Tag Archives: Hour of focus

Writers Horoscope November 27: Just say no, part 2

Yesterday was the slow-pitch softball approach to warding off distractions.

Today, we go major league.
  1. Dogs belong on the other side of the door. [Pick up a multi-pack of industrial strength earplugs. They’ll muffle out the plaintive canine cries for attention and/or the symphony of squeak toys your furry friends have pulled out of the closet.] I know, I know…noise-canceling headphones, but what’s the fun of those?

    dog-on other side of door

  2. Significant others? Make an appointment for lunch. Let’s get real here–they’re going to love an hour away from you.
  3. You’re granted one preset alarm–a midpoint reminder to blink and stretch.
  4. Restroom breaks–cordon off the path with crime scene tape or, better yet, electric fencing. No straying allowed. [Warning sign is optional.]electric-fence-1832491_1280

Need me to be your productivity cop? Airfare, lodging [I’ll even walk and feed the dogs.], $100 an hour. It’s a steal!

Writers Horoscope November 26: Just say no.

With all due respect to the anti-drug message of the 80’s…

Just say no.

Not to your writing, of course,

But to the anti-writing forces.

stressed writer laptop camera

It doesn’t have to be this way.

But to the myriad of distractions that come with busy times of the year.

  1. Go for one focused hour. Preferably in the morning. [Srini Rao has nailed down this one-hour thing.]
  2. Internet OFF. You don’t need Google Docs to crank out your daily words.
  3. One device only–your productivity tool of choice. That poor shlub in the photo should can the camera. And that clapperboard? Really? It’s just begging him to leave the keyboard and make an annoying racket. [I’ll give him a pass on the coffee.]
  4. Music with lyrics? Not if you’re in a nix-ative mood.
  5. Still locked into multi-device existence, are you? The TV? Only one of those music stations.
    Otherwise, you’ll fall prey to the ‘Oh, I can do some drafting while the movie is running.’ ploy that the evil manufacturers have wired into the circuitry. [Talk about paranoid…]

Okay, that’s a safe and sane start. Let’s get a little more manic tomorrow…