The August high summer holidays are well and truly over in Italy now. The national vacation month when few, if anyone, is working. No school or uni. Hospitals on skeleton staff. Most surgery postponed. Everyone is at the seaside (or the mountains), where populations swell and surge. It felt as though I was the only person at home sitting in front of a computer trying to work in August.
So, onto my promised four D’s. Distraction. Derailment. Disenchantment. Digression. The four D’s that hamper my writing will be the focus of our next four blogs. Because writers must work through all four D’s daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes every minute.
Distractions and how I deal with them:
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My phone must be on silent. There is no way I can resist the pinging of my phone. It is my greatest distraction.
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My social media notifications are always on SILENT. 71 out of every 100 Baby Boomers are sidetracked by Facebook. No way is being buzzed at by social media healthy. I check when I want to check. Social media does not control my productivity. I do.
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Set a task and complete it. The task can be this blog, editing 1,000 words or writing 500 words, or even all your emails. Put your alarm on for one hour and you’re not allowed to rise from your chair till that alarm goes off.
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Avoid multitasking. One job, one scene, one task at a time.
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Finish the task before getting up and distracting yourself with the making of a cup of tea. Tea and coffee breaks are mostly about the act of making the tea or coffee. The stepping away from the screen to prepare the beverage is a distraction. Finish the task first.
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According to the Pomodoro Method, you’re supposed to get up and move around every 25 minutes. But…it takes me 15 minutes to truly get into my task. My brain is only fully engaged after 15 minutes. Finish the hour first.
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A timer also helps my manuscript memory. One hour at a time means I have time to recall what I’ve written now and beforehand (and one month ago). A shorter timeframe and I can’t remember what I was thinking. That whole Have I’ve already mentioned this point, word or description in my MS? If I write for only 20 minutes at a time, I forget to dig deeper and resolve the issue.
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Research and the rabbit hole. One of my greatest distractions. Once I start to Fact Check or research, I must often use extraordinary strength to pull out of an internet rabbit hole. Is this information serving my story? While following links and clickbait, ask yourself over and over again; is this stuff beneficial to my subject?
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Family disruptions. These have dwindled now that I don’t have young children to bribe with lollies/candy to leave my office. But it is super tempting to join my uni student and remote working children in the kitchen. I must resist!
This discussion about distractions is for serious writers, who really need to get sh*t done. In the arc of the day, there are moments when we can say ‘I’ll just write for 30 minutes.’ Psychologically this is great! But once you’ve got a few drafts under your belt and you need to get the MS into your editor or publisher the old ‘I’ll just write for 30 minutes’ trick is really for random free moments.
All of this said, please know I am a fidgety person. None of this is easy for me. I couldn’t sit still in school and even now in meetings I cross and uncross my legs, reach for water, or fiddle with something on the table. I am a most unsettling person to have in your audience.
Therefore, if I can you do it, you can do it. KEEP WRITING!
Love and hugs from Florence and keep an eye out for Part 2 of this series on the Four D’s – Derailment. My specialty!
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If you’d like to share any comments or thoughts, I’d be happy to hear from you. Email me directly at lisacliffordwriter@gmail.com.