I have been thinking about writing areas and what works for other writers. Do you write at home, at a library, or maybe at the local Panera, as I did every day during lunch while I was still working a full-time job? Do you need a desk with all your stuff around you or can you plop down at a airport terminal and write? And if you do write at home, how do you avoid the distractions?
When I retired from my library job I completely rearranged my writing space at home, adding more shelves and moving back all my desk supplies I had kept at work. I even went so far as to reload my computer screen saver from work onto my home computer and rehanging the photos I had at the library on my bulletin board at home. I guess I was trying to recreate the same sort of work space that had previously worked so well for me. I was efficient at work...I hoped it would translate back home.
That part worked pretty well. As soon as I sit down at my desk I am immediately thrown into work-mode. I guess the problem I have, though, is the distractions. I suddenly think that a load of laundry should be started. Or that I should take the dog out for a potty break. Or I should refill the bird feeders. Not that I didn't have plenty of distractions at the library. Parents needing help finding the appropriate reading level for their child. The child who just wanted to come in and talk. A Board Member with a job that needed completing right that minute.
I am realizing that my previous mode of writing - an hour at lunch in Panera - was very successful because I had only that one hour to devote to writing. If I didn't do it then, it wouldn't get done. Immediately after leaving my job, I found that I still could not do more than one hour of writing at a time. My brain was stuck on a one hour limit. Slowly, I have been able to increase that time. But the distractions continue.
What strategies do you have for writing without distractions? What is your work space like? I would love to hear your solutions or even your own struggles.
When I retired from my library job I completely rearranged my writing space at home, adding more shelves and moving back all my desk supplies I had kept at work. I even went so far as to reload my computer screen saver from work onto my home computer and rehanging the photos I had at the library on my bulletin board at home. I guess I was trying to recreate the same sort of work space that had previously worked so well for me. I was efficient at work...I hoped it would translate back home.
That part worked pretty well. As soon as I sit down at my desk I am immediately thrown into work-mode. I guess the problem I have, though, is the distractions. I suddenly think that a load of laundry should be started. Or that I should take the dog out for a potty break. Or I should refill the bird feeders. Not that I didn't have plenty of distractions at the library. Parents needing help finding the appropriate reading level for their child. The child who just wanted to come in and talk. A Board Member with a job that needed completing right that minute.
I am realizing that my previous mode of writing - an hour at lunch in Panera - was very successful because I had only that one hour to devote to writing. If I didn't do it then, it wouldn't get done. Immediately after leaving my job, I found that I still could not do more than one hour of writing at a time. My brain was stuck on a one hour limit. Slowly, I have been able to increase that time. But the distractions continue.
What strategies do you have for writing without distractions? What is your work space like? I would love to hear your solutions or even your own struggles.
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