Good Distractions, Bad Distractions (Day 3)
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NaNoWriMo Day 3
I don't know what it is about the weekend that makes writing a challenge. Maybe I should blame my husband for turning on the heat before he left for work. I woke up too cozy, too lazy, and eager to do anything but write. Thankfully, I have a number of friends and family who recognize the signs of procrastination and force me back in place.
So I write, forgetting to eat, clean, bathe, etc. Hell, I even forget that I have a dog and that she's staring at me because it's time for her walk. But interspersed in those furious bursts of writing, are wonderful blips of much needed distractions. Good ones. Yep, not all distractions are bad.
In fact, when forced to focus in a sensory deprivation scenario, I become like a pigeon in a phone booth. Allowed a minute here and there to let my eyes wander, I am exponentially more productive. Why? I think Seth Godin explains the Hunter vs. Farmer theory best. I am a classic hunter and knowing that has completely changed how I work.
My good distractions range from Apartment Therapy house tours to browsing shop windows. I randomly roll over Pinterest for book cover ideas, sample albums on Spotify (new Ben Howard EP?), or jump around Twitter. I guess my good distractions are ways to "hunt" in between long sessions of intense focus, which means they are usually visual, auditory, more MTV like than NPR.
I consider bad distractions anything that violently alters my priorities. Looking at shoes doesn't suddenly make me careless about writing, but reading about the latest Tea Party stunt makes me care more about punching someone in the face. In general, I don't peruse news sites while I write. YouTube is off limits unless it's music or animals being their adorable selves. I love taking mental vacations but they can't keep me from coming back to ye old novel.
Today's bad distraction is the Louisville Slugger Bat Hunt: I'm a slave to Twitter, which is coincidentally one of my better distractions since I follow a number of authors/creative minds. I mean, who doesn't love updates from Neil deGrasse Tyson and Mindy Kaling?
And if you're wondering, are these blog posts good distractions or bad? My answer is that they aren't distractions at all. This is pure, unadulterated procrastination. It falls in the category of unusually long and heartfelt emails, the sudden need for Zooey-esque bangs, and culinary explorations of any kind.
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| Gummies du jour |
So I write, forgetting to eat, clean, bathe, etc. Hell, I even forget that I have a dog and that she's staring at me because it's time for her walk. But interspersed in those furious bursts of writing, are wonderful blips of much needed distractions. Good ones. Yep, not all distractions are bad.
In fact, when forced to focus in a sensory deprivation scenario, I become like a pigeon in a phone booth. Allowed a minute here and there to let my eyes wander, I am exponentially more productive. Why? I think Seth Godin explains the Hunter vs. Farmer theory best. I am a classic hunter and knowing that has completely changed how I work.
My good distractions range from Apartment Therapy house tours to browsing shop windows. I randomly roll over Pinterest for book cover ideas, sample albums on Spotify (new Ben Howard EP?), or jump around Twitter. I guess my good distractions are ways to "hunt" in between long sessions of intense focus, which means they are usually visual, auditory, more MTV like than NPR.
I consider bad distractions anything that violently alters my priorities. Looking at shoes doesn't suddenly make me careless about writing, but reading about the latest Tea Party stunt makes me care more about punching someone in the face. In general, I don't peruse news sites while I write. YouTube is off limits unless it's music or animals being their adorable selves. I love taking mental vacations but they can't keep me from coming back to ye old novel.
Today's bad distraction is the Louisville Slugger Bat Hunt: I'm a slave to Twitter, which is coincidentally one of my better distractions since I follow a number of authors/creative minds. I mean, who doesn't love updates from Neil deGrasse Tyson and Mindy Kaling?
And if you're wondering, are these blog posts good distractions or bad? My answer is that they aren't distractions at all. This is pure, unadulterated procrastination. It falls in the category of unusually long and heartfelt emails, the sudden need for Zooey-esque bangs, and culinary explorations of any kind.
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