There has never been a time in history where there has been more distractions. Email, instant messages, SMS, Facetime, news reports, TV, advertising… the list is never-ending. There is no escape from these in a typical day.
Now, where was I? Oh yeah! 😉 Today I wanted to share my favorite tools for writing on the computer – without distractions.
The first part is easy. Turn off your email app, shut down Skype, and set your phone to airplane mode. Give yourself “unplugged-time” for the duration of your writing period. Then, you’re going to need a distraction-free writing app.
The Tools:
For Mac:
- Write Room This is my favorite writing app, and at only $9.99 it’s a steal. I love it because I can set it to display my favorite “look.” The old-school green type on the black screen you saw in the video.
For PC:
- Q10Â I haven’t used this one myself (I only have Macs), but comes recommended by Lifehack.org.
Web:
- Writer This one is very cool too. Same green type on black I love so much (green seems to be my creative color), and nice little flourishes all round.
- PenZen Another, more zen-like, web environment for writing.
Let me know how you go with any of these, and share in the comments your favorite!
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And, of course, if you’re writing for your wordpress blog (like I do for this one), you can just go into fullscreen editing mode. All you see is your headline and your content.
Then when you move your mouse near the top of the screen you also get other pared-down controls, like ‘save’ and ‘link.’
Nice!