We live in a world more determined than ever to distract us—and the distractions are winning. More than sixty percent of us find ourselves distracted at work by social media, emails, and other digital communications, according to a recent study by Udemy. We’re losing 2.1 hours per work day to this insidious digital diversion, and it’s adversely affecting both the efficiency and quality of our work. Not to mention our creativity, which requires deep focus.

As writers, we are not immune to these distractions. I prided myself on keeping digital distractions at bay, until a particularly stressful period found me spending way too much time watching SNL reels and chignon how-to videos on my phone. Mortified, I did a deep dive on distraction and multitasking and focus and best writing practices, from meditation techniques and the forming of healthy habits to the rituals of rich and famous writers. Here are seven of the best take-aways from that study:

1. Block off time to write.

Last month at SleuthFest, the fabulous NYT bestselling author Lisa Unger recommended a book called Deep Work by Cal Newport (see below), which she credited for helping get her work done—that’s 22 novels and counting. Newport recommends scheduling your time into separate “deep work” blocks and “shallow work” blocks. And you guessed it, writing is deep work indeed.

2. Ritualize your writing time.

Whatever rituals you need to perform to get down to work, do them. Maybe this means that just like Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals (see below), you roll out of bed at dawn, brush your teeth, have a cup of coffee, and sit down to write. Or maybe like Maya Angelou, you check yourself into a hotel room armed with a Bible, a dictionary, a deck of playing cards, and a bottle of sherry. Whatever works for you. Just do it—and do it consistently

3. Retreat to a media-free environment.

Distance yourself from all media. Leave your cell phone in another room, go internet-free if writing on your laptop, and turn off Siri and the TV and Spotify and all notifications during your writing block time. Even the slightest interruption can waylay you; it takes nearly 24 minutes to get back on track after a digital distraction, according to a recent study by the University of California, Irvine. That’s 24 minutes lost forever.

4. Embrace boredom.

The next time you’re waiting in line, look at the people in the queue. Most likely they, like you, are on their phones. No more boredom while waiting in line—and that’s a bad thing. A little boredom is good for your brain, says the Mayo Clinic, kick-starting creativity and problem-solving and recharging your little grey cells at the same time.

5. Swap out scrolling for thinking.

Instead of scrolling through your phone when you’re in line or you’re on the subway or you’re suffering insomnia, give your writer’s mind something worthwhile to chew on. Direct your brain to think about that next scene, that sticky plot problem, that recalcitrant character. The more you do this, the more you’ll be rewarded by the possibilities that inevitably occur to you as a result.

6. Set boundaries and honor them.

Block off your writing time, and make it clear to family, friends, and colleagues that this block of time is sacred to you. Set boundaries, i.e., the terms under which this sacred time can and cannot be breached, and stick to them. Be flexible, but firm. If your writing block is every weekday morning from 9am to noon, eliminate digital distractions and discourage interruptions of all kinds. If you must reschedule, block out another time right away, preferably for later that same day. You’ll be training yourself and everyone else to honor your writing.

7. Learn to say “no.”

The trouble with digital distractions is that along with all those emails, texts, IMs, and voice mails come countless requests for your time, energy, and effort. Give in to these requests, and you may end up with no time to write at all. Learn to say “no.” The word “no” is a writer’s best friend.

8. Happiness Is…No Email

Perhaps my favorite story from my deep dive into digital distraction comes from Donald E. Knuth, Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming from Stanford University, (about whom I first read in the afore-mentioned Deep Dive). Go to his website and this is what you’ll read:

 I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address. I’d used email since about 1975, and it seems to me that 15 years of email is plenty for one lifetime.

Knuth goes on to provide his snail mail address, to which you can send a letter that he may or may not answer, and most illuminatingly, to quote the late great author Umberto Eco: “I don’t even have an e-mail address. I have reached an age where my main purpose is not to receive messages.”

May that be a lesson for us all.

For more, check out the following:

• DEEP WORK, by Cal Newport
• THE POWER OF SAYING NO, by Vanessa Patrick PhD
• HOW TO FOCUS, by Thich Nhat Hanh
• ATOMIC HABITS, by James Clear
• DAILY RITUALS, by Mason Currey
• THE STORYTELLERS, edited by Mark Rubinstein

You could join us on Facebook to talk digital distraction. But shouldn’t we all be writing?

This post originally appeared on Career Authors