Comments on: Distraction

By: Peg Wimberley

Peg Wimberley — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:10:28 +0000

Poor you, you have to be monogamous with each bundle of words you open, and there must be temptations everywhere. The hardest part about fighting distraction is to not use another distraction as a contrivance to heal messy thinking. I sometime bore myself into getting back to work. There is a clock that ticks loudly in my kitchen and if I can force myself to listen to it for three minutes without screaming or grabbing a cat meandering by, then my brain is so happy to be given the chance to focus, it will stick with the job at hand. Along that theme and if you don’t happen to have a loud ticking device handy, force yourself to do something you really hate to do for a little bit. The important part of this is to make sure you give yourself a time limit. That way your mind gets in gear to be free to do what you need to do at a specific time.
There’s also an herb called Scullcap that helps sometimes, not always. An Indian woman in Wyoming taught me about this years ago, she said it “clears the chatter in the mind.”
Good luck.

By: Bethany Neal

Bethany Neal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 03:49:04 +0000

I can’t even do instrumental music while I write. I start to hum. 😛

By: Bethany Neal

Bethany Neal — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 03:47:33 +0000

A supportive family is a writer’s must-have for sure, Danielle. We are lucky to have ’em.

By: Kimberly J. Smith

Kimberly J. Smith — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 01:54:32 +0000

I’m sorry, did you say something? Oh, distractions. Yes. I never get distracted. Except when the dog barks at a passing bicyclist or when my kids argue over the Wii remote or when my iChat goes off with a request from work or… okay, I guess I do get distracted.

I am also a fan of the music focus — ear buds, and something mood-setting (but without lyrics, can’t write with lyrics) usually does the trick. Or waiting until the entire house is asleep. That cuts the distractions down quite a bit.

By: Ryan Field

Ryan Field — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:53:56 +0000

For writers I think it depends on whether or not they are contracted. In other words, if there’s a contracted book pending with a deadline, the book comes first. Social life and unimportant distractions take a back seat. Even family has to understand the book comes first.

Of course if you’re balancing a full time job and writing, which I did for years, it’s not always easy. But, for me, the book always came first.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:12:06 +0000

I hope none of you were distracted by my post, because at least one of you (ahem, Bryan), seems easily distracted!

Maril, I’ve been finding that music is actually a good way to stay focused now that I work from home. My problem is that I always forget to restart the music when I get off a call!

By: Lydia Sharp

Lydia Sharp — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:59:33 +0000

Maril pretty much nailed it. Except I’m more of a nineties music girl. 😉

By: Danielle Spears

Danielle Spears — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:28:49 +0000

Ha ha! So true Bethany! My world gets the shaft. Luckily, I have a supportive family!!!

By: Maril Hazlett

Maril Hazlett — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:24:15 +0000

How do I handle distractions… with an unvarying routine:

1) Hide the sweets.

2) Turn off the modem.

3) Hide my phone or give it to a colleague/ my husband with strict orders not to give it back to me for X amount of time, no matter how I scream and beg.

4) Really wish I had the sweets. Contemplate switching the modem back on, just for one tiny second. Yearn for my twitter account. Think of all the insane things I could promise my husband that might make him give back my phone.

5) Put on the earphones, rock some bad eighties music, and crank it out.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:37:44 +0000

Distractions aren’t a part of my writing li–Hey, look! A bird!