Distractions

            There’s a crisis in my house right now… Our Wii won’t play disc anymore!

            I’m sure you all are like, “Why is that a crisis and what does that have to do with writing distractions?” I’m going to tell you that it has EVERYTHING to do with it.

            I may not be a mother or have children yet, but I am the oldest of seven, and sometimes, before they even go running to my mother, the children come to me with their problems, not to mention they love to get on my computer. So when I want some peace and some time to write all I have to say is “Go play the Wii” and they go running. It also works for great bribery in other things because it is actually MY Wii so I can say, “If you don’t leave me alone, I’m going to take my wii,” or “If you don’t let me write this last crucial scene and stop begging for my computer, I’ll take all the controllers that I bought for the Wii.”

            Now all I can do is say “If you don’t leave me alone, I won’t fix the wii,” and considering that it seems like the lens may be cracked (I have to take it apart and see), I may have to buy a new one which means there won’t be any wii for a month because that’s when my school money comes in… Why!!! I feel like crying right now. I’ll have no peace for a month unless my history book sells online at which point I’ll have the money to go buy a used wii along with an sd card to transfer all the memory.

            In any case, this inspired me to write a blog post about the things I think are the five biggest distractions and how one can effectively deal with them.

            1) Children: Children are innocent little angels and people love them. Really? Come live with mine for 24 hours. Most people wouldn’t get through half a day. They can act like little demons sometimes and it’s not always out of innocence. They know what they’re doing. I love my sibs and I’m sure you who are reading this and are parents love your children, but they are the biggest distractions ever.

            My solution? It’s simple. Wii + Michael Jackson experience + Mario Kart + Mario Galaxy + Mario Smash bros. + rechargeable batteries + two to four wii remotes = peace

            Sure they may get a little rowdy, but for the most part, they won’t be bothering you. And make sure there are games that they can’t just finish and get bored with. You need games that can have a different outcome every time with things to do even after the games is finished. Mario never fails in that department and I swear by it. Any child over thirteen who doesn’t like video games like my other sister will be satisfied with an android phone or computer, a pair of earphones, and something they can listen to music on. It’s that simple.

            2) The internet: This one gets me every time. I've always said I would get a lot more work done if I didn't have internet. I sit down with the intention to write, but first I need to check my email and then I happen to see that one of the Kardashian sisters divorced her husband after seventy-two days of marriage, then I see a related article on the biggest reason people get divorced which list finances as one, then I see an article related that talks about how to budget and if you’re ready to have children according to it and so on and so forth… After an hour, I’ve been browsing the internet and done no writing.

            I usually do either one of two things. I disable the internet on my computer, but since it only takes a click of a button to turn off, that also means it only takes the click of a button to turn back on. When that fails, I go unplug the internet completely and then take my computer all the way downstairs and get comfy in my favorite writing spot. By the time I want to get on the internet, I’m too lazy to go all the way back upstairs or to the other room to turn it back on.

            3) Friends: My friends love to text me or email me or do something at the most inopportune times I swear! And they don’t understand that breaking my thought to talk to or text them breaks the flow of my writing.

           

            The solution? Turn of the cell phone and I mean off! If you put it on silent, that little glowing light on the droid will be too tempting to resist. They may be mad at you for ignoring them, but my friend know me well enough that it’s not personal when I ignore them. I just don’t want to be bothered. I’m not a social person anyway.

            4) Sleep: How is that a distraction? Well, you’ve been working all day and I mean you got up a six this morning and prepped dinner, worked on an essay for school, helped children get ready for school, went to school, worked out, fought with teachers, stressed over a test, went to work and fought with fellow employees