Why Writing Should Be The Only Action You Perform In Your Writing Application

There are tons of different applications that can be used for writing. The main two applications that I tried to use for writing are Apple Notes and Google Docs. Unfortunately, both failed in helping me to write better, frequently, and to achieve my writing goals.

I explained more details about my experience with these apps in our previous blog post. You can check it out to see if you are experiencing the same problems with your writing application.

One of the main problems I encountered with these writing applications is the fact that I used or I was using them for other purposes as well. Few days after I wrote that, boom! I read a chapter in Atomic Habits by James Clear in which he was explaining exactly the same problem. He recommends that we should use each environment (physical or in our case application) for a single action. Only then you can truly focus on what you are doing.

James explains in that chapter that the environment shapes our actions way more than we might believe. After doing a specific set of actions in a specific environment, that environment will contain a multitude of cues that will trigger the actions that you usually do in that place. This will prevent you to focus or even relax. For example, it is not a good idea to work at the laptop on the same couch that you are using to watch movies or play video games. You won’t be able to concentrate well enough at the work you are doing because you have cues that will prompt you to look for a movie or play a game. And you won’t be able to relax as you should in your free time because it’ll be harder to disconnect from your professional life and put the laptop away.

This is exactly the same problem that was preventing me to write in Note and Google Docs. I currently use or used at some point both applications for other purposes as well. My brain associated these applications with other types of actions. The point James Clear makes in his book emphasizes the importance of having a separate application in which the only thing you do is write.

If you read our previous blog post, you probably know that this separation of actions and environments (writing applications) is one of the main reasons we started WriteNext. Our Writing Facilitator helps us separate writing from other actions and keeps us focused, with no other distractions or cues that are triggers for other types of actions.

The WriteNext application is the perfect environment to isolate your creative writing from your other activities. You can give it a go at any time for free and see the impact that this separation of environments has on your writing. Don’t forget to share your experience with us afterward.