Writing Distractions

[Facing]

I'm having a hard time staying focused this month. There's nothing I can do about life and work but I'm wondering what others have done to lessen or eliminate distractions from their writing environments or if I'm the only one who gets distracted.

My husband and I both have out computers in the living room. Today he is removing the television and I am currently contemplating internet blocking software. If anybody has experience with that I'd love to hear what you think of it.

The program I'm looking at is called Freedom. The domain makes it look like it's only available for mac but the site says otherwise. It sounds drastic but I'm desperate.

 

[RedMage]

Do you have a laptop or a desktop computer? If a laptop, you might try getting out of the house a few times a week. Or even writing in a different area of the house.

 

[N. E. White]

I use a timer.

I decide I'm going to write for a certain amount of time, set the timer, then do it. Once I'm done writing, then I can surf or get distracted all I want.

 

[Bodhi]

This is a good thread. You're distracting me, thinking of all these ways to not be distracted!
You can power off your Internet router. There are also extensions for Chrome to block sites that distract you (StayFocused). Television is a distraction? I don't know what all your distractions are.
Do you have a desk? An office?

Everyone has to take breaks. You could try doodling or doing stretches. If you are a typist, you could try handwriting, or vice versa.

Another important thing I wanted to mention was the flow of your creativity. If you are finding a certain bottleneck, then try something new. I recently played around with audio dictation where the computer translates your voice into words. Or you can just record yourself speaking ideas/notes.

 

[Facing]

Do you have a laptop or a desktop computer? If a laptop, you might try getting out of the house a few times a week. Or even writing in a different area of the house.

I do enjoy writing in other locations but one of the drawbacks to living on a farm in the middle of nowhere is how very long it takes to get anywhere.

I use a timer.

I decide I'm going to write for a certain amount of time, set the timer, then do it. Once I'm done writing, then I can surf or get distracted all I want.

I used to do this and it worked very well for me (as long as the tv wasn't on). It might again. I do admire your self restraint.

This is a good thread. You're distracting me, thinking of all these ways to not be distracted!
You can power off your Internet router. There are also extensions for Chrome to block sites that distract you (StayFocused). Television is a distraction? I don't know what all your distractions are.
Do you have a desk? An office?

Everyone has to take breaks. You could try doodling or doing stretches. If you are a typist, you could try handwriting, or vice versa.

Another important thing I wanted to mention was the flow of your creativity. If you are finding a certain bottleneck, then try something new. I recently played around with audio dictation where the computer translates your voice into words. Or you can just record yourself speaking ideas/notes.

The router thing would work if mine was the only computer in the house linked to it. I did look at programs that block only certain sites but went with the no internet at all option. I should probably clarify that I'm not distracted by wanting to watch television. My problem is that I have a daughter who, if she is home and conscious is prone on the couch in front of me with the tv on. We've now turned her brothers old room into a mini living room. We're a few hours into the experiment and so far so good.

I do like the idea of changing up how we write. My daughter has provided me with Olympus digital recording that I've yet to play with but sounds like it might be fun. My writing area is getting very organized lately.

As for breaks, I usually try to write and not write for the same amounts of time to give my old noodle a break. I'd love to get to the point where I could comfortably do yoga during my breaks but there's usually chores that need to be attended to. Such is life.

 

[Dreaming]

Life is distraction, you just have to ask yourself what you want to be distracted more by. If you want to be distracted more by writing, then the cure is passion for what you desire to say. All else will pale when you get that. Boredom is the real enemy here, kill it with fascination.

 

[SteveW]

Recently I bought a smaller 11.6" laptop for writing. I only have my writing related software on it, and a couple writing specific websites bookmarked. I just do not allow this laptop to be be used for anything else but writing. I wouldn't block the internet as I save my work to dropbox and I often do on the fly research while I write.

The portability allows me to write wherever I am, or anywhere in the house if I need to hide from the kids. At work I can go into a meeting room, or back to my desk, wherever is quieter that day. This approach has helped eliminate a lot of distractions or even better opened up times to write where I couldn't before.

 

[kennychaffin]

Recently I bought a smaller 11.6" laptop for writing. I only have my writing related software on it, and a couple writing specific websites bookmarked. I just do not allow this laptop to be be used for anything else but writing. I wouldn't block the internet as I save my work to dropbox and I often do on the fly research while I write.

The portability allows me to write wherever I am, or anywhere in the house if I need to hide from the kids. At work I can go into a meeting room, or back to my desk, wherever is quieter that day. This approach has helped eliminate a lot of distractions or even better opened up times to write where I couldn't before.

I've been seriously considering moving to a laptop or chromebook (which is very appealing to me) for my writing. I normally do it in my journal and then type in to my desktop machine using Word. All my writing is in word and that makes for a minor issue in moving to Chrome and in addition I'm not convinced I want to keep all my work on Google's drives....

.....but I really do think maybe it's time to move to the laptop that I bought three years ago for writing and have essentially not used only have 'MS Word-trial/lite' on it... But I do use it as a backup for all my writing...so at least that is there already.

 

[SteveW]

All my writing is in word and that makes for a minor issue in moving to Chrome and in addition I'm not convinced I want to keep all my work on Google's drives....

HP Stream. The windows answer to the chrome book. Also available in 13", more monitor, but the keyboard layout is the exact same size as the 11.6. Pictures here: http://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/what-does-your-writing-space-look-like.46726/#post-760452

 

[kennychaffin]

HP Stream. The windows answer to the chrome book. Also available in 13", more monitor, but the keyboard layout is the exact same size as the 11.6. Pictures here: http://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/what-does-your-writing-space-look-like.46726/#post-760452

You must mean this:

http://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/what-does-your-writing-space-look-like.46726/#post-760434

Right? Will check it out. If it's cheap (like chromebooks) runs windows ... i.e. Word etc. then it's definitely a possibility.Thanks.

ETA....hmmm.....cloud access for ONE year then $8 a month.....that kinda screws the pooch for me.....and also Office 365...which I know is what everything is going to but it, like that cloud is a SUBSCRIPTION so they just keep sucking money from you.... Arrrrrgggggh!

At least with chrome there is a free cloud storage (up to 15 GB) and free upgrades to the OS and apps...

 

[Wilson Geiger]

Like someone said earlier, distraction is everywhere. When I'm writing at night, after the youngest has gone to bed, I've just learned to focus on what I need to get done that night. I do take breaks while writing, usually a couple, each fifteen minutes or so, just to walk around and recharge.

I don't disable the internet, because like Steve I use Dropbox, and I do research check-ups occasionally. Facebook can be a killer, so I try to minimize that during my evenings. If I'm at all worried about it, I just engage Scrivener's full-screen writing mode.

Music helps me, too. I listen to soundtrack music, with no vocals, which really puts me in the mood to write.