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?
BONUS: I have a Halloween giveaway going on now! :D
a Rafflecopter giveaway
BONUS: I have a Halloween giveaway going on now! :D
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Have a writing-related question? Leave a comment and
I may turn it into a post right here!
See Also:
