Tag: distractions

Categories
Devotions for Writers

The Dastardly D of Distraction

devotions 
The squirrel ran across the patio steps.
The phone rang.
The dishwasher beeped.

How can you focus on words when the world keeps interrupting?

Do you ever feel like everyone wants a piece of you? Jesus did. In Mark 1:37 the disciples said, “Everyone is looking for You!”

Parents of toddlers can relate to the constant barrage of questions. Who can think when you’re in such demand? But, is there a distinction between different kinds of disruptions?

Some distractions are good:

              A water break rehydrates.

              A bathroom break gets a stiff back into motion.

Some distractions are bad:

              A phone conversation can go longer than expected.

              A grocery run can interrupt the flow of words.

Distractions can be bad.

Some advocate switching up tasks to give left brain/right brain stimulus.

Some declare, “Stick to the same activity to prolong concentration.”

So, what’s a person to do, when combating the Dastardly D of Distraction?

Group similar activities together to save time.

              Save a trip away from your desk by grouping errands together.

              Do a brain dump of your week’s schedule.

Can you listen to podcasts while in commute, or read a book while waiting for an oil change?

Could you swap after-school carpool with another parent?

Find ways to condense tasks to save time and energy.

Most of all, find what works for you.

Exercise:

Make a Ben Franklin List. On the left, write: Good Distractions. On the right: Bad Distractions. List ways you get distracted daily, then note how they can be turned into a positive. i.e. The dog needs to go outside. This could be a positive when you take a walk together and get the blood circulating!

Look up the following verses and jot down how Jesus responded. How would you respond?

  • Matthew 19:13-14 The disciples thought children were an interruption.
  • Mark 6:30-44 How did Jesus turn an interruption into an opportunity?
  • Mark 10:46-52 Who created the distraction?
  • Luke 9:1-6 What extra stuff hinders your progress?
  • John 4:34 What was Jesus’ purpose?
  • John 11:54 Why did Jesus avoid publicity?
  • Luke 10:40 Martha was distracted and almost missed the blessing.

Jesus knew His Father’s work meant something different than what others expected of Him. (Mark 1:35-39) He healed people out of compassion, but He had a greater purpose.

What is your greater purpose and how will it change your response to distractions? Will “some” commandeer your time, or will you take command of the Dastardly D of Distractions?

Over 140 of Sally Ferguson’s devotionals have been published in Pathways to God (Warner Press). She’s also written for Light From The Word, Chautauqua Mirror, Just Between Us, Adult Span Curriculum, Thriving Family, Upgrade with Dawn and ezinearticles.com. Prose Contest Winner at 2017 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.

Sally loves organizing retreats and seeing relationships blossom in time away from the daily routine. Her ebook, How to Plan a Women’s Retreat is available on Amazon.

Sally Ferguson lives in the beautiful countryside of Jamestown, NY with her husband and her dad.

Visit Sally’s blog at www.sallyferguson.net

Categories
The Intentional Writer

Declutter Your Writing Life

The intentional writer

In my blog about living intentionally I often talk about decluttering—not just in our homes but in all areas of life. My definition of clutter is as follows:

Clutter: any thing, activity, expectation, or task that is non-essential and gets in the way of doing what matters most. Clutter is everything that is not meaningful, useful, or beautiful. 

So then, decluttering is the removal of all that is non-essential so that we can focus on what matters most—in our case, writing and promoting our books and our message.   


