Dear Distracted Writer + Giveaway

Dear Distracted Writer,

There are distractions everywhere from our day jobs to our children, but the biggest distractions nowadays are our cell phones and social media.

Every day, every hour, and most likely multiple times an hour, we are checking our emails, Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Not only does maintaining these things take a lot of time, but they suck away time like black holes. We can get pulled into scrolling mindlessly through our feeds, retweeting, commenting, and sharing everything we see. And when we are doing this, we aren’t being productive. We aren’t writing, editing/revising, or whatever else we need to do as writers.

Being on social media is part of that but there’s a point where it goes from being work-related to a big fat distraction that aids procrastination.

So what can you do to end distractions?

Unplug! This is the most obvious solution.

1. Turn off your cell phone.

2. Disconnect your landline.

3. Temporarily delete your Internet icon (on your computer) so you won’t be tempted to click on it. Just make sure to un-delete it before you clean out the waste bin.

Image from Flickr

Once you unplug, try one or all of these following techniques to get some real work done:

1. Every day designate a period of time to writing and only writing. Example: 3pm – 6pm. And during that time unplug using the 3 steps above.

2. Choose a time every evening to shut yourself off from social media until bedtime. Every day about 6pm, I turn off my computer to give myself a break from checking emails, my blog, etc. I unwind when I do this and feel less stressed. And not once do I sign into social media. I guess you could say 6pm is my social media quitting time.

3. Pick one day a week to unplug for a full 24 hours and designate that day as the day to get sh*t done. I pick Sunday for this because there’s less traffic on my blog and fewer people engaging on social media. Not having to worry about social media for a whole day feels great. It allows me to recuperate and gives me energy for the upcoming week.

QUESTIONS: Do you practice of those techniques? Do you have a problem with social media distractions?


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Have a writing-related question? Leave a comment and I may turn it into a post right here!

See Also:

Dear Withdrawn Writer

Dear Time-Strapped Writer

Dear Un-inspired Writer

Dear Blocked Writer

Dear Degree-less Writer

Dear Young Writer

Dear Aspiring Author

Dear Confused Facebook Author

Dear Scrambling Writer

Dear Writer Not Writing

Author of Hurricane Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

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