Breaking Through the Distraction Wall: How I Reclaimed My Writing Focus
- Oct 14
- 3 min read
By J.B. Coleman
As a father of four with a full-time job, I have always known that time is my most valuable resource. Every writing session felt like a battle, not just against the blank page, but against the endless stream of interruptions that life throws at you. Kids needing attention, household responsibilities piling up, and the constant demands of work meant my creative time was always under siege.
Layer onto that the emotional strain of going through a divorce, and focus became even harder to come by. The few quiet moments I could carve out were often hijacked by technology itself. There were always finances to check, marketing posts to schedule for my book, or, if I’m honest, the gravitational pull of Facebook and TikTok doomscrolling.
Writer’s block wasn’t my real problem in the traditional sense. The ideas were there, the story alive in my mind. What I was truly battling was the inability to sustain focus in a world that thrives on distraction.
For weeks, I averaged just 200 words per day on my new book. At that pace, my October release date for my next novel felt impossible. I tried a distraction-free writing app, which doubled my output to about 3,000 words per week. It was an improvement, but not enough.
The temptation to click away was always one keystroke away, and deep down I knew I needed something more drastic.
That’s when I decided to invest in a single-purpose writing device, a modern take on the old word processor, built to do nothing but write. No apps. No notifications. No internet (except to sync your work). Just me, the keyboard, and the words.
The results were immediate and dramatic. In my first week with the device, I wrote 8,000 words despite missing two full days because of other obligations. It wasn’t just the jump in numbers that mattered; it was the mental shift. When I pick up the device, I know it’s time to write. There’s no “just checking something real quick” because there’s nothing to check. Its long battery life means I can write anywhere without hunting for an outlet. Its lack of editing tools keeps me focused on forward momentum instead of tinkering with sentences.
Something else happened that I didn’t expect: writing became fun again. Without the weight of constant distractions, I rediscovered the joy of watching the story unfold in real time. Scenes I had been stuck on for weeks started flowing naturally. Characters came to life more vividly. I found myself looking forward to each session, knowing it was dedicated time with no competing demands. All of a sudden I was back in junior high with my composition book and my pencil. All writing, no distraction. I hadn’t felt that way when writing for many years.
And maybe most importantly, it gave me hope again. The weight of financial pressure, the emotional toll of personal changes, and the uncertainty of building a career as an indie author can make the future feel overwhelming. But when I’m writing without distraction, I’m reminded of why I started telling stories in the first place, to create worlds people can escape into, even when real life feels too heavy. That reminder is what keeps me moving forward, one chapter at a time.
This change has completely altered my publishing timeline. Before, I feared missing my October release date. Now, I’m on track to have a complete draft by mid-September, giving me time for the required multiple rounds of editing before launch. For an indie author, meeting deadlines isn’t just about pride, it’s about building trust with readers, growing momentum, and proving that you can deliver.
The truth is, the world is designed to keep our attention fragmented. “Just ignore the distractions” is easy advice to give and nearly impossible to follow. For me, the answer wasn’t more willpower, it was removing the option to be distracted in the first place.
Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come not from adding more, but from stripping everything else away until all that’s left is the work you were meant to do. For me, that work is telling stories, and now I finally have the focus to tell them the way they deserve to be told.
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