It seems distractions are a part of life. There are always things we allow to distract us from what is really important. At home it may be the TV or worrying about how we are going to pay our bills that distract us from spending time with our family. At work it might be the Internet that pulls us away from performing our job duties. Studies show that Internet misuse is widespread with the most commonly visited sites are porn sites.
Yes it seems that we allow anything to distract us from an honest day’s work. I am working to become a writer as such I keep getting distracted pulled away from my goals. First I had a stroke, OK that’s not my fault but it has caused new distractions. I can’t work so I worry about money, how am I going to pay my bills. I try to come up with ideas to earn money but they take me away from writing. I’m working on a book but other ideas keep popping into my head, good ideas so I stop and sketch out the basics. Often, tasks that need done at home including honey do tasks keep popping into my head and I feel time would be better spent getting them done. I have the added problem that I am forgetful so when I think of something I either have to do something about it or I forget about it.
In the first of the Kavilion series the Elven Maiden Lady Jesillin is befriended by a Unicorn. Problem is I have no idea what kind of names unicorns have. So off I go onto the web searching for unicorn names. In the process I see something that looks interesting and off I go off on a distraction that has nothing to do with my writing. Next thing I know hours have passed and I’ve gotten nowhere in my writing.
What am I to do to keep me focused? A couple of tricks I’ve heard about
- Set aside a specific time to write and make sure everyone knows when it is.
- Find an area away from distractions, if possible a room where there is no TV and it is unlikely others will distract you.
- If thought interrupt, write them down then keep going, deal with them later.
- Do any research at the end of your scheduled writing time thus if you lose focus you’ve already written for the day so no big lose.
- Turn the cell phone off
- Work on a computer that doesn’t have internet access.
Here is my goal.
We have an area beside our house where the prior owner built a work shop. Currently we are using it for storage. My goal is to clean it out and turn it into my writing workshop. I have an old computer I can write on that doesn’t have Wi-Fi thus no internet distractions. It’s not part of the main house so I shouldn’t get distracted by family members asking me questions. All I need to do is get it set up. Sadly one more distraction. Lets see how it goes.
