What Was I Doing Again?: Making Use of Writing Distractions
Posted by Aja on August 4th, 2010
So bored with writing I'd rather watch an empty road.
Picture this. I’m sitting here writing an article about the difference between men and women’s shoe sizes. (Not the most interesting thing I know, but a girl’s gotta eat) I’m having a hard time trying to find information about why the difference exists so I head to the web to try and figure it out. As soon as I type “why are…” into my google search box the first recommendation that comes up is “why are Black people so loud?”
Of course I do a little bit of a double take because it’s a little hard for me to imagine that this question gets asked so often that it is at the top of the recommendation list and I’m curious to see whether someone dared give this question an answer. I take the bait, and click on the first hit which is a response to the question in yahoo answers that’s been deleted. Click on a few more deleted posts. Finally get to one that isn’t deleted which, as expected, leads me to one question with a firey comment debate about stereotyping. I skim through the comments, realize that I’m getting distracted, think that distractions would be a good blog topic, and head to my blog to write a post. The only problem is that my shoe sizes article is still sitting in a minimized box untouched.
This scenario happens to me more often than I would like to admit. As a writer, I am paid in part to be a daydreamer and I’m darn good at that part. Ideas come to me quickly and so that they don’t leave me with the same speed, I’m always in a hurry to get them written down. If I gave into every idea and distraction however, I would never end up with a finished piece of work. Whether you are a writer by profession, or need to write for your own business purposes, managing distractions is one of the keys to being able to write effectively. I have listed a few of my distraction reduction techniques that help me to refocus and get back on track.
Write it down: If an off-topic thought pops into my head that doesn’t have anything to do with what I’m working on at the moment, I write it down and return to it later. I don’t open up a Word screen and type it. I use the old school, pen and paper method. This is mostly because it takes more time for me to write than type so I will just jot down what I want to remember without getting fully immersed into a new project. This is how I got back on track with my shoe size article.
Close my internet/email boxes: And I don’t mean just minimize. I close Internet Explorer and Outlook when I need to focus unless I absolutely need it to research online. If I leave my email open I will get distracted by every email that pops up. Someone new is following you on twitter. Someone tagged you on facebook. I try to steer clear of that temptation.
Build in distraction time: All work and no play makes Aja a dull girl. I try to build in a little distraction time at the completion of each task, probably about once an hour or so. I may take five minutes to walk around the room, pour some coffee, check my email or check in on facebook. I give myself a set amount of time depending on how much of a break I need and try to stick to it.
Did I leave anything out? Share your tips for managing distractions.
photo credit: Billy Rowlinson
Tags: distractions, time management, writing
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