Removing distractions
Part 1: The “smart typewriter”
Say you're a writer — a blogger, a journalist, a novelist.
Your current laptop can do everything you need and more.
So why would you — or anybody — pay $1000 for a device with a keyboard and screen that only lets you type, edit, and save text? That would be the Hemingwrite “smart typewriter” from Astrohaus.
No browser, no email, just text editing. That's it.
If you've never seen it, it's ... well ... weird.
But they've been selling to happy customers since their Kickstarter project in 2014.
Part 2: The “dumb phone”
How about a cell phone that only does voice calls and text messages (and a couple of other basics) that retails for $300? That would be the Light Phone II from The Light Phone, Inc.
No browser, no email, no apps, no video, no news updates, no Candy Crush Saga. Just SMS and voice. That's it.
LIke the Hemingwrite, on first look it's ... just ... weird. But they've been selling to happy customers since their Kickstarter project in 2015.
What gives?
What gives — or rather, what takes, without giving much in return — is distraction.
Folks who buy and love these devices are doing it for a complex set of reasons, to be sure. People are complicated, after all.
But what they say they love about it is that it removes a metric, er, boatload of distractions from their daily lives, or at least from their focused work periods.
Now, I'm not telling you to rush out and buy one of these. (Although I've got a Light Phone II on order myself — so excited, two more weeks to ship!)
But I am suggesting that there are steps anyone can take to remove distractions when it's time to focus on creative, forward-thinking, active development of relationships with your constituents.
For example:
Take a walk. Get away from your desk, put your phone on silent, and transport your mind by transporting your body out of the office.
Head to a cafe (preferably one where you don't know the regulars) with paper and pencil.
Dedicate a regular time period — one hour a week, one hour a day, even one day a week — to ignoring your email, silencing your phone, and sitting with your CRM data and your creative mind, to look for patterns, ideas, possibilities, opportunities.
What I'm suggesting is that distraction-free creative focus is within your reach.
… and that doing it regularly is one of the most valuable things you can do for your mission, long-term.
All the best,
A.