Zadie Smith's Productivity Tips Will Make You A More Focused Person

Step 1: Turn off the internet. Step 2: Write.

By
Meg Cramer
by Meg Cramer

BuzzFeed Staff

and
Women Of The Hour
by Women Of The Hour

BuzzFeed Contributor

Zadie Smith is a brilliant and productive human being

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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.

But, like all of us, she has a hard time resisting the Internet's siren song

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 four 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

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(The interview starts at 3:00)

If the phrase "Instagram feed" makes your fingers itch, ditch your smartphone for something low-tech

ProhibitOnions / Via en.wikipedia.org

"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.

When your word processor is on the same computer that connects you to THE ENTIRE INTERNET, set some boundaries

Smith uses site-blocking apps like Self Control and Freedom to block Facebook and Twitter.

When the problem isn't you, but your open office

Andy / Via Flickr: athrasher

Zone out with brown noise. It's like white noise, but "soothing and kind of mushy," says Smith. Sites like SimplyNoise let you set the tone and volume of the sound.

Reading a good book can teach you how to focus like a writer

To hear the full interview, subscribe to Women Of The Hour on iTunes and Stitcher.

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