Distractions

You’ll Be Shocked at Who’s Sabotaging Your Writer’s Journey

The Surprising People Who May Be Slowing Your Progress

Happy Weekend, Class! Perhaps you caught today’s title and thought, “Wait, what?” Or you could tell right away what The Professor of Medium was talking about. Regardless, let’s dive right in to today’s important lesson:

The importance of a distraction-free, quiet work space for writing.

When I first started writing for a living, I quickly realized the importance of having a perfect place to write. There were a certain number of things that were important in terms of my writing space. I had to have an ideal location.

This career change to writing would have NEVER worked out 12 years ago. Having three small children in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade would have ended the dream before I even woke up from it:

“DAD! What’s for breakfast? Daddy, why does Mommy have to go to work and you stay home on your computer all day? DADDY! I THINK I PLUGGED THE TOILET AGAIN! THERE’S WATER ALL OVER THE BATHROOM FLOOR!”

Jesus Roto-Rooter. How am I ever supposed to compose funny, entertaining blogs with these feral children running around like rats on a sinking ship? Why the hell aren’t they in school? Oh, it’s July.

*Long shudder, followed by three quick eye twitches. Someone, please pass me the ketamine and a blow-dart gun.

Now that I have all three of them in college and only two of the three living at home full-time, it’s far more manageable. Kids today seem to be in their own little bubbles. I worry that I’m bugging them more than they are disturbing me.

That’s one of the main issues for me as a writer, though. I have to have quiet. Silence is truly the best for me when I’m trying to write. I get distracted far too easily.

If I hear them laughing like hyenas in the next room or even from downstairs, I immediately lose concentration, and my train of thought derails faster than the one chasing Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.

Me: “I didn’t kill my writing piece!”

Child: “I don’t care!”, keeps laughing online loudly.

Me: *Dives headfirst off a giant dam

I’ve learned that I do my best writing in the morning and in the earlier afternoon. The kids are usually in class during the morning for most of the year. My Bride is at her counseling practice from morning to early evening. Even my dog is quiet and just lays against my leg snoozing while I type.

Things go well until I get hungry. Then Libby (Mooch) and I are ready for a snack. Being distracted by hunger sounds kind of silly, but it’s still another distraction. We pause to get breakfast or lunch downstairs and bring it back up to my bedroom.

She gives me that wide-eyed beggar’s stare. Like Puss in Shrek, when he’s holding his hat in his hands with giant eyes. Reminds me of those portraits of Jesus that you see in little old ladies’ homes. Mooch looks up at me as if to say, “Will you do my will, and feed me?”

I remind her that salads and fruits are better, and if she doesn’t quit, she’s going to look like a party balloon. She chastises me for fat-shaming her and I apologize by giving her a few tiny bites of my lunch. She is quick to forgive with a mouthful of chicky nuggies.

I originally planned to use a spare desk and comfy office chair in our bedroom to do my writing. We have a large bedroom and there was plenty of room for that setup in there. This lasted exactly one day.

I realized quickly that I didn’t particularly enjoy Libby being on our bed alone without me. Even though I could spin my chair around and pet her at any time, I still didn’t find this acceptable. So we decided I’d sit on the bed with a side table next to me for my laptop, snacks, and drinks. You know, the essentials of a writer. And his little dog, too.

This works out well when nobody is home. Or when my Bride is sleeping next to me. She goes to bed by 10 pm every night and that affords me two or three hours to get my writing done in the dark.

I’ll sometimes work on my blog later at night, to be ready to post by the next morning. Then I’ll work up a second blog from later morning to earlier afternoon. Having a set routine and schedule most days very much helps keep me on track as a writer.

I don’t take weekends off from writing. While I cut back the time I spend on it, I definitely keep active. I have a lot to say, and quite a bit going on being a full-time blogger. Plus there are the three publications of mine I run.

I’m glad I enjoy writing as much as I do. It’s nice to spend hours and hours doing something and not feel bored with it. My work is more of a passion than a career. I’d feel lost without it, now that I’ve been doing it daily for most of the past two years now.

As much as I love working from home with Libby most days, there’s a second place where I love to write. This would be my Bride’s counseling practice. It’s spectacular and so comfortable for writing.

I use this place on weekends for about half the day or so. It’s a large office with giant windows, a large L-shaped desk, a couch, and a chaise lounge chair. It’s in an older office building that’s a 5-minute or less drive from our home.

Once I realized I needed a quiet place to write when she and the kids were home, there was no question about offering her office to me. I love that about her. She supports my dreams and goals and that means everything to me.

It’s so quiet, and perfect. I close the blinds when I get here, turn off all the lights and start typing away. In a peaceful serene setting like this, I can crank out about 1200 words in an hour to 90 minutes.

So find your wheelhouse for comfort when you’re writing. Whether it’s at home or an office, in a coffee shop, or surrounded by snacks and plump little dogs begging for you to share food with them, find it.

Then do the most important thing you can do as a writer. Keep writing. And be productive in a peaceful setting. &:^)

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