How to Create a Smooth Writing Flow and Manage Interruptions

When you get into a rhythm, writing won’t seem so hard

You want to write faster. You want to write better. But both are hard to do when you can’t get into a good writing flow.

A popular thought is as long as you have a writing device, you can write anywhere at any time. That is indeed enticing if you want to make a living writing. But the perceived flexibility is not exactly as it seems.

While flexibility is desirable, flexibility can make it hard to find a rhythm — which makes it hard to write.

When working on a book, story, or article, how often do get out of your chair?

I work from home and people poke their heads into my office with requests throughout the day. Rather than get upset about the constant interruptions, I used to trivialize them.

After all, writing is flexible. I can get back to it later.

That mindset evolved into the bad habit of welcoming disturbances, especially when I struggled to put words on paper.

During writing sessions, I stopped to do whatever came to my mind.

I need a snack. That simple thought sent me to the kitchen. Aw man, I forgot to put a load of clothes in the washer. I’d place my writing on hold, pop out of my chair, and turn my attention to laundry. I’d stop writing because the dog wanted to play, someone knocked on the door, birds chirped…anything.

Seldom would a writing session last more than 10 minutes before I needed to get out of my chair, or someone requested my attention.

I had no idea how much the interruptions affected my writing.

Interruptions hurt productivity and impact the ability to complete tasks

Giving everything a higher priority than I gave to my craft made it extra hard to write. Initially, I appreciated interruptions because they gave me a reason to pull away from the disappointment of writing less than I planned. They momentarily stopped me from feeling incompetent.

Even so, that awful habit prevented me from writing with clarity and flow. Dishonoring my writing time and holding everything else in higher esteem trained my brain to do the same.

Unnecessarily and unintentionally, I clogged my writing flow. I made it difficult to write.

Despite how appealing flexibility makes writing careers appear, flexibility does not nullify the need for focus and undisturbed blocks of time.

When you stop and start again, you don’t automatically pick up where you left off. Interruptions destroy momentum. And it takes time to get rolling again.

Gloria Mark, professor at the University of California, found that each interruption can add 23 minutes and 15 seconds to the task! It takes your brain that long to reorient and get back on course.

The time it takes to write an article is easily doubled when you give in to interruptions. Imagine, three interruptions in an hour will potentially cost you an extra hour and 10 minutes of writing time.

Plus, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine,

· 25 min 26 seconds lapse before subjects return to work on the same task

· 15 minutes is the average time required to get back into the same level of intense concentration, after resuming a difficult task

· 2.8 seconds of interruption cause subjects to commit twice the number of computer errors

The precious time my interruptions cost me far surpassed the benefit I received from them. They were not worth it.

What to do about interruptions

Of course, you can’t prevent all interruptions. But you can kick the habit of interrupting yourself.

Freewriting helped me. I sat at my writing device and wrote whatever came into my head for 10 to 15 minutes. I used a timer and I didn’t stop writing until my predefined period ended.

When that time expires, if I still felt the urge to get up, I did. The more I practiced sitting and writing, the less often I had the urge to run away from the keyboard.

With that regular exercise, I could get into a flow and increase the time of my focused writing sessions to 30 minutes or more.

When flow happens, you feel good about yourself and your work. Then you develop the mindset and have the energy to write more. Also you write faster. You write better too because your thoughts aren’t choppy and scattered.

What to do when you can’t control the interruptions

Seldom do the actual interruptions create the biggest problems. The major issue is often the additional time it takes to get back into a flow.

However, you can reduce that time if you prepare for inevitable interruptions.

Sophie Leroy, associate professor at the University of Washington, suggests creating a ready-to-resume plan. It takes about a minute. Simply note:

· Where you stopped

· Where to re-start

· The challenges ahead

· And what you will postpone

The ready-to-resume plan keeps you ready to transition back to where you were before the interruption.

When you resist the habit of succumbing to whims and have a plan in place for the interruptions you can prevent, you will write faster and better.

I decided to stop jumping up for every possible interruption. When I respect my craft and give it the necessary blocks of time, I get noticeably fewer interruptions.

Besides, why should I expect others to respect my writing time if I don’t respect it?

Writing is flexible, but you need a good flow. It helps when you limit the interruptions that you can control and stay prepared for those you have no power to stop.

Pro tip for maintaining a good writing flow

Where you end your writing for the day is more important than you think. Always stop at an unfinished point, such as in the middle of a sentence. That makes it easier to pick up where you left off.

Here’s an article I wrote to explain the mystery.