Day 374: Managing concentration with music
I got some more work done last night thanks to something I heard when I was listening to the audiobook Ultralearning. I listened to the audiobook originally to help me with my Japanese language study, but it also talks about focusing for learning, which can be applied to focusing for writing.
One thing he mentioned was about a psychology study where people were tested on their performance on cognitive tasks when they were tired or energetic, and when they were listening to music or not. Music for someone who has energy seemed to overstimulate them, while music for people who were tired enabled them to perform better. So the book suggests you try to manipulate your energy levels when you use music or not during study sessions.
Last night, I thought I might use that technique for my writing. Lately, in order to help me focus more intently when I work, I haven’t been listening to music, which is what is recommended in the book Deep Work. But I thought I might try using music for my writing sessions later in the day when I’m tired. I tried that last night, and it seems to work well. I don’t necessarily feel less tired, but I was able to focus and get work done. I included my work hours from last night in the totals below since they weren’t included in my totals yesterday.
Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep very well last night, maybe because I’m still uncomfortable from some intestinal issues. It’s been difficult to remember to change the way I eat because of my IBS, but if I want to be able to work without discomfort, I have to be more vigilant, even about gray-area things.
Ironically, my health issues have made me more disciplined not just in my eating and exercise but also in other areas in work, too. So maybe the IBS is a blessing in disguise despite all the things I can’t eat anymore.
I fixed a few plot holes in my series synopses, but I found a few more that I’ll have to fix later. I also managed to nail down the timeline, so now I can read through the side story synopsis and make sure the timeline works out with the other events happening in the main series.
I did my Japanese language study as part of my clearing the decks routine, but like yesterday, I spent a little too long on it. I’m going to have to adjust it more so that I can get my daily flashcards done, but without impinging on my writing time.
***
I started work on the side story synopsis, and immediately found two plot holes that impacted the other books in the series, so I went back to try to fix them. I managed to fix one of them, but the other one causes problems for the climax of the book, which is also the climax of the entire series. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll fix it. It will probably take more time, which is disappointing because I thought I’d be further along taking notes on the side story synopsis, and instead I’m STILL fixing plot problems in the main books of the series.
I spent a lot of time on work today. I didn’t have to cook, which gave me an extra hour of work time, but I also took an hour away from family time today, which isn’t something I should make a habit of doing.
Also, I’m not doing enough reading lately because I’ve been using the time to work on my series outlining, instead. I’m a bit worried that I’m not refilling the creative well enough. When that happens, usually I’ll go into mental meltdown for a few days, but I don’t want to lose writing time like that. I’m going to have to do better about making sure I do enough reading each day.
Outlining: time spent: 5 hours, 24 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Total number of words: n/a
Writing: Overall writing speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 37 minutes
My takeaway for today: I might be able to increase my writing energy when I’m tired by using music to help concentrate.
One thing he mentioned was about a psychology study where people were tested on their performance on cognitive tasks when they were tired or energetic, and when they were listening to music or not. Music for someone who has energy seemed to overstimulate them, while music for people who were tired enabled them to perform better. So the book suggests you try to manipulate your energy levels when you use music or not during study sessions.
Last night, I thought I might use that technique for my writing. Lately, in order to help me focus more intently when I work, I haven’t been listening to music, which is what is recommended in the book Deep Work. But I thought I might try using music for my writing sessions later in the day when I’m tired. I tried that last night, and it seems to work well. I don’t necessarily feel less tired, but I was able to focus and get work done. I included my work hours from last night in the totals below since they weren’t included in my totals yesterday.
Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep very well last night, maybe because I’m still uncomfortable from some intestinal issues. It’s been difficult to remember to change the way I eat because of my IBS, but if I want to be able to work without discomfort, I have to be more vigilant, even about gray-area things.
Ironically, my health issues have made me more disciplined not just in my eating and exercise but also in other areas in work, too. So maybe the IBS is a blessing in disguise despite all the things I can’t eat anymore.
I fixed a few plot holes in my series synopses, but I found a few more that I’ll have to fix later. I also managed to nail down the timeline, so now I can read through the side story synopsis and make sure the timeline works out with the other events happening in the main series.
I did my Japanese language study as part of my clearing the decks routine, but like yesterday, I spent a little too long on it. I’m going to have to adjust it more so that I can get my daily flashcards done, but without impinging on my writing time.
***
I started work on the side story synopsis, and immediately found two plot holes that impacted the other books in the series, so I went back to try to fix them. I managed to fix one of them, but the other one causes problems for the climax of the book, which is also the climax of the entire series. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll fix it. It will probably take more time, which is disappointing because I thought I’d be further along taking notes on the side story synopsis, and instead I’m STILL fixing plot problems in the main books of the series.
I spent a lot of time on work today. I didn’t have to cook, which gave me an extra hour of work time, but I also took an hour away from family time today, which isn’t something I should make a habit of doing.
Also, I’m not doing enough reading lately because I’ve been using the time to work on my series outlining, instead. I’m a bit worried that I’m not refilling the creative well enough. When that happens, usually I’ll go into mental meltdown for a few days, but I don’t want to lose writing time like that. I’m going to have to do better about making sure I do enough reading each day.
Outlining: time spent: 5 hours, 24 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Editing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Time spent: 0
Writing: Total number of words: n/a
Writing: Overall writing speed: n/a
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 1 hour, 37 minutes
My takeaway for today: I might be able to increase my writing energy when I’m tired by using music to help concentrate.
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