I spent the last two days at a writing retreat.

In the past, we met in person. Due to various constraints, we connected over Zoom.

Besides some challenges with time zones (I missed two of the four gatherings), it seemed to go well. We were able to still give each other feedback, and I was able to produce five articles.

That said, I was off task more that I typically might be. Sitting on the back deck, I found excuses to do yard work and get ready for my family's vacation. Attending the retreat in person provides the physical and visible presence of other writers to motivate myself to write. People call this "body doubling" or "mirroring". I've written twice as many articles in the past.

Had I allowed social media and frequent digital checks, I can only imagine how much less I may have written. Our attention spans as splintered into shards enough when we have all these open loops: apps sitting in the backgrounds of our phones, unorganized emails, etc.

"Presence" was my word for the retreat. Hopefully I lived it out as a primary value.