Today, book promotion is all about technology. With one click of the mouse, we’re in touch with the world, telling a lot of people about our newest release.

It’s easy to become caught up in blogging, tweeting, or posting on Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, and on and on. Then there are the tasks of organizing giveaways and contests and creating ads.

It won’t take long before we’re sandwiching writing between all this online promoting. We hop on and off the internet, and check our email every time a message arrives. Becoming a media maniac is so easy, because in many ways, it’s rewarding. It gives us pleasure when our work is acknowledged, and while we’re reading our next good review, we’re avoiding the pain of facing that blank page on our new manuscript.

There’s only one problem—this kind of activity can negatively affect not only our writing but also our daily lives. I’ve been referring to writers in general, but since this was a very personal experience, let me tell you what happened to me and what I discovered.

I was in the middle of a book launch, accomplishing all the prepublication items on my list, but suddenly I realized that a lot of things in my life weren’t working well at all. For one, I was easily distracted. I couldn’t focus on a single task and finish it unless I forced myself to—and that was becoming hard to do.

My stress level was eleven on a scale of one to ten. I couldn’t write that next chapter on my WIP without being anxious about all those missed phone calls. I was getting up at 4:00 a.m.—my brain already buzzing with what I needed to accomplish that day. When I looked for the cause of all these problems, I couldn’t really find one. I should have been quite content. After all, I’d written another book. A publisher had accepted it, and that manuscript was about to be in print. All I had to do was tell readers about it.

Then I stumbled on a New York Times article: “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price.” According to this article, while I was switching between email messages, phone calls, and social media, I was responding to a “primitive impulse” wired into my brain. In the days that I might have had to outrun a saber-toothed tiger, this injection of dopamine probably would have saved me. Now it was just wreaking havoc with my writing and other parts of my life.

I’d always thought that multitasking was supposed to make me more productive, but what scientists have found is that the opposite is true. When I was jumping between tasks, I was actually becoming less productive. I found it interesting that it takes sixty-four seconds for people to return to what they were doing before they opened their inbox. I think it might be longer when you’re a writer working on a story. I’ve heard that it is, but I couldn’t find specific studies to support that.

The New York Times article listed all my symptoms, so now at least I had a reason for my odd behavior:

• Lack of focus
• Unable to sort relevant from irrelevant information
• Heightened stress

My brain was hot-wired. It was being short-circuited, and I didn’t know that was happening. The more technical term is internet addiction disorder (IAD), and people afflicted by it exhibit the general effects of any addiction, whether it’s to alcohol, cocaine, or nicotine. In fact, studies have shown that there are physical changes in the brains of those identified as having IAD.

A Forbes article cited one study that found “reductions in volume of certain areas of the brain and in its white matter—the highways of connection between brain cells.” When I looked up the importance of this white matter, I discovered that it sends and receives signals to our brain that affect “the ability to focus and learn, solve problems, and stay balanced when walking.” White matter is quite important, and I was squandering it online.

The first time “problematic computer use” was flagged as meeting the criteria for addiction was in 1996. Since that time, psychiatric research has identified several symptoms that people with IAD exhibit. These are the ones that spoke specifically to me as a writer:

• tend to hop onto their email within six seconds of that little bell, announcing “You’ve got mail”
• are more likely to search out new information, rather than use older information that might be more valuable because of being tested over time
• are more sensitive to incoming information than those who are not affected by IAD
• are not good at filtering out distractions because they have a hard time holding information in short-term memory
• have difficulty setting priorities because they’re on “task overload” 

So what could I do? I couldn’t stop promoting my books, but I didn’t want to be so twitchy, either.

I decided to devise a way to stay in touch with media and yet keep that twitchiness under control. I’ll share my own ten-step program in case anyone out there would like to turn down the tech connection and ease their symptoms of overconnectivity.

1. I turned off my email bell alert.

2. I set my email program to check for mail two times a day, instead of every five minutes.

3. I didn’t always respond by sending an email back. Instead I picked up the phone or handwrote a note. This shocked a lot of my friends and family . . . in a good way.

4. I stopped visiting all the blogs I follow so frequently, but when I did visit I took more time to read the posts and to leave thoughtful comments.

5. When I was on a task, I focused on it and gave it more time.

6. I started getting up from my desk once an hour, stretching, walking outside, doing anything to move.

7. I pulled out an old mini-relaxation practice called STOP and posted it above my desk to remind me to Stop. Take a breath. Observe. Proceed.

8. I start work early, so that hasn’t changed, but now I take time out for breakfast, then a walk or anything that takes me outside. During the Covid shutdown, I started walking four miles a day or for two hours.

9. I plan one special thing for Tuesdays. Nothing big, but something that has nothing to do with technology.

10. Friday is now the end of my workweek. Saturday and Sunday are catching up on all things non-book related.

Did you recognize some traces of IAD in yourself? Do you already have a system to manage IAD?

C. Lee McKenzie is a native Californian who grew up in a lot of different places and then landed in the Santa Cruz Mountains in her home state. She writes, gardens, hikes, does yoga a lot, and travels whenever she can. Her favorite destinations are Turkey and Nicaragua, but because she has family in England, Switzerland, and Spain, she goes there when she can.

She takes on modern issues that today’s teens face in their daily lives. Her Evernight Teen publication Double Negative was voted one of the best top ten young adult books in 2020. Her novel Shattered was a finalist for a 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award. She recently published her first young adult paranormal novel called Rattlesnake.

McKenzie is the media relations admin of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and has been an active member since 2017. Founded by Alex Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a website media business with affiliates to enhance service to visitors. The group is a home for writers in all stages, from unpublished to bestsellers. Their goal is to offer assistance and guidance for writers. They want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement they are creating a community of support.

Photo credit: jkt_de / Morguefile