Keep your blinders on
A way to focus on what matters.
It’s easy to get distracted. To focus on what other people are doing or saying, whether or not we even care about what’s being said. Our world is noisy, both at a macro level and in our day-to-day lives. Social media. The news feed. Our to-do lists.
FOMO (fear of missing out) adds another layer to our resistance to tuning things out and turning things down. According to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology1, FOMO is not just related to social media, but includes events we don’t even want to attend. The researchers found those who had FOMO were concerned that missing the event would negatively impact their relationship and future belonging with the group.
Deeply committing to a creative project requires intense focus. It requires you to tune out the external world and connect to your inner world. It might require you saying no to an event or being behind on a new TV series. It might mean leaving a pile of dirty laundry longer than you want to or sacrificing sleep.
When I’m in drafting mode (as I am now), I need to severely limit my distractions. I think of it as putting on my blinders, the way a horse wears blinders when they need to complete a specific task that requires extra focus.
For me, I delete social media apps, put my phone in another room while I write (or far enough away that I can’t easily reach it), watch less TV during the week, turn the Wi-Fi off on my computer, and close as many open tabs as possible. I also turn down non-essential social stuff, to maximize the time I have in front of my computer.
Once I’m out of drafting mode, I ease up for a bit, then I might hunker down again when it’s time to revise. I do this because if I didn’t I know I would end up spending years writing a new manuscript. There’s no right or wrong way to draft, but I’ve accepted that I write slower than average, so in order to meet my self-imposed timeline, I need focus.
Closing off the outside world to concentrate your energy on a project can feel scary. But I want to reassure you that it’s not. Here are some ways to reframe those fears so you can get to work — guilt-free.
Remind yourself it’s not forever
Horses don’t wear blinders all the time. They’re only used when necessary. You might need to spend a few months deeply entrenched in your process until you emerge with a semblance of something readable. It might require you to wake up early or stay up late a few days a week. Remind yourself it isn’t forever. It will feel less like a chore when you know it’s not your new reality, but a temporary detour.
Create spaciousness
What I mean by spaciousness is the mental bandwidth to allow ideas to effortlessly flow. For some people, this is a designated physical space where you can create ideas without distraction. For others, it might be a routine that helps ground you before you begin to create. Lighting a candle or making a cup of tea before settling in seems basic, but it can be a powerful form of ritual. Do whatever you need to do to let your creativity breathe.
”Silence and rest is an integral part to any creative project.”
Find daily moments of silence
Silence is powerful. If it’s new to you, it can feel uncomfortable. Silence allows you to connect more deeply to your inner world, including thoughts you’ve been drowning out with noise. Moments of silence allow your mind to make connections you might not have made before (that’s why so many ah-ha moments happen in the shower). Our brain works hard to integrate all of the information you’ve been gathering during these rest or incubation periods. Silence and rest is an integral part to any creative project. Maybe the only time you have for silence is in the shower. That’s great! You can also try to incorporate silence into things that you normally do on a daily basis, whether that’s during a lunchtime walk (no music! no podcasts! gasp!) or the five minutes you have in your car before walking through the front door.
Don’t go all-or-nothing
You don’t have to ban yourself from social media or TV completely to finish your draft. Although, you could and I would be extremely impressed. Maybe you decide that it’s only Monday to Friday, you’ll avoid it. I personally get my screen fix on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, either watching a few episodes of a show or a movie. The rest of the week is reserved for writing.
Let the world keep moving
Whenever I’ve been off social media, I come back and think, “I didn’t miss anything.” I mean, maybe there’s one thing that was really cool or funny, but for the most part, it’s a lot of noise and it’s noise that isn’t helpful to me finishing my creative project.
Sure, you might miss out on a meme or hot topic, but as fast as these come, they also go. If there is truly critical information you need to know about, then I promise you won’t miss it.
How do you approach a major creative project? Do you dip in and out? Do you shut out the noise? I’d love to know your strategies for staying focused in a world that demands our constant attention.
I’ve been watching the latest season of Industry (for the record I was watching it when no one was watching it), and have been loving the social promo the cast has been doing, particularly Myha’la and Ken Leung’s TikTok’s like this one and this one. The show is super dark and intense, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I’ve also been watching Love Story: John F. Kennedy & Carolyn Bessette, although I’m behind because of said writing above. The series is having me nostalgic for the 90s, reminding me of my high school outfit choices (all-black because I wanted to be cool and chic, obviously) and dreams of moving to NYC for grad school.
It’s officially the Year of the Horse (the fire horse to be exact). If you’re interested in some explainers, Jing Gao, founder of Fly by Jing, a popular hot sauce, has some good ones for each animal of the Chinese zodiac over on her Instagram.
There’s a Paul McCartney photography exhibit that’s coming to the AGO in Toronto that I’m excited to check out.
Rifkin, J. R., Chan, C., & Kahn, B. E. (2025). Anxiety about the social consequences of missed group experiences intensifies fear of missing out (FOMO). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 128(2), 300–313