now…
I’ve been spending the past week all bed rested and still tackling my deadlines for my assignments at university. (‘cuz even medical problems don’t stop university deadlines ugh) Anyway, now I’m here, rested and ready to welcome thousands of you and possibly help/guide/advice you with writing. (that part of blogging, eh?)
So, today’s blog post was inspired by this particular question among the hundreds of questions asked before this…
“Whenever I sit down to write content, I just can’t do it. Nothing comes to me and I don’t feel in flow. It’s holding me back from sending out emails or social media, to even write content on my blog, how do I fix it?”
Before I dive right into answering this question, let me share a study with you (you know I love to study, proud nerd as i call myself) about “concentration”…
More than 50% of 1,100 participants in a study said they always respond to an email immediately or as soon as possible, while 21% of participants admitted they would interrupt a meeting to do so.
These constant interruptions can have the same effect as the loss of a nights sleep.
Being in “flow” state where you’re really productive and focused means you need to concentrate.
So, if the concentration is actually your problem, as opposed to simply just writing content, this an issue we need to address on a bigger scale.
Now, I don’t know about you but I care about producing exceptional results in absolutely everything I care about doing.
See, if I wrote this blog post in between jumping into emails, looking at social media, responding to queries… you’d know.
Every single time that I sit down to write, I remove all distractions, I close my eyes, take a few breaths, set an intention and then I sit and let the writing flow. Sometimes it takes a while to come, but that’s okay. Not everything in life needs to be rushed.
Admittedly, I don’t quite approach every task like this. And, in the past, I’ve found myself jumping in and out of things whilst multitasking. I instantly noticed the drop in quality of my output.
I want to encourage you to approach everything in the mindset of full concentration, not just when you’re writing content.
When you sit down to do something – focus on it.
You Need to Stop “Multitasking” –
You might think it makes you so much more productive but newsflash – it doesn’t.
You’re probably not even “multitasking”…
You are actually just rapidly switching between different activities.
Adrenaline and cortisol are designed to support us through bursts of intense activity (like this) but in the long term cortisol can knock out the feel-good hormones in our brain (hello serotonin and dopamine) which make us feel calm and happy, which affects our sleep and heart rate and makes us feel scattered.
This has been said to be a predominant reason for the poor concentration that so many of us experience.
The long-term effect of constant, high levels of circulating stress hormones can have an inflammatory and detrimental effect on brain cells (enter a kind of depression, anxiety, brain fog…).
Better concentration leads to an easier, less stressful, more productive and happier life.
Remove Distractions –
If you need to put this in your calendar then do so.
Check your social media, emails, messages at specific times during the day and remember that nothing is going to burn down if you don’t reply instantly. If it’s an emergency, I’m sure they’ll find a way to contact you outside of three or call you if they know you.
Also, remember – nobody is ever too busy. Not even the president or the queen. It’s all a matter of priorities. It’s a difficult pill to swallow, but eventually, you need to accept this fact.
So set your priorities straight. Be disciplined. It’ll be one of the greatest gifts you’ll give yourself.
When you sit down to do something, remove distractions – close apps on your laptop, keep your phone in another room and don’t let yourself lose concentration – push through.
Do one task at a time instead of five. If you notice yourself jumping into another task before finishing the one you’re currently doing, bring yourself straight back and concentrate.
This will come down to setting boundaries with yourself and others.
Practice Concentration –
You know in the same way you always get told to practice meditation? I’m encouraging you to practice concentration.
Maybe that means sitting down and reading a book for 30 minutes a day with your phone in the other room.
When you first start, your concentration might be all over the place and you’ll start convincing yourself that you need to go check your notifications (or tons of other excuses) but stay with it.
So, are you with me?
…as a by-product, I think you’ll get better at writing content too.
XO
Aishwarya ♥
Feel free to ask any questions or share your ideas in the comment section below. Alternately, I’d really appreciate for you to share this content on your social media platform if you found it useful so that others can benefit from it too. If you have any doubts or want a personal clarification, send me an email on eclipsedwords@gmail.com. For more inspiration, fun, and smiles, follow me on Instagram
Happy Blogging! ♥♥♥
Thank you for reading. Love you for that! ♥
—–Have Hope. Keep Faith—–
Copyright. All rights reserved. ©
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Follow & Support Eclipsed Words on these social platforms. It’s a great way of showing your love and support.
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Any Inquiries/Say Hello – eclipsedwords@gmail.com
ECLIPSEDWORDS BY AISHWARYA SHAH | OCTOBER’2018 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©
Feel free to ask any questions or share your ideas in the comment section below. Alternately, I’d really appreciate for you to share this content on your social media platform if you found it useful so that others can benefit from it too. If you have any doubts or want a personal clarification, send me an email on eclipsedwords@gmail.com. For more inspiration, fun, and smiles, follow me on Instagram
Happy Blogging! ♥♥♥
Thank you for reading. Love you for that! ♥
—–Have Hope. Keep Faith—–
Copyright. All rights reserved. ©
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Follow & Support Eclipsed Words on these social platforms. It’s a great way of showing your love and support.
It only takes one click!
Any Inquiries/Say Hello – eclipsedwords@gmail.com
ECLIPSEDWORDS BY AISHWARYA SHAH | OCTOBER’2018 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©
Awesome Post!! And that subscription sounded good
Thank you! ❤
Welcome
Amazingly beautiful piece mate !!
Thank you! ❤
Pleasure always for beautiful stuff Aishwarya
Great post. Was a good read for me. It is very important that we focus on our writing when we sit down and pick up the pen.
Focus + Concentration. Keys to get things done and avoid mistakes.
Thank you for reading ❤
Sure is. You’re welcome. 😁
Sure is. You’re welcome 😁
Meditation can also help to train your mind to concentrate and filter out distractions. I read somewhere that once you are interrupted it takes 15 minutes to regain where you were when you were interrupted. This hardly seems efficient. Better to do one thing at a time and fully be in that moment.
Great post.
Yes, absolutely. Meditation has helped me a great deal. In all areas of my life.
These are some great writing tips. It’s so very true. I’m using social media right no when I should be concentrating! XD thanks for the gentle call to action!
Hahah, it happens. With everyone. Myself included.
Anyway,
Best wishes to you!
love and hugs,
Xoxo ❤
Good post on focus!
Thank you! ❤
Great post. Thank you.
Thank you! ❤
Wonderful tips on writing! 🙂
Thank you! ❤
You’re welcome!😊
Quite relevant post💐
Thank you! ❤
So agree with your tip on prioritizing and removing distractions. Very essential to be able to focus and accomplish the task at hand.
Best wishes to you, thank you for reading.
hugs and love,
xoxo
Good points here! I like to think we don’t really multi-task. Instead, we do like a hyper threaded processor, weaving bits of different tasks in together super fast in a linear fashion, jumping between things, switching constantly. But we are not computers! I recommend Cal Newport’s blog for more on deep thought and concentration. http://calnewport.com/blog/ Thanks for sharing, take care!