Tavi Gevinson Quotes

They say an elephant never forgets. Well, you are not an elephant. Take notes, constantly. Save interesting thoughts, quotations, films, technologies... the medium doesn't matter, so long as it inspires you.

I think it's important to have as much as a normal life and take the time to get perspective because it only helps your work in the long run.

I thought a lot and I controlled my thoughts in my work - and I controlled my work through my thoughts.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 14. Weirdly enough, I then learnt, through doing different things, to concentrate.

I definitely take notes, but I feel like sometimes if I take too many notes, it kind of bogs down my mind a little bit. So, I just write down stuff that I need to remember for the game.

An addiction to distraction is the end of your creative production.

Always staying focused is something that's been very tough for me. I'm still working on it.

I once tried thinking for an entire day, but I found it less valuable than one moment of study.

The simple things in life ground me and keep me focused so I'm able to do a good job with what is in front of me.

I find it so easy to get distracted - I try not to do more than one thing at any one time.

When I write, I wear earplugs. I don't want to be self-conscious. I don't want to be thinking about the fact that I'm thinking about it. I just want to be in it. It's one element of hypnosis.

The one thing that I appear to have been given, bearing in mind that I am capable of being very, very scatty and extremely lazy, is the ability to concentrate on something I choose to give my time to.

Twice a year, I take myself off to a self-imposed 'writer's retreat', staying at a small inn or on a friend's farm, where I am all alone and do nothing other than write.

I sensed that my life was better when I focused on things that were working as opposed to focusing on the long list that goes wrong, but I wanted to know if there was any validity to that.

Attention is the material I work with.

One way to boost our will power and focus is to manage our distractions instead of letting them manage us.

Writing is a very focused form of meditation. Just as good as sitting in a lotus position.

The more you focus, the more that focus becomes a habit.

If you're holding onto negative stuff from before, you cannot deliver excellence.

When you take away the phone and e-mail and you don't have a million things to run around to, it allows your mind the space to think more expansively about the things that matter.

The true art of memory is the art of attention.

Give yourself permission to get the most out of your life. If you're spending all your time scrubbing corners with a toothbrush, you're kind of missing the point. Taking shortcuts doesn't mean shortcutting the end result.

I sometimes got distracted easily and allowed my mind to wander when I needed to be focused. It's quite subtle, really, and just being aware of it helps.

The less seriously you take yourself, the better work you're going to do.

I'm always calculating what I want to do, who I want to be, what I want to accomplish. I don't need to worry about that - that's always there on a slow simmer. The muscle I have to work on is being more present.