As an author, I am plagued by social media and the constant demands of my computer and iPad and mobile phone.

Look at me! they all shout, all the time, and I find myself more and more disconnected from the simple ability to focus – a critical skill for any writer.

Yesterday, we went to the wedding of a dear friend. It was held under the redwoods, in a beautiful regional park in the Oakland foothills, a place of immense beauty and peace.

And there was no cell phone service.

For three blissful hours, we were off the grid, and everyone there was forced to actually, you know, talk to one another, face to face.

It wasn’t easy. I saw many a mournful glance at a phone screen, in the hopes that one bar of reception might somehow slip through the hills and between the trees to bring us word from the outside world.

But in the end, I think most folks relaxed and actually enjoyed being untethered for a little while.

It made me think about writing and our constant connectedness – how I allow these interruptions in the flow of that process. How maybe I’m not honoring my writing time in the way I should.

There are apps that let you block out the world, but I have to admit, I get a bit fidgety when I don’t know what’s going on out there.

What’s been posted to Facebook? Did someone try to contact me on messenger? Or IM? Or WhatsApp? Is there Is there something urgent brewing in my email that needs to be attended to?

In our old house, there was lots of room outside the office if I wanted to establish a dedicated writing space. I could grab the laptop and decamp to somewhere else that was more conducive to focus.

Here in our two bedroom, 1100 square foot bungalow? Not so much.

And yet, I need to find a way to double down and shut out the noise if I am going to truly reclaim my writing time.

We live in an increasingly complex world that places almost constant demands on our attention, changing us, and not for the better. It’s up to us to tell the world when we need to disconnect, and not the other way around.

Sometimes you have to go off the grid for a while to remember that, and to get inspired to do something about it.