When writing doesn't seem to work

For someone like me who enjoys sitting and writing it can be a challenge when the words just don’t seem to come. Sometimes not writing is because I keep getting distracted on a bunch of other things and that breaks my train of thought, so it takes me longer to get anything achieved and I do get frustrated when that happens. I have found out that there are times when I can just sit and write and lose myself in my writing and then there are times it’s a challenge to even get a few words done. 

Something that I have found sometimes helps me get back to the writing that I want to do is give myself a time limit. This time limit is I need to write for x number of minutes before I can do anything else. I know it sounds a little crazy, but it is amazing how much writing you can achieve when you give yourself that block of time. For me, sometimes it is even 10 or 15 minutes before I can even think of checking email or anything else, but it does work. Quite often that 10 or 15 minutes turns into a lot more writing because I get on a roll and the words then seem to flow. During this block of time, I also try not to think about the punctuation because I can do back after this time and make sure that I have all the commas in the right places.

Another thing that I find helps me get back to the writing level that makes me happy is to put my earplugs in and just let the words flow without all the various sounds around me. I have different earplugs that I use depending on what I want to achieve. I have some earplugs that block out most of the sounds around me and then I have other ones that will block some of the sounds. When it is very windy out, I quite often put the earplugs in just to block out some of the whistling that happens.

When writing doesn’t work it can be a challenge but knowing different things that help you get the writing done that you want to achieve does help. Another thing that I do is change where I am sitting when I am trying to get the writing done because sometimes a different location or a different device makes a big different. I normally do most of my writing on my computer, but I also have my tablet and a keyboard that I use. The different devices can make a difference and sometimes just being away from the multiple screens that I have when at the computer helps a lot.

So, if you are finding that writing doesn’t seem to work maybe try one of these ideas and see if it helps you. I know that these have worked for me and I get back to the writing that I want to do. This entire blog post was written when I was finding it difficult to write so I said 10 minutes and then you can do something else. Well, it was more than 10 minutes, and I was able to get back to writing which makes me happy.

 

Get your face out of your device

There are so many times that I have watched someone that doesn’t look where they are going because they are spending too much time looking at their device. The latest was on the subway and there was a guy that was walking back and forth on the subway and all he was doing was looking at his device. Well, he ended up getting off at the same stop that we did, and there are electronic gates that let you leave the station and the one he headed for was out of service. Well because he had his face in his device he was immediately stopped because the gate didn’t open for him. He wanted to quickly go into the next gate area, which is where I was, and I let him know that he had to “WAIT”. When you are in areas where there are lots of people or things that can impact your movement, get your face out of your device and make sure you know your environment.

This is just one of many situations that I have seen while commuting or even while in the car. There are too many times when I have seen someone start to cross a road because they think that the traffic has stopped, to only find out that they are the ones that are causing the issue. People have to remember that when they are walking where there are others around them, they need to pay attention to their surroundings and not think that everyone is going to jump out of their way because they are busy on their device.

Being away of our surroundings is something that is very important because you don’t know who around you might have challenges that you cannot accommodate if you are not looking where you are going. There are so many with limited visibility or mobility that making sure you are aware of your surroundings is very important.

Our devices have started to take over our lives, and we need to understand that we need to look up when we are moving around because we need to see where we are going and what obstacles are in front of us. It was bad enough when people were talking on their devices and walking, and they didn’t see beside them now with all the various games and chats that are available it has made moving around with our devices so much more of a distraction.

So next time you are moving around with your device, and you think about having that chat or play that game, remember that you need to get your face out of your device so that you don’t hurt yourself or others because you were distracted. If I chat is that important, maybe stop for a couple of minutes to have the chat, and then you can continue where you were going.

Why you don't get things done

There are so many people that say, “I wish the day was longer so that I could get everything done that I need to do.”

I was listening to people say this one day, and it made me think about why we can’t get the things done that we want to do each day. I have come up with some reasons that I think can contribute to why we wish the days were longer.

1. Social media – how much time do you spend each day checking Facebook, Instagram and all the other social media platforms. It is amazing how much time you can lose in a day by just spending time looking at all the various posts and feeds that appear.
2. Text messages – so many people figure that if they don’t get a quick response to an email, they can text you because then you will see it and immediately answer it. Well, that is another interruption that interferes with what you were trying to do.
3. Emails – the number of emails that we all get each day can be overwhelming, and we need to learn how to manage them. One thing that I have done is get my phone to only buzz with a couple of specific accounts receive email. I do have lots of accounts on my phone, so I need to manage which ones make noise, vibrate, and just want me to look at them.
4. Unorganized schedule – now that so many of us are working at home, having an unplanned or unorganized schedule can lead to not getting things done what we want to do. For me, I have found that I put all the things that I want to accomplish each day in my planner and then mark them off once they are completed. Sure, things can come up that will impact a day but at least I can see what got done and what didn’t get done and that helps a lot.
5. Other distractions – there are so many other things that can be a distraction and that can be music, conversations around you or just things that you can see that also might need to get done.

We all have challenges that we need to handle, and what I have done is set a schedule for myself for some of the key things that I need to get done quickly during a weekday. This has helped me keep on top of the various tasks, and it also gives me the time to do the other things that I enjoy doing. Being able to see all the different things that I have accomplished during a day helps, so everything I accomplish even if it wasn’t planned gets noted in my planner.

Something that I have found that also works is putting my phone on either vibrate only or silence for a bit of time so that I can focus on the task that I need to complete and that helps. Also, closing all the social media apps, websites, etc. can help eliminate the distraction of wanting to click to see what is new.

Being able to focus on the tasks that you need to focus on can make such a difference, and you feel good at the end of the day knowing that you got some of the tasks done. You might not get everything done, but at least you know where your day went, and it wasn’t entirely spent on social media and answering all those text messages.