Step 1: Turn off the internet. Step 2: Write.
Zadie Smith is a brilliant and productive human being
Smith teaches at NYU's creative writing program, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has published four critically acclaimed novels and a collection of essays. Basically, she's killing it.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
Which is why Smith cuts herself off when she writes. "If I could control myself online, if I wasn't going to go down a Beyoncé Google hole for 4 and a half hours, this wouldn't be a problem. But that is exactly what I'll do," she says. "It's not some kind of high moral ground, it's that I so want to [write], that I just have to get it done. And everything else has to take a backseat."
In a recent episode of the BuzzFeed podcast Women Of The Hour, Smith shared some Internet-related productivity tips we could all benefit from
(The interview starts at 3:00)
If the phrase "Instagram feed" makes your fingers itch, ditch your smartphone for something low-tech
"First I got the flip phone," says Smith. It slows down all of her communications. "Particularly when you're having a text argument with your husband... It's like a medieval process," she says.
ProhibitOnions / Via en.wikipedia.org
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Zadie Smith's Productivity Tips Will Make You A More Focused Writer