November is National Novel Writing Month. Established in 1999, NaNoWriMo is a nonprofit organization that encourages authors to reach their writing goals. Each November, it challenges participants to write a 50,000-word manuscript by the end of the month. That’s over 1,500 words a day! Throughout the month’s write-a-thon, authors can collect badges and chat with fellow NaNoWriMo participants virtually. While this challenge might seem like a lofty goal, it’s a great opportunity to grow as a writer in a motivating environment. You can check out our “6 Reasons to Do NaNoWriMo” post for more encouraging NaNoWriMo benefits.

Of course, with the pandemic, upcoming holidays, and the presidential election, November 2020 might feel very busy already. So, how do you stay focused on this ambitious writing goal amidst all of this chaos?

Luckily, there are several steps you can take to maintain focus during this writing challenge. To stay focused and reach your NaNoWriMo goal, try one—or all six—of these concentration strategies.

1. Limit Your Distractions

Let’s begin with the most pressing focus drainer: distractions. Nothing puts a damper on your writing focus like a knock on your office door or a text message ping on your phone. While you can’t eliminate distractions entirely, you can take steps to drastically reduce them.

Turn off your phone and computer notifications. This practice might feel strange at first, but we promise you don’t have to respond to your friend’s Instagram mention right away. To make sure you can still receive emergency calls, consider personalizing you phone’s “Do Not Disturb” settings to still allow calls from family and loved ones. If you still find yourself opening apps during your writing time even without these notifications, consider deleting these apps from your devices for the month of November.

If you write at home, you can ask your family or housemates to hold you accountable during your writing time. This can be some much-needed extra support, and it also helps others recognize when you need quiet time to focus.

Remember that not all distractions are external. For example, exhaustion is a huge concentration block. To combat this, make sure you prioritize your sleeping schedule this month (and always!). Hunger can be another big drain on your focus and productivity. Pay attention to your diet and make sure you have plenty of food to get through a writing session without your stomach grumbling. Although everyone’s needs are unique, Harvard Medical School conducted a study to find foods linked to better brainpower that you can read here.

2. Focus on Small Steps

Part of learning to focus is deciding what you should be focusing on. And a large, vague goal like, “write 50,000 words of my novel by the end of the month” is a lot to wrap your mind around. Consider breaking up this larger goal into smaller steps that are easier to concentrate on. Once you’ve broken up the large NaNoWriMo goal up into manageable pieces, schedule them in your calendar. That way, you will know what small step you should focus on each day.

Break up these daily milestones with short breaks. For example, you might have a snack, grab a cup of coffee, play with your dog, or take a quick walk around the block for every 800 words you write. If you want to break up your goal into even tinier steps, consider using the Pomodoro Technique, which breaks up your work day into 25-minute segments for highly productive work sessions.

3. Reward Yourself for Successes

It’s important to reward yourself for focused writing time to provide a sense of accomplishment. Maybe this reward could be a favorite dinner, time spent watching a movie, an outdoor adventure, or a social outing with close friends. NaNoWriMo has its built-in reward system with milestone badges that you can display on your profile. If you want to embrace your inner-child, you can gamify your writing goals with a site like 4theWords, which uses game mechanics like points, quests, and battles that reward you for maintaining a consistent writing habit. Decide what system would be most motivational for you to reward yourself for your hard work and focus.

4. Meditate to Increase Concentration

Did you know that meditation can improve your mental focus? Italian neuroscientist Giuseppe Pagnoni used brain scans to compare a group of meditators to a control group of non-meditators. He found that the meditators had more stability in their ventral posteromedial cortex, also known as the vPMC. (You can blame your vPMC for all that distracting mind-wandering you might have.) He then tested the research subjects’ focus skills using a rapid visual information processing test that required attentive concentration. As you might expect, the meditators performed better than the control group on this test. Pagnoni’s research suggests that meditation is an effective means to stabilize your vPMC, and, in turn, improve your ability to focus.

On top of increased concentration, meditation can also be a great source of relaxation and stress relief, so it’s worth giving meditation a shot! If you’re new to meditation, there are a number of free resources online that you can use to start the practice.

5. Use Digital Focus Tools

Still having a difficult time focusing on your writing? Technology might be able to lend a helping hand. For example, you might try a concentration timer like Productivity Timer or Focus Keeper for reminders to stay on task.

If you find yourself browsing the web during your writing session, you can install internet browser extensions, like StayFocusd, which restricts the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites. You can customize the settings to match your preferences.

If you’re tempted to scroll Twitter during a writing session, you can set app limits on your phone. (And if you find yourself simply ignoring these time limit warnings, consider using an app like AppDetox, which locks users out of apps after a set time that you can protect with a pin code . . . just make sure you give the pin to a friend or family member so you don’t cheat and unlock the app.)

If you are a fan of more unforgiving focus tools that you can’t unlock, consider software like Write or Die, which starts to delete what you are writing if you pause for too long. Be warned! This merciless program will light a fire under your seat. It’s also important to note that, while it might be great for people who need to get an idea onto the page in a focused manner, it probably won’t give you enough time to produce beautiful prose.

6. Find Support From Fellow NaNoWriMo Writers

Sometimes a lack of motivation can stand in the way of focused writing time. Luckily, NaNoWriMo has an encouraging, motivational community of writers embracing the same challenge as you!

The organization offers tons of ways to connect with fellow writers, so take advantage of these opportunities if you’re looking for some extra motivation or companionship. The NaNoWriMo website has forums for support, inspiration, and advice. They also host pep talks and community events each year to give you a boost of motivation.