Areas where you might need to remove some clutter

  1. Your workspace. Does your workspace encourage productive work or does it contain objects that distract you? Are the tools and information you need readily available, or is your workspace filled with other stuff that doesn’t help your writing but happens to “live” in that space? Can those non-essentials be moved elsewhere?
  2.  Virtual clutter. When you sit down to write, are there virtual things that distract you? Perhaps you need to turn off social media notifications, close internet tabs, or even disconnect with the internet altogether while you write. Perhaps you need to leave your phone in another room. Or perhaps the weight of unprocessed emails has gotten so heavy it hinders your focus. Would an hour spent sorting your inbox and dealing with simple tasks declutter part of your brain and give you more bandwidth to create well?
  3. Unfinished projects. Do you have unfinished writing projects lurking in the back corners of your mind that make you feel guilty? Perhaps you need to declutter them from your to-do list. Life happens and your priorities change. It’s OK to change your mind about a project and decide something else is a better use of your time, but when you do, put the old projects completely away—physically and mentally. They do not need to be fed or watered. You can ignore them completely, and they will still be there if you ever want to revisit them.
  4. Too many spinning plates. Are you trying to keep up with all the big social media platforms, blog weekly, promote your new book while working on two others, and fill up every weekend with speaking engagements? Perhaps you need to declutter your schedule. Return to your Why and your career goals for this season. Identify which writing activities are essential and which are not-so-essential. Thinning out your schedule will help you become more productive and do your best work on what is left.
  5. Other people’s methods. No two writers are the same. Therefore, no two writers follow the same writing process or find the same promotion techniques helpful. I know many writers who have tried Mr. Expert’s method for writing only to give themselves a major angst-filled case of writer’s block. By all means, try any method that sounds like it might work, but also know when to discard that expert advice and do what works best for your unique brain. If your process is working, declutter any guilt you might feel for not following the experts. If your process is not working, perhaps you need to jettison a method that doesn’t suit your creative style.
  6.  Expectations. This is a huge area for all of us (and not just in regard to writing). Unhelpful (or unsolicited) expectations can sabotage our self-confidence, creativity, and willingness to share our words with others. What expectations do you need to declutter from your writing life? Comparing your writing to a best-selling author? Listening to friends who think you should have several books published by now? Beating yourself up for once again failing to hit your five-thousand-words-per-day goal? Your success is based on who you are as God’s child, not on what you write, how much you write, or how well it sells.
  7. False Aspirations. Every now and then I go through my bookshelves (both the real ones and the virtual ones) looking for titles of books I aspire-to-have-read but I don’t particularly want to actually read. Sometimes we face a similar issue in our writing. We may aspire to write literary fiction (because it proves how masterful and intellectual our writing is) or crime thrillers (because they sell well) while what our heart and God are actually calling us to is a different genre. Perhaps you need to declutter some unhelpful aspirations and come to terms with what you are best suited to write (in this season of your life, anyway), even if it’s not as glamorous, as spiritual, or as saleable as you think writing ought to be.

I hope these decluttering suggestions will help you write with better focus, more contentment, and greater creativity.

What other kind of writing clutter have you discovered in your life? Let me know in the comments.

Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.

You can find her on Facebook  LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.

Categories
A Lighter Look at the Writer's Life

Top Self-Quarantine Bestsellers?

lighter look at a writer's life

So, how’s life going, y’all?

As I write this post, our country has been in pandemic lockdown for over two months. States and communities are slowly reopening, but life certainly feels different.

Know what else is different? Writing and creativity in a pandemic.

You would think days and days on end at home would lead to lots and lots of writing. You would think that would be true, but it hasn’t necessarily been for me.

I have been working from home (for which I am extremely thankful), and that has kept me very busy. I have been doing a lot of baking and, therefore, a lot of eating. Eating time can really eat into your writing time (see what I did there). And all of these television shows aren’t going to watch themselves.

On the other hand, thinking about what kind of books might be written during this time of self-quarantine, I have come up with some ideas. Here, in no particular order, are my top ten isolation book concepts:

1. –Zoomin’ for You: A Video-Conferencing Love Story

2. Sleep Pants of the World: A Comfortable Pictorial History

3. What Day is It: A Cozy At-Home Mystery

4. Lounging Around: Lifestyle Devotions for Not-So-Busy People

5. Who’s That Masked Grocery Shopper: Where’s Waldo for Adults

6. Honey, I Don’t Want to Do Anything on the List: Procrastination on Steroids

7. The New Hygiene: Getting by on a Shower a Week

8. Wiped Away: The Search for Toilet Paper

9. School’s Not Out: Homeschooling for the Perpetually Frustrated

10. Corn-Teen: 500 Easy Recipes for Isolation Weight Gain

Of course, I must mention a bonus title, proposed in last month’s post: How to Pull Your Hair Out: Releasing a Book During a Pandemic (I know this one all too well, as previously documented).

