How I Transformed My Laptop Into a Distraction-Free Writing Device
In our digital age, there are countless distractions to contend with—for example, try reading this article without any distractions even once. All that ambient noise can make it difficult to focus on the task at hand and get the job done well.
I enjoy surfing social media and browsing the internet like everyone else, but I have to write a lot every day, and distractions can really slow me down. Research has shown that we work much better when we focus on one task at a time, such as writing guides and articles.
While distraction-free devices like the Freewrite Smart Typewriter have always appealed to me, I wanted to be more focused when working with my MacBook Air. To that end, I developed a strategy for minimizing distractions, and it might be useful for your work, too.
These steps apply specifically to macOS and Google Docs , which I use for most of my writing, but you can adapt them for Windows and other word processors as well.
Turn off notifications
Notifications are a good place to start. If your laptop is constantly pinging and alerting you to other events, it’s difficult to do anything. In macOS, you can change notification settings by clicking the Apple icon (in the upper left corner) and then selecting System Preferences > Notifications . Here, you can customize notifications for each app individually.
For me, the “Focus” option in system settings is even more useful. I’ve set up a special “Work” mode there, which blocks all notifications from all apps and doesn’t bother me. To create your own mode, tap “Add Focus Mode” in the main list—you can schedule them or enable them manually via “Focus” in Control Center (to access them, tap the toggles in the menu bar at the top right).
For best results, you should also mute your phone, which will likely be even more distracting than your laptop. If you use an iPhone, you can sync Focus modes between macOS and iOS by turning on the “Share across devices” toggle on the Focus settings main screen.
Set up your writing software
Even without notifications enabled, it’s easy to notice you’re doing something else on your laptop instead of focusing on one task. Explore the various options in your word processor to make the interface as minimalist as possible—in my case, this resulted in a completely different look for Google Docs.
To achieve the same effect in your Google Docs, first open the “View” menu and make sure the ruler, equation toolbar, and spelling and grammar hints are hidden (in my opinion, they just clutter the screen). Then open the “Format” menu and select “Switch to Pageless Format” to get one long, smoothly flowing page.
Next, select “View” and choose “Full Screen,” then maximize the macOS browser window using the green button in the upper left corner. That’s it—now the screen is just text, free of distractions. To return the Google Docs menu and toolbars, press Esc to exit maximized mode, move your cursor to the top of the screen, and click the green button again.
Turn off the Internet
For the most radical distraction-free writing device—a throwback to the days of typewriters—I also block the internet on my laptop (on macOS, you can simply click the Wi-Fi icon in the top-right menu bar and then turn off Wi-Fi ). It’s not the most reliable way to block the internet, of course, but it works and makes me think twice before connecting to the internet (yes, Google Docs can work offline ).
I’ve noticed that this prevents me from checking the news, social media, or email when I need to write. The obvious problem is that I can’t find anything online either, so I have a sort of soft rule: I try to write at least some parts of my articles offline and then immediately do all the online research, without opening dozens of browser tabs.
You can adapt this to your needs, but I’ve noticed that when I’m disconnected from the internet, I’m more inclined to rely on my own thoughts and word choice, rather than consulting a dictionary or thesaurus. Sometimes it’s helpful to give your brain a little exercise to slow down and focus for a while.