Free your mind
If focus is the ultimate aim, then the path by which we achieve it is filled with a host of preparatory work, all of it based around the simple principle of reducing the amount of effort and energy you have to spend on thinking about anything that isn’t writing. If your mind is occupied by questions like this…
Where should I file this letter?
Where’s that bank statement I received last week?
When’s that call with my editor, again?
What do I need to work on tomorrow to stay ahead of deadline? Wait, are my accounts due yet?
What was that great idea I had yesterday?
…then you’re going to have a hard time concentrating on writing. That’s memory distraction in a nutshell.
The human brain can hold, on average, seven items in its short-term memory, and each will only stay in our memory for about thirty seconds unless we ‘rehearse’ them – ie repeat the list of items regularly, to maintain them.
