I have long urged people to embrace the chaos of their own personal lives and find a way to make it conducive to their art. There is few things more sad than to see children (bursting with curiosity or playfulness) who are not thinking as much about the world around them because they have a phone in their face. Or a TV they know how to turn on. It is always tough to hear people who think they need to 'control' their ADHD so as to conform or fit in to the environment they're in. (I do understand there are more extreme situations where both are needed)
Being easily distracted is a beautiful sign of intelligence, as long as those distractions create progress of some sort.
I don't own a TV - I haven't had time to watch a TV show since Breaking Bad. I truly just don't have time. I don't know how anyone younger does. I have 5 new ideas pop into my head for every time I finish one of them... And once I start on one of those, I have 5 more.
I think something crucial to learn through this is: Easily distractible people need to just figure out how to work as long on one of those tasks before starting a new one. They don't have to finish it - just work on it enough to get themselves committed to eventually finishing it.
If you're young and creative, please resist instant-gratification in any way you can. Please.
Let your distractions be starting a new task - not beginning a new TV show that might take tens of hours out of your ability to accomplish your dreams. Checking your phone too much? Leave it in a different room and put it on silent - only check it when you remember to (The more you do this, the more you'll find yourself forgetting to check your phone - this is very good for clarity). Turn off ALL notifications and sounds that snap you out of your creative mind.
Now, I of course have vices (Hello Reddit!). I think it's important to have little getaways for entertainment and am, in no way, saying creatives need to structure their life to avoid entertainment. Quite the opposite. Entertainment too lets the mind wander and get out of your own perspective for a second. But I have found that my creativity explodes in thought when I allow space to think, and time to begin a new task. A lot of these times, I kind of 'hibernate' and won't become social again until I have made some major progress on some things I have been thinking a lot about.
The gym is such an incredible place to think. To sweat and have time away from distraction, while your mind is in full alert. But just as much, nature. Solitude. (Bring a notepad with you - your mind will be thinking of a million ideas). In the morning time, start slow (If you can!). Cup of coffee, sit outside and read a book. Even if for 15 minutes.
I have always struggled with meditation so I go to Yoga instead. In Yoga, you are taught something very crucial to every day life: If you take an hour away from your normal life and/or phone/emails, that it will still be there whenever you're finished. The world didn't stop. There wasn't any emergencies. Everything was okay. You are also taught that it's okay to suffer and that almost all of it is in your mind.
When I do these things, I am so much more present for the people I am physically close to. And when I am present for them, they know that I am genuinely listening and that I genuinely care about what they're saying and what is going on through their life. I also am able to learn from them. From each person, I learn something new about life, and experiences that I am able to apply to my own life. This helps me navigate life easier than I can fully express.
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So, when you have a moment of boredom... Please do not quickly fill it with something entertaining. For these are the times when your mind has to entertain itself - by going through hypothetical situations, thinking about ideas, and following thoughts through, as much as you can. These are how dreams become action. And how thoughts become words.
These are not all things I have always done. But these are things I have learned that has significantly improved the quality of my life, and brought true joy to me.
The only downside of this? I now fully realize that one lifetime is not nearly enough to implement the ideas and dreams I have already thought of. But I promise you I will try, with everything I can, to accomplish as much of them as possible. If one doesn't work or fails? I have too many more to count... to start on in the midst of the rejection.
It has made the process a lot more interesting and a hell of a lot more fun.
Won't you join me?