On a serious note, I am looking forward to the works developed during this time at home, from dedicated, disciplined writers who have taken the time to create. I salute you for your determination and for your good use of time. To be honest, I have worked on some legitimate ideas for actual projects. I have lots of thoughts on sticky notes, ready to be transformed into actual stories, as soon as I can find them all and put them together.

I’ll get to those—right after my tenth snack of the day.

Carlton Hughes, represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary, wears many hats. By day, he is a professor of communication. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he serves as a children’s pastor. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer. Carlton is an empty-nesting dad and devoted husband who likes long walks on the beach, old sitcoms, and chocolate–all the chocolate. His work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Wonders of Nature, Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. His latest book is Adventures in Fatherhood, co-authored with Holland Webb.

Categories
Writer Encouragement

Too Distracted

These days, I frequently see my social media contacts expressing the same sentiment: “I’m too distracted to write.”

In other circumstances, we might see our forced home-bound state as a perfect opportunity to write, with hours of free time to be creative. The problem is, our stress levels are high, as we try to figure out the logistics of feeding our families, staying healthy, and worrying about finding enough toilet paper!

Stress will cause distraction. Years ago, I remember sitting in the waiting area with my husband and sons while my daughter underwent brain surgery. We feared the outcome, knowing it did not look good. I remember glancing around, searching for my reading glasses. “Ben, where are my glasses?” My older son looked at me, then started to laugh. “Mom, you’re wearing them.”

Distracted. Stressed. Worried. It makes it nearly impossible to sit down and focus on writing. It’s like a self-protective mechanism in our brain, that wants us to be alert for danger, rather than spend time using our creative side.

My suggestion is to put your writing aside for at least an hour or so. Watch a funny movie. Call a friend who will uplift you. Read an entertaining book.

I just finished one of my favorite funny movies, “Bringing up Baby.” It’s an old B&W flick with Cary Grant and Kathryn Hepburn and it makes me deep laugh every time with the crazy antics involving a leopard named Baby.

A few other funny movies that I can never see enough of are “While You were Sleeping,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Money Pit,” and “The Princess Bride.” There are many more that will bring on my giggles as well.

Ever since I can remember, humor has been a great distraction for me during tough times. When my daughter was suffering from a brain tumor, we used to read aloud to her from James Herriott’s books. I highly recommend this author’s veterinarian tales from Yorkshire!

One incident that we as a family will never forget is when my mom was reading that book to my daughter. Please understand, my mom was very prim and proper. 😉 She got to a paragraph about artificial insemination of a cow. The more she read, the greater the details emerged, and the more uncomfortable Mom grew. I think I was the first in the room to snicker while trying to focus on my crocheting. Soon, the whole room was laughing with hysterics. I tried to control my laughter enough to offer to read that section to my daughter. She bravely adjusted herself higher in her chair and said, “No, I can read it.”

I can still remember it all with a huge grin, despite that tragic situation with my daughter fighting terminal cancer.

Humor is like that. It shifts our “fight or flight” thinking to a relaxed, creative state. After watching “Bringing Up Baby” today, I started to write this blog.

Even if you’re on a deadline, take a break to re-wire and relax your brain. The words may start to flow, unhindered.

Carry On. And wash your hands. 😉

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling was recently named a Finalist in the 2020 Selah Awards. It is the second book in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and HomeLife magazine. She also penned the three-book historical series, Deer Run Saga. Her upcoming release, Scarred Vessels,” is about the black soldiers in the American Revolution. Look for it in October 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com