Creating in a world of constant distraction and interruption 2/2

After exploring the approaches of Cal Newport, Austin Kleon, Maria Montessori, and Céline Alvarez in the first article, it’s hard not to see how these visions, as different as they may be, create resonance—or create friction—with my own way of working. Between the almost monastic discipline of deep work, the all-encompassing creativity of artistic flight, and the more organic rhythms of lively learning… I observe, I try, I adjust. I surf.

This second article is therefore more personal. I talk about my double life (creative, not secret… well, maybe a little!); what I take away from these approaches; and how I manage to reconcile several passions, constraints, and, above all, a tenacious desire to create without losing my inner fire !

My artistic mix

I have a double life (and I'm fine with it)

Austin Kleon insists that we can (and should) maintain a creative life alongside our main profession. For him, it is not necessary to stake everything on your passion from the outset. Having a “bread and butter” job can allow you to create without compromise, and even more freely than if you depended on that creation for a living.

It’s a call not to wait until a passion becomes our source of income before giving it space in our lives. This “creative strategy”, as he calls it, has several advantages:

taking care of our creativity: by keeping a free practice, we keep our inner flame alive
making us more creative: parallel activities enrich our imagination, cross-pollinate ideas, and bring new perspectives
creating unexpected opportunities: our “second life” may one day take over, or combine with our main life to create something unique

On this point, I completely agree with Austin Kleon… because that’s how I live my life ^^ However, I don’t consider my main activity to be a “bread and butter” job. Because it clearly gives me new creative perspectives and even helps me develop certain skills. But its biggest advantage is that it reduces my mental load, allowing me to preserve my creative spark; I have time for my second life, I can devote myself to projects and research that, to stay with the food theme, really nourish me – without pressure.

So my main activity creates limits, certainly, but limits that generate fertile tension, and which ultimately benefit my creativity.

More generally, Austin Kleon suggests that limits can push us to focus on the essentials…

No time? Perfect.

“Telling yourself that you have all the time and money in the world, every color on the palette, everything you could possibly want… that’s exactly what kills creativity.”

JACK WHITE [1]

The idea here is to use constraints, whatever they may be, to our advantage. Let whatever comes our way in our experience serve us. Stay open and available, and who knows? A piece of music, an encounter, a word may spring up… and inspire us.

As far back as I can remember (I would say since elementary school), I have always had an appetite for deep work. In fact, more than an appetite, a fundamental need, which immediately entered into resonance with a kind of predisposition to easily slip into a state of concentration. I can’t say that the conditions for concentration described by Céline Alvarez (respect for sensory, emotional, and cognitive needs) have been optimal for me, but deep work has always been my oxygen. So, over the years, I have sought to take the path of least resistance: to use constraints rather than fight against them, as much as possible.

My main constraint is time. That’s precisely what makes it precious and pushes me to focus on the essentials. Fortunately, I’m also fairly resistant to distraction. For example, I’m absolutely terrible at Netflix series! At best, I know a few titles, but don’t ask me what they’re about!

Does all this make me an expert at deep work? I don’t know; but of the four modes of deep work described by Cal Newport, I immediately recognize myself in the “expert mode”…

Time freeing up? Great, I'll focus

Deep Work à la Carte (Hold the Daily Special)

Let’s start at the beginning: what are the four modes of deep work in question?

The monastic mode, which consists of devoting oneself almost exclusively to deep work for several days or weeks, eliminating or drastically reducing shallow work.
The bimodal mode, in which long periods of deep work are alternated with free periods open to communication, shallow work, and social life.
The rhythmic mode, which involves a regular daily routine to ensure minimal work (less radical than the previous two, but very effective in the long term).
And finally, journalistic mode, in which deep work is inserted into any free time; a mode that, according to Newport, only works if you are already very skilled at deep work.

For me, rhythmic mode is not associated with creative production, but it works well with certain types of activities such as yoga: I see the benefits of daily practice, which encourages me to continue.

Journalistic mode is more in line with my creative flow. While I sometimes plan deep work sessions and greatly enjoy them, I am also comfortable when windows of opportunity arise. Spontaneous by nature, they are likely to take the mind out of its usual dynamic [2], which is not to my displeasure…

As soon as I identify a window of opportunity, my intention is clear: to make the most of it.

Where it all begins

Clear intention is part of what Cal Newport calls triggers; when activated, they allow you to quickly get into deep work.

Newport also cites, among triggers, being in a specific place, lighting a candle, closing the door, opening a specific notebook, establishing a clear framework (such as a specific topic, a specific amount of time, no distractions), etc., which give work a sacred, untouchable structure where the rest of the world has no access.

I don’t really work with these kinds of triggers, but I can see how they could be helpful. For me, the simple fact of being about to start a planned deep work session is a trigger in itself.

That said, a trigger that would be the very definition of journalistic mode would suit me just as well: a window of time opens up, I dive in… Of course, we’re talking about a minimum amount of time that allows me to enter a different mode of brain functioning, where fluidity and clarity have time to emerge. If I know I don’t have that time, I still try to move forward, to do something that doesn’t require too much intense concentration.

Or else, I just wander off; and on that point, Cal Newport isn’t going to advise me against giving in to temptation ^^

Boredom rather than distraction

Let’s be clear: the temptation that it is strongly advised not to resist is boredom – not distraction – but of course, it’s not that simple!

