What a Writer’s Trick Taught Me About Focus (2 Min Read) | Vol. 204

May 22, 2026

“Ink it when you think it.” – Sam Horn

What a Writer’s Trick Taught Me About Focus

I got to meet Sam Horn at a recent dinner party. She’s an author, a speaker, and the founder of the Maui Writers Conference. I’m a writer. My son is exploring a career in writing. So I asked, “What advice would you give to an aspiring author?”

Sam replied, “Ink it when you think it!” 

Every professional writer I know has a system for capturing ideas on the fly. Inspiration doesn’t show up on a schedule. It likes to throw surprise parties and then pull an Irish goodbye. One minute, inspiration is dancing in your living room. The next, it’s ghosted you. 

Writers learn early to carry a notebook or risk losing their best ideas. 

The same thing works for distractions. Let’s say you’re working on a big project. A stray thought leaps in front of your headlights. Email Jordan about the contract status. Now, you’re afraid you’ll forget. So you pop over to your email and fire off the update to Jordan. And you go right back to your big project…

Except you don’t. Writing Jordan exposed you to the twenty other emails screeching for your attention like hungry baby birds. 

The way to dodge these distractions is the same as Sam’s writing hack. Jot it down. Have a trusted place to track your To-Dos. Psychologists call this cognitive offloading. Holding onto distracting thoughts  –  email Jordan, buy cat food, or research the best Japanese kitchen knife – takes effort. It’s like more and more of your mental RAM is being used up. Cognitive offloading is parking a thought somewhere safe, so your brain can focus on the work that matters.

For capturing inspiration and dodging distractions, I go digital over analog. While I love a nice notebook, I don’t always have one with me. I always have my phone. I use Google Docs, notes apps, and to-do apps that can be accessed online or offline and sync to my other devices. 

One question to ponder in your thinking time: What else could you accomplish if you stopped distracting yourself? 

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Author I CEO I Coach