#249: A Silent Productivity Killer (Mentoring Moment)

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

Welcome to this week's mentoring moment. My name is Shelly Hitz, and I'm here with my husband, C.J.

Hey, gang.

And today we're going to be talking about a silent product activity killer or not so silent. Recently, CJ and I went to one of our favorite mountain towns in Colorado, Ouray. We love going there, don't we, C.J.

Yeah. Gorgeous little western town.

They call it Little Switzerland for a reason. It's just gorgeous. And as we were hiking their popular perimeter trail, a notification went off on my phone. Now, if you've been following me for a while, you know that that I have almost all of my notifications on my phone turned off. So when I get a notification, it's usually important. Therefore, I took the phone out of my backpack and I looked down at it while I continued hiking. And wouldn't you know it, at that very moment, I stepped on a rut in the trail and rolled my ankle. You remember that moment, don't you, C.J.

Yeah.

Probably were wondering if you were going to have to carry me back to our hotel. But I knew it was an ankle sprain right away because of the pain and the instant swelling. Thankfully, CJ remembered we could take a shorter route back to our hotel, and I was able to elevate it and ice it. You know, there are distractions that can kill our productivity. And I sprained my ankle because I was looking at my phone.

It was definitely a humbling moment and a lesson for me in mindfulness and paying attention in the moment. You know, instead of walking and checking my phone next time, I will stop before checking my phone or I'll wait until we're done with the hike to check my notifications. But, you know, when you're a writer and if you're trying to write and do creative writing with all your notifications going off all around you all the time, that's one way to sabotage yourself as a writer when you say cj.

Yeah. It breaks up that flow and that consistency, and you may have a great thought in your mind, and all of a sudden you get that notification. And then those thoughts sometimes dissolve now, never to be found again. Especially if you didn't write it down right away.

Yeah. And so I call it A silent productivity killer. But let's be real. Sometimes these notifications are not so silent, right?

Sometimes they're just something that pops up and there's no noise with it. But sometimes there is noise. But, you know, as you get into a writing flow, like CJ said, if you get a notification and then decide to check in, like, oh, I'm just gonna see what this person said. I'm just gonna see what this text message, or I'm just gonna check into social media for a minute, gonna check my email. It's difficult for our brains to constantly switch tasks as you check Facebook or email and then try to write a few more sentences. So what I'm wanting to share with you today is to set yourself up for success. So I recently heard that freedom does not mean saying yes to everything. There will actually be a lot of no's. That makes a lot of sense, actually. You know, as a writer, you can set yourself up for success by turning off and saying no to a majority of your notifications and checking in only when it's best for you. So for me, I've turned off all my notifications, almost all of them. And for social media, I just go in and check in when it's convenient to me. I don't even have the apps on my phone anymore. If I need to use the app on my phone, I install it and then I delete it later. But most of what is interrupting us all day, every day, guess what? It can wait. It's not urgent. Now our brains tell us it's urgent, but believe me, it can wait. One of my business coaches often reminded me that I'm not a neurosurgeon and I don't need to be on call and available 24 7. If it takes 24 hours for me to reply to an email, a social media comment, or a text message, people will not die. Right? And when you're writing, I encourage you to turn off all your notifications and distractions and allow yourself to to be in the moment. Do it. I double dog dare you. And I really believe you will see your productivity go through the roof. Because setting boundaries with your notifications on your phone and computer will bring you freedom. And you'll be able to stay in the writing zone longer. And guess what? Hear God's voice more clearly. I love this scripture. In 2 Corinthians 4, 3, 17, this is the new living translation. For the Lord is the Spirit. And wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So I have three action steps for you today. Step Number one, think back to the last week. What were your biggest productivity killers? Now be honest and specific. For instance, was it Netflix in the afternoons on your iPad? Facebook on your computer all day? Notifications from text messages on your phone? 24 7. Action step number two. What is one small step you can take to set yourself up for writing success? Again, be specific. For example, I will delete the Netflix app on my iPad and reinstall it only when I have free time to unwind. Or I will log out of Facebook on my computer when I sit down to write to and use the Focus app to prevent me from logging back in. Or I will text those who contact me often and let them know I will be riding for the next two hours with my phone in airplane mode. Step number three. Now do it. Take this step today, and then the next day, and then the next. As Philippians 4:13 says, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Amen. I promise you, taking these super small steps will help rid you of the silent and not so silent productivity killers and help you reach your writing goals. I also understand that this is difficult to implement and most of you will not be ready for these action steps. But if you are, please let us know that you've taken these steps so that we can cheer you on. And cj, why don't you pray for our listeners and those that are really ready to take this step?

Yeah, Father, we just thank you so much again for each one of these listeners and just the work that they're endeavoring to do for you. And we want to specifically ask that you would help us identify the productivity killers in our lives. I pray that you immediately bring those to our attention if they're not always evident. But I just pray that we would also have the strength and the courage to take the proper steps in eliminating those distractions and adjusting the way we go about our day. And I just pray that each one of our listeners would be able to find true freedom being in control of their productivity and really just to have this flow of ideas that they're able to live out and to see in their writing. And we just want to give you the glory and the honor for what you're going to do in our lives. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. And you know what? C.J. and I speak from personal experience. We're in this with you. We still struggle with this. So let's do this one step at a time, one day at a time. And if you found this helpful, let us know. Connect with us on social media. We're Christian Book Academy on Instagram and on Facebook. So find us, make sure you're following us and send us a message. Let us know how this episode has impacted you and we'll see you next time.

Bye Bye.

Bye bye.

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