Distractions

Today is a good day to write. This is the thought I have every morning when I get up and power up the computer. Quickly followed by thoughts such as, I am going to get a lot done today or I’m going to reach my writing goals today.

But then something happens. After the computer is turned on, I decide to “clear the decks” by checking my email. If I do it first thing in the morning while my brain is still waking up, then the day will be clear for me to write. At least that is the intent. Even as I write this, I am tempted to check my email again, just in case I received something important in the two minutes since I checked it last. Or perhaps one of my favorite blogs sent out a new post that I should be reading now. Then there is that list of author questions I should be compiling for the interviews I have lined up, so many authors to follow up with, and shouldn’t I do at least one thing today to promote my own book?

Okay, that’s out of the way. Time to write. I’ve got the document open, the idea in my head, and I’m ready to go. I just have to remember to call the pediatrician to give her permission to release medical information to the orthopedic doctor. Perhaps I should contact the G.I. doctor to give him permission to talk to the orthopedic doctor, too. I have to make a follow up appointment with him for my daughter anyway; I can take care of both things at once. But it’s still so early, no one will be in the office yet. Write a reminder. Okay, good, that’s out of the way. I hope the appointment goes well tomorrow. It’s not every day you have to take your daughter in for a CT scan, after all. Should I be worried that the orthopedic doctor moved up the follow up visit from May 1st to April 27th? Could this mean that he wants to do the surgery sooner, too? I’m not ready for this, everything is happening so fast. How can I concentrate on writing with all of this hanging over my head?

Ah, distractions. All of us are faced with them, in various forms, many times throughout the day. Those little things that, if we let them, will completely take over our minds, pushing everything else out and keeping us from achieving anything that day. I know. I am often the victim of distractions mostly because I allow myself to be. I can’t help it. I’m a worrier – and a thinker. That is a dangerous combination. Especially for a self-proclaimed procrastinator. Put the three together and you have the ingredients for the perfect storm. Because I think too much, mulling things over and over in my mind, and worry about the outcome of everything, I often allow myself to put off other things until a later date.

I’ll do better tomorrow, I decide. I’ll reach that goal of ten pages, or five sets of interview questions, or whatever is on my plate that day. Today, I need to concentrate on tying up all of the loose ends before my daughter’s surgery. Maybe I’ll take the computer with me and work on my book while she’s in surgery. If I’m lucky, the hospital won’t have a wifi connection so I won’t be distracted by the lure of the Internet. But I will be thinking about the surgery, so will I really be able to concentrate on my writing?

The funny thing is, no matter what is conspiring against me at any given time, I always manage to get things done. I don’t know how I do it, I just do. So I have every confidence that I will get the interview questions together and sent out, the bits of promo completed, and maybe a page or two of my WIP written. So what if it’s not the ten-page goal I set for myself? The important thing is to just write, even if I stop at two pages, to push through the distractions and not let them beat me.

So what do you do to get through the distractions? I would love to hear your tips and tricks. Who knows? Maybe I’ll discover a new way to keep myself on track and take one more step toward my writing goals today.


Margay Leah Justice