♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #90

What Are Your Top 5 Distractions And How Do You Deal With Them?
Distractions aren’t fun, but sadly we have them a lot in our lives. Especially with the Internet.
There’s always a distraction waiting around the corner.
Do you have a way of holding the distractions at bay? If so, share your tips.

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

Distractions are everywhere. While some may not be fun, others are quite enjoyable and that is why we fall victim to their time sucking. The work we might have on our plate is likely nowhere near as fun as the distraction calling us away. For instance, even though I enjoy researching and learning, I also enjoy chatting with friends online. More than likely, when I am working on research, I have the computer open to take notes or assist me. The drive to check-in with social media can be strong.

Deadlines are one of the most useful tools for me. If I have a date for when I need to get something done by, I will get it done. Distractions aren’t enough to stop me. Deadlines, however, aren’t great for everyone. They can cause unnecessary anxiety for some folks. Others just disregard them, not recognizing any pertinent consequences they need care about coming from missing the end date.

Very early in my writing career, I learned that my brain required ample distraction to allow me to sit down and work. Otherwise, it would find other things than sitting before the keyboard to do. I came to call this my inner child. It behaves very much like a little one with attention deficit. Leaving the television on, usually cartoons, was the perfect way to meet that part of my mind that craved something more. And, yes, I can focus on my work like this. You might find it strange, I know I do, coming from a background where I needed silence to read and study for school or I wasn’t getting any of it. For some reason, the same does not hold true for when I create my fiction.

Another tactic is to have a snack and drink on hand. Making sure I am not hungry or thirsty is a great help in getting my work done. Nothing is worse than having that gnawing for a little something hollering at you while you’re writing. The tastier the better. And, mix it up!

If you have a lot on your plate, as I often do, make a list. Lists really help focus what you need to get done. Reduce your options! Too many choices can be a distraction on its own. With a list, You can also start choosing quick wins (things that you can get done in no time). You won’t even need to really organize that list. If you make it for the day and stick to it, you will get everything done. But, be reasonable. How many waking hours do we have in a day to dedicate to tasks? Don’t forget to take into account your daily activities (showering, cleaning up after yourself, etc).

Sometime during the month, I make a list for the blog and lay out the dates when I need to make a post and what my plan is. It all fits on a post it note. In addition, I don’t tell myself that I need to write it up in a weekend. That simply isn’t going to happen. I’m more reasonable. Weekends allow me to write more than one article per day. Weeknights, I will either do an article or the artwork for an article in preparation. It takes me a week to get the blog done for the following month, and then I start the process of planning all over again.

With my pending maternity, you can imagine I am getting a crash course in distraction! Much of it is well out of my control. It’s teaching me to ask for help. Fiercely independent as I am, I cannot do everything on my own. I still struggle to try, but I am coming to terms with the truth. My friend helps me grocery shop and run errands. I have help carrying laundry. I have help with the dog when needed. I still make my bed and take care of myself each day. And, then, there are weekly posts from OBBH that keep my writing skills improving.

When the time to give birth has come, I hope to have my blog filled out for a few months. I’m already working on July! Completing the month’s plan really eases any anxiety I might have about my blog. Once set up, all I have to concern myself with is sharing the posts. That takes only a few minutes and much of it can be done from my phone (maybe while breastfeeding). There are so many distractions to come from the addition of a newborn, not to mention as she grows into a toddler and so on. Having a plan, for me, is the only way to meet these hurdles.

Let’s hope over to see what the other authors do about distractions…

An InLinkz Link-up

get the InLinkz code