Photo by Morbidly Beautiful (Creative Commons)
We all struggle with being present, right? You’re talking to someone, but your brain is off somewhere else.
You get a text message while driving and find yourself checking your phone at the next stoplight or as soon as you put the car into park.
Even right now, as you’re reading this, if you’re on a computer, you probably have a bunch of tabs open. If you don’t, you have other apps open.
And you do this kind of thing all day.
It’s no wonder we are not writing as much as we want.
Recently, actor Timothy Olyphant was asked what it was like working with Quentin on his latest movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
He said it was great because of Quentin’s one simple rule: absolutely no phones while on the set.
If you were caught with your phone, you were fired. No warnings or anything like that. Do it once, and you were gone.
Olyphant said, “Outside the set, we’d have a lovely little booth for everyone to check their phones in. If you needed to make a phone call, you’d go out to the street. We’re not gonna be over there doing some other thing. Instead, we’re here, and this is what we’re doing, and we’re going to take it really seriously.”
Tarantino wanted to create an environment where everyone would be focused only on creating art.
When you are focused, you are completely present. You’re aware, so you are noticing things and you are engaged.
Sounds pretty incredible, right?
How To Apply This To Your Life
Most of us are not likely to have a little booth to lock up our phones in, or someone will fire us. So let’s break this down and dig a little deeper.
Having the legit threat of being fired for doing something is a strong form of external accountability.
You must follow the rule or face the consequences.
In many cases, the real problem comes when we rely solely on ourselves.
We all struggle with internal accountability. Don’t believe me? Consider New Year’s resolutions, exercise programs, and diets. Or maybe those days you’ve spent in your email inbox instead of doing another task that you know is more important.
Here are 5 specific things you can do to apply Quentin’s approach to your life.
1. Figure out what it is you’re doing.
There is a major difference between years of eating habits and a short-term project like making a movie. Eating healthy forever is a bit overwhelming. One more vegetable per day in June is doable.
Writing for 4 sessions at 20 minutes each is a lot more attainable than writing for an hour and a half straight, right?
Or you could have a goal to write for 15 sessions of 15 minutes during the week. That comes out to about one half-hour per day. Totally doable, right? You probably spend more than a half hour on YouTube or Facebook every day.
2. Quit confusing yourself.
Know what you are going to write about. Be sure about that. Work on one project, not three at the same time. Multitasking does not work.
You either have focus or you don’t.
Don’t use the same tool for many different purposes; if you use a computer for work or learning, don’t assume that you should use the same tool for your writing. Keep it simple, and that will also keep things clear in your mind. Confusing yourself only leads to frustration and lowering your confidence levels.
3. Stop repeating the past.
In the past, when you’ve failed to meet a goal, and nothing really happened as a result, your brain caught on to the pattern.
You need real stakes and real motivation.
That’s why accountability is so important. Without accountability, you likely won’t be more productive.
Hire a coach. Mike Vardy is a great choice. I had the honor of working with him for about 3 and a half years (and I even learned a lot of my own coaching techniques from him). I know firsthand that Tammy Helfrich is really great too. I cannot recommend both of these individuals highly enough.
Not sure about working with someone directly? You’re not off the hook. At bare minimum, get an app. @tony Coach.me is pretty cool, and Gretchen Rubin’s Better app is definitely worth your while too. (I’m on the Better app, feel free to connect with me there!)
4. Say hello to your new best friend.
So, who is your best friend? Mr. Boundary. Boundaries are absolutely critical to focus, attention, awareness, and productivity.
If you’re an actor in a Tarantino movie, you don’t have the ability to just call someone whenever you feel like it. You’re going to use your phone before or after work. It’s that simple; the boundary has been locked into place. This means you have to do a little bit of planning and thinking ahead.
So if you’re writing a book, starting a business or working on a big project, it’s going to require some thinking ahead, and you have to set definitive boundaries in place. Don’t negotiate on those boundaries. This is going to be very difficult if you are doing this on your own. That’s why I cannot encourage you enough to get some help with this.
5. Revisit the beginning.
Know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Why does it matter? What do you want to see at the end? What are you working for? If you’re not clear on these things, you are less likely to succeed.
Each of these steps will help you apply Quentin’s approach to your own work. Make no mistake, simple rules like no phones in the workplace can be really powerful. Maybe you need to implement this same rule yourself in your workplace too.
This simple rule can be the difference between being productive or staying distracted. In some cases, it could even be the difference between finishing or staying stuck.