I’ve been avoiding the cold, icy northern climes of my office in favor of overstuffed chairs, hot chocolate, sunlight, and warmth by way of cat. So how does one write with cats? Carefully. Oh, very carefully… One does not disrupt the calmness of the fat cat, for fat cat will retaliate in so many ways… For he demands… Cuddles…

I love my boys–I really do–but there are three specific times when I don’t. 1) 4:30 a.m. 2) When I’m beading, because Rimmon goes after the thread and any loose beads. And 3) When I’m on a tight deadline, because they don’t flipping care about the deadline. They care about the cuddles! And the catnip! And the eating at specified times or else they’ll waste away into nothingness!

In all seriousness, the title of this post could easily be: writing regardless of real life distractions. Cats? Oh yes, they can be quite the distraction–but so can everything else. Heck, there’s even software that promises a distraction-free zone. If it works for you, cool…but the software doesn’t matter to me. Distractions will happen, and I think part of developing self-discipline is understanding that. You will fall off the wagon. You will write a piece that sucks. You will write something that your editor loves and your fans will hate. It happens.

I feel that bad habits need to be managed, versus eliminated, because perfection is a work of fiction. It doesn’t exist. Here’s how I view distractions:

• Am I working too much? Is that “distraction” trying to tell me something? e.g. lover/bff/cat/family member/etc. Breaks are healthy, after all, provided I get back on the wagon. If it gets to that point, where I’ve got people telling me I’ve been sitting on my butt for far too long, then I know I need to look at other methods of managing my time.
• Have I scheduled a break? Knowing that crunch time isn’t effective, I break up my larger projects into smaller milestones, and take breaks after I achieve a smaller goal. Alternatively, I sometimes go the opposite route when I need to brainstorm in between pushes. Crunch time, just so you know, is a term used in video game management. I also use it, however, because it’s often reflective of the hurry-up-and-wait on projects. Here’s an in-depth article about why crunch time doesn’t work.
• What is my level of annoyance? Oh, this is a pretty big one. If I’m super pissed that I’m in the middle of something Very Important and I get distracted, then that may be a sign I need to chill out, breathe, and take a step back. I can focus very intently on a project, so much so that the world around me slips away. Just because I can do that, however, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s sustainable for longer periods of time. That, really, is what I am building right now because of the transitions between work-for-hire and my original work. I can’t build sustainable habits if an interruption will, quite literally, break my mood.

And here’s just a few of the tools I use to help me self-assess how I’m managing these distractions:

1) Timer: Blocking out speedy bursts of word count, followed by timed breaks. Gets a lot done and everybody around me–minus cats–is keyed into my schedule when that’s on.
2) Code System: Tracking a variety of key indicators in my planner to ensure I’m not off track. Then, I graph those tracks to see how I’m faring.
3) Associative Behavior: If I was going to do ONE thing every day, that wasn’t writing-related, what would it be? e.g. Dishes, bed, etc. Then, I use this as an indicator that yes, I have done something human-maintenance related to put me in the right frame of mind. Right now, that’s getting dressed for the day. YES I MEAN PANTS!
4) Meal Planning: Okay, this one may sound a little stupid…but I can’t stress enough how important meal planning is for me. If I know what I’m going to eat ahead of time, I am removing a big ole distraction. e.g. The “What are we having for dinner?” conversation. I’m not scrambling to figure out this basic need, eating out too much, spending too much time away from my computer, etc. Food can be a trigger for multiple distractions, so I try to eliminate this one whenever possible.
5) Noise-canceling Headphones! Last but not least? I received a rather expensive pair as a gift, but I would replace them if they went away. Cutting down sound really eliminates a lot of distractions for me–especially white noise that would put me to sleep!

That’s all I have time for today! Back to the grind!