Furry FeetNotes: Hagiographic Help for Eliminating Distraction
Notes from a book about the history monks and what distracts them.
All I do is eat, drink, sleep, and be negligent.
An unknown pre-medieval monk
(From The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner)
It’s Saturday as I write this.
My publication deadline is in less than 24 hours. I work hard to finish my Sunday post by Friday. It didn’t happen this week for a simple reason.
I was distracted.
It’s been one of those weeks where the distractions swarmed like ants marching. So here I am seeking focus on a Saturday to write this under my self-imposed deadline.
I was thinking about distractions more than usual this week, as I finished up a quick, charming read called The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner. Dr. Kreiner is professor of history at the University of Georgia. While The Wandering Mind was packed with the author’s extensive knowledge and expertise, the book is attainable reading — and a truly entertaining look at the lives of monks through the medieval times.
The focus was on — well — focus.
It’s tough to pay attention, sometimes.
And from Dr. Kreiner’s research, there’s nothing new under the sun. Yes, we have our own unique cultural and generational challenges. But it was wild to read how in 200 CE also felt that the world was becoming increasingly distracting.
With a lot of examples, stories, and anecdotes these conclusions stood out:
Distraction was not just a personal problem, they knew; it was part of the warp of the world.
Confronting distraction meant confronting the competing demands of family, work, government, and public—which is why so many monks abandoned that world.
Again, there is nothing new. People were fighting distraction 2000 years ago.
Don’t read this book if you think you’ll walk away with a set of tools or some psychological mind tricks to now be the most focused person on earth, ready to write your novel or build your entrepreneurial empire. That’s not the promise (although I admit, I was expecting it to be more “self-helpy” and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t). This is a history — and an interesting, entertaining history at that. But it’s a history about the longing of ancient monastics to overcome the demons of distraction — a relevant subject in our era of the bottomless hellhole of eternal scrolling.
I have three takeaways.
We are integrated people.
It’s not possible to think of our personhood as only body, only mind, or only soul. Physical, mental, and spiritual health not only matter, but they are integrated. Monks understood that environment matters when eliminating distractions. Although, they often took things too far, they also figured out bodily discipline and focus connect. This doesn’t mean we must begin the Stylite practice of standing on poles in inclement weather — but we should remember that mind and body are integrated unbreakably.
Try this: Take a walking break when you feel the distraction demon come around. Even 10 minutes of exercise will move your body enough to bring the mind back under control. I will often use The Pomodoro Method to remind myself I need a break. Set a timer for 50 minutes to work on a single thing. Then a 10-minute walking break.
2. Sometimes distraction accomplishes beautiful things.
Distraction and creative breakthrough often looks weirdly similar. So we often have our best ideas when doing the most boring things like cutting grass or showering. Something magic happens when we let our brains think for themselves. In the modern era, this rarely happens because we have constant input from the machine in our pocket.
Try this: You choose your distraction. Don’t allow your distraction to choose you. This means: choose boring. Do mundane and repetitive tasks without input. Try keeping your phone in your pocket while standing in line at the grocery or sitting at the airport waiting on a flight. Let your brain be alone with its own thoughts. Boring is a seedbed for great ideas.
The real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.
3. Pay attention to inattention.
An interesting Monkish practice was to recognize when the brain shifts to easier paths. This is the essence of distraction. It literally just happened to me while writing this paragraph. I am putting words together into cohesive sentences (I hope!). My brain decided that was too hard. There are some emails in my inbox I haven’t processed. That’s much easier than making sentences. Let’s do that. Pay attention to distraction.
Try this: Next time you are working on a difficult cognitive task, make a rule. For the next hour I can sit at my desk and do one of two things: Write or do nothing. While putting these sentences together, I may stare at a blank page or gaze out the window or I may write. Anything involving the Internet is forbidden.
This little trick works for me.
Complete distraction elimination is impossible. The monks teach us ways to combat the demon (many of them saw distraction as a literal demon). Check out Dr. Reiner’s book for more monkish goodness.
Until next week, remember:
You are doing better than you think.
B.
This is my every Sunday-ish newsletter containing bits and bobs of what I’m reading, writing, watching, thinking, and experimenting with this week. Every month I also send my complete notes from a book I’ve read, so you can decide if you want to read it too! Like the old version of Cliff’s Notes. But more Hobbit-like. Furry feetnotes.
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I am a consultant, coach, and trainer with Growability® Consulting, specializing in non-profit and cross-cultural business and leadership. Check out the Growability® Podcast at all your favorite podcast places.Start writing today. Use the button below to create your Substack and connect your publication with Furry FeetNotes.
I love the Pomodora method and have a whole new appreciation for distraction.