I deleted Discord off my phone a few weeks ago. It was part of the detox that I was doing in order to get serious about the book again.
One morning I had to meet a friend and text them where I was, so I reinstalled it. That was a fair reason, but the problem is that I didn’t delete it or add it to a block list after, I just let it stay open all day.
I didn’t even notice it at first. Later I caught myself using it in the middle of a work session, there was no good reason this time.
Why I broke the rules
The rules I set for myself (to not do anything distracting before 7pm) were made for a version of me that doesn’t really exist. One that doesn’t have friends and doesn’t do anything except the routine. Real life is unpredictable, you will always have a reason to break your own system at some point, and it’s usually a fair one.
So the rules adjust for one day, but then that just becomes the norm. The norm keeps getting adjusted and you wake up one day and realize that you’re right where you were trying to escape from by building the system in the first place.
There is one thing that beats systems though. And that’s that small icky feeling you get when you’re doing something that goes against what you actually want for yourself. It’s the same feeling that makes it hard to fall asleep after a day when you realize you haven’t gotten anything done.
I feel like the real benefit of the blockers, apps and schedulers is the few extra seconds of distance they keep between you and the distractions. Of course you can find a way to bypass them, but that distance is enough time for that quiet uncomfortable feeling to stop you.
No matter how complex and well thought-out the productivity system you build around yourself, it’s never going to work unless you put in the work every single day to stay on track. If you relax and become complacent, hoping for the safety net to catch you every time without maintaining it consistently, then one day it’s going to collapse and you’re going to have to start over.
What I’m doing now
Every time I make a temporary exception to my rules, it has to be temporary. So the moment the exception is over, I try to undo it right away instead of telling myself I’ll get to it later.
And to make sure I renew those rules as soon as possible, I’m listening to that inner voice of reason.
I don’t always hear it but I’m becoming more aware of it. Every time I write a newsletter I’m basically channeling it directly and this is usually when I feel most in touch with it. And staying in touch with the voice is the actual work, not building a better cage around yourself and thinking you’re done.
