By my reckoning, I only need about 200 more takeout coffee cups to complete my bitterly ironic mosaic of Al Gore.

Before you sweat the logistics of focus: first, care. Care intensely.... Obsessing over the slipperiness of focus, bemoaning the volume of those devil "distractions," and constantly reassessing which shiny new "system" might make your life suddenly seem more sensible - these are all terrifically useful warning flares that you may be suffering from a deeper, more fundamental problem.... Know in your heart that what you're making or doing matters... First, care. Then, as you'll happily and unavoidably discover, all that "focus" business has a peculiar way of taking care of itself.

Where you allow your attention to go ultimately says more about you as a human being than anything that you put in your mission statement.

Thing is: the internet's made of IP addresses, opinions, and assholes. It's what's there. That's the basic equipment.

Being consistent is way less interesting than being yourself. And if you're not interesting? Good luck with your Big Consistency Project.

Distractions have never prevented a Writing Writer Who Writes from writing; distractions are an excuse proffered by Non-Writing Non-Writers Who are Not-Writing for why they are not writing.

Don't just play with your phone: go out and produce something.