Distractions 🤯

Everything these days is trying to distract you. I have to focus to see these fucking annoying things. Many people talk about the attention economy. Considering my background I understand these algorithms. Think push notifications, sounds, vibrations. The main thing they try to do is get you addicted. Addiction by design is the main way these programs work. They try to distract you all the time so you engage with advertisements. The web has become so littered with ads that personally I try to avoid the lot of it.

I keep talking about the pomodoro technique and I really need to follow it. Mindfulness Meditation is also important. I think that I need to make a hard focus of using those methods. As of now, I had been using a free app for timing myself using the pomodoro technique. My smart phone is the problem. These devices connected to the internet seem to have given me a phantom effect. Often I think my phone will vibrate as if I am receiving a message but often nothing is their. I think this was an unexpected effect of addictive design. When I should be drawing, I get the need to mindlessly browse.

I think I am going to find a small timer I can use instead of my phone. To be honest, I feel like I should stop using vibration mode for my phone. Just to have it around for emergencies only. The temptation to browse YouTube is to addicting. I remember in the past when YouTube didn't have this feed format. Worse is that all social media is designed like this. Designed to take you away from creating.

One of my favorite YouTuber's Chroma Moma made a video recently. I believe he released it today. He talks about a cheap pomodoro cube timer. I think this is the way. I like the app I use on my phone, but the temptation to do other things is too great. If I could just have my phone volume on and get used to receiving messages that way. I think I will even place my phone across the room.

Let's talk about instant messengers in the workplace. These things are great at taking your attention away. Just what I need when I am trying to fix a bug or make a feature. Another distraction. Often multiple of them. The majority of people where I work don't use this themselves because they would be subject to being instant messeged themselves. Email is king. But checking your email all the time is a bad idea. I can't do this where I work. If you own your own business, I suggest you set aside an hour or more if you need to check your email. Say do this after you have exerted yourself working. It is a bad idea to check your email all the time. Unless you have to because you are working for someone else.

People have asked me if I have a discord. I do not have one. I would probably use the drawabox discord. Why don't I maintain my own discord? This is because I maintain a lot of software, websites, video upload schedule, answering emails and youtube comments. This is all after my long workday which appears to have gotten even longer. And on late nights and weekends. I had thought about this, but I wasn't sure if I should. It is a bit of work and moderation to maintain one. I understand how it creates a community, but I thought that was what my YouTube was for. I wish I had it in my bandwidth to maintain a discord server. Doing the lot of this I question when I have the time to get better at my drawing.

The world is filled with distractions. I recommend you create a drawing or art space. Dedicated to art. The idea being that you can sit down and get right to work while using a pomodoro timer. The world is designed to distract you. If you want to make your art, you got to take away the distractions. If possible. I remember being in college needing to study but my roomate was with his girlfriend. So I couldn't be in the dorm. The library was closed, the student building was closed. Couldn't study in my dorm because people were blasting music. I found a secret area to study and it was only known to the computer people. Luckily for me, I had that. It was rough. Often if you live with parents, roomates, or someone else it could be hard to get away. Often art spaces need seclusion.

If you can't go anywhere, I feel bad for you. I have been in that situtation before. I lived in an area where I couldn't walk anywhere. I then moved to the city and I could go to coffee and tea shops. Maybe go to a library if you can. In many of the places where I have lived, you need a car to go anywhere. It is a shame. I feel like I went two steps back.

Just remember the world was designed to distract you to serve you advertisements. Don't fret, but just be aware. Try your best. Life is rough.

About Lars Barnabee 🐝 hey that's me