So, I’ve officially retired from my Day Job as of the end of January. You would think that this would leave me with scads of opportunities and hu-mongo blocks of time with which to edit my ever growing files of first drafts I have floating in my external hard drive, right?
Wrong.
The longer I live, the more I see that things are still difficult. Time still gets sucked out of the days (and weeks and years). Life doesn’t ease up once the kids are grown (in many ways, dealing with adult children is so much more difficult than managing the Terrible Twos or Threes). It takes a thousand times more effort to disengage from the working life than it does beginning the working life. Add to that the fact you are now in your 60s (gasp!) and your brain and body doesn’t want to cooperate the way it used to forty years ago, and well…you see where I’m going.
Oh, to be a teenager again…
I know what the problem is, and that is D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N. Not that I think distraction is age related (as in my age in years – after all, children are VERY distract-able) but is AGE related, as in the times we are living in. Here are a few things that cause me to be distracted, and how I deal with it.
1. The Internet is a HUGE distraction. It always is, it always will be. It’s difficult to limit when you’re a writer, because most writers use electronic devices to create (as opposed to manual typewriters, pen and paper, and Fred Flintstone’s chisel and hammer) and those devices are more often than not connected to the Internet. I’m weaning away from Facebook and Twitter, but I must admit that I’ve got a world-class addiction to Words with Friends and my play list is at maximum peeps.
My solution? Obviously. Cut. It. Out. Buy a timer or use the one on your phone. Set a limit, and when the alarm sounds, close out the browser and step away for a moment before resuming your place in the scene.
A second solution would be to use a computer not tied to the Internet for writing only. (I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.) I have an old laptop that I’m not using specifically for that purpose. It’s so old, it’s not wireless! My wifi is so new, it doesn’t have cables! Can we say perfect match?
2. Your life is a distraction. Carve out writing time and stick to it. I don’t care if it’s a page a day. (In my case, I have pledged to at least write one page in my Hobonichi, which sometimes proves to be 250 words depending on how large my handwriting is that day. Anything more is gravy.) It can be as little as 100 words. I’m not the task master, YOU are. Set a reasonable goal. Lofty goals are for angels.
My solution for external noise (dogs, cats, loud children, the rest of your family, TV noises, etc.) is to MOVE. Move away from the distraction, to somewhere you know there won’t be any. I’m lucky/unlucky in that I’m living in a large 4-bedroom house, of which we use one bedroom and the kitchen/family room. I sometimes don’t walk into a spare bedroom for months. No one has sat on my formal living room furniture in like…forever. (Christmas 2007?) I’ve got a nice futon in my son’s old room which is comfortable and with south-facing windows – just perfect. Plus it’s at the far end of wherever the action is in the house.
If your house is small or the family is large, go somewhere else. I’m not a fan of coffee houses though many writers are – it’s too easy for me to get distracted by people watching. I’ve grabbed my laptop/notebook and headed to a parking lot, at the beach, a park, etc. (Upside is that there will likely be NO WIFI at the beach.)
3. Your health may be a distraction. This is why it is so important to take care of your physical self. Case in point: I spent six weeks in January/February sick as a dog. Truly incapacitated by some sort of germ that eventually caused me to have an ear infection. (I know, right? How old am I? Four?) I normally carry on despite illness and will drag my sorry butt around to do whatever needs to be done, but in this case I spent two full days in bed, unable to move. No writing, no jewelry making (missed jewelry classes!), no housework, nothing, nada, nyet. I made myself five pots of chicken soup in six weeks.
Do yourself a favor. Eat right. Take care of yourself. Exercise. Repeat.
4. People are a distraction. Don’t let them be. Give yourself permission to say no. (You ask them to do you a favor, they’ll probably say no to you.) Don’t let yourself be sucked down a vortex of drama and angst. Save that for your pages. You have committed yourself to writing, a real job, a real artistic effort. Complete your minimum allowance (perhaps more) and then turn your attention to that person who seems to be draining you of energy. Be friendly but firm.
Distractions are daunting, and even if you give in to them, keep telling yourself, “Writing coming up next” or “I could sure use this in my backstory” or “YOU ARE A WRITER! This distraction is only temporary!”
Believe it, do it, make it so.
So excuse me now, I must practice what I preach.
🙂