The difficulty of resisting distraction

Cal Newport strongly emphasizes that the difficulty in breaking free from distraction – or not getting caught up in it in the first place – is neither a lack of willpower nor a moral weakness: it is the result of deep neurological conditioning. In other words, the more we allow ourselves to be distracted, the more we reinforce the neural pathways associated with distraction [3]; making it slow, difficult, and uncomfortable to refocus, which compromises our ability to return to a demanding task.

He explains that every interruption, even a brief one, even “just to check a message,” leaves a cognitive trace. This trace fragments our attention span and makes it more difficult to reconnect with our train of thought and, above all, to regain our mental momentum.

He cites studies in cognitive neuroscience [4] showing that each attentional “switch” is costly, not only in terms of time (up to 20-25 minutes to regain the same level of concentration), but also in terms of mental energy and the quality of information processing.

That’s why he recommends:

making a ritual out of getting into deep work: fixed schedule, specific location, clear intentions, etc.
eliminating distractions at the root (not just “reducing” them) when you’re in deep work
not “rewarding” yourself with a distraction after an effort (otherwise you perpetuate the cycle)
practicing staying in the “vacuum” between two tasks (because that’s where the shift to concentration becomes possible)

And that’s precisely where boredom comes into play…

The benefit of being bored

Boredom should be understood as: a lack of stimulation, no particular mental focus, no urgent matters to deal with… You simply observe what is happening around you, enter into an active daydream, go for a walk in nature with no particular destination in mind…

As we have said, every time we replace boredom with distraction – even briefly – we reinforce a reflex of cognitive escape. Yet deep work relies precisely on mental endurance: the ability to remain in the discomfort of an unresolved problem, of a difficult task, without seeking an immediate escape.

Newport highlights our growing inability to tolerate boredom, even though it offers the opportunity to:

Reprogram our attention span so that it does not constantly demand quick rewards
Return to a slower, more stable, more autonomous mental rhythm
Relearning how to inhabit moments without stimulation, because these are the moments that prepare us for true depth

The moral of the story: just as a mind that jumps from one distraction to another will not produce anything meaningful, a mind that focuses on a task for too long will eventually become unproductive. It needs breaks, or in Newport’s words, boredom.

Although I share this point of view, I also agree with Austin Kleon: a break can consist of switching projects when you are stuck, so that you can return to it later when the “substitute” project also reaches an impasse. We make progress on several promising topics by letting the projects “talk to each other”…

I let things flow, so I create (better)

The idea is not to dwell on a blockage, but to do something else (something creative, gentle, unexpected), to trust in unconscious incubation, and often… to find something better, faster, more joyful. We also avoid a certain amount of pressure because our entire value is not tied to a single project.

In a way, without naming it, Austin Kleon celebrates the art of serendipity: those unexpected discoveries that arise from a crossroads of influences, from paying attention to our surroundings, or from simply switching projects temporarily. For him, creativity feeds on resonance as much as it does on method – as long as we remain open to it. We find the idea we weren’t looking for… but we know how to recognize it!

Personally, when I feel I’ve reached my limits, I activate other neural circuits; this can take different forms: writing, creating infographics, painting, moving my body by going for a walk or doing yoga, taking a quick nap, getting a good night’s sleep… When I return to the initial project, it’s as if my brain has continued to work “without me”; well, at first, it was a little upsetting…😅, until I managed to completely trust the process; to see new ideas emerge, or even understand a difficult subject…

These points of saturation occur at different times for each person and depending on the project. You have to know yourself well to identify your limits, move on to something else, and ride the flow. In any case, the idea is to restore your ability to focus in one way or another.

So, in the end, in the Austin Kleon/Cal Newport match, who wins the prize for the coach I didn’t really hire but still listen to?!

Between the two... my heart moves forward

If I had written this article when I was a teenager or young adult, it would certainly have had a much more Newportian tone. At that time, I would have very easily embraced Newport’s approach to deep work: discipline, isolation, productivity… and probably a touch of perfectionism.

Over time, I have found happier and more fluid paths; I have, in a way, become more like Kleon ^^ This has involved taming my sensitivity, and even valuing it, to ultimately bring me closer to a more feminine vision of creation. I have experienced how, during a deep work session, time expands, the ego fades away, clarity emerges; one can experience a state of flow or even, sometimes, an experience of inner unity – as in art or yoga, for example.

Ultimately, what I take away from Cal Newport is the idea of regaining control over one’s mental processes and embracing deep work as much as moments without stimulation. With Austin Kleon, I am a fan of creative permission and the ability to see potential in what is there, even if it is not perfect; the richness of having multiple interests and the importance of switching between them so as not to exhaust your inner fire, but rather to renew it; the possibility of experiencing creation as a living, non-linear process.

Between a more masculine approach (Newport) and a more feminine approach (Kleon), I am fairly well aligned with the gender principle that is so dear to Hermeticists. That said, I probably haven’t found the ideal method, but I have found a way to work with what comes my way—and perhaps that is what creating is all about.

Notes & references

[1] WHITE Jack, quoted by Austin Kleon dans Steal Like an Artist, 2012, ed. Workman Publishing, p.138
[2] To learn more about the dynamics of the mental, see the article Thoughts + emotions = mental
[3] In addition, you can also explore the articles How do we learn? and Physical gravity, mental gravity.
[4] LEROY Sophie, Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks, 2009
RUBINSTEIN, MEYER & EVANS, Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching, 2001

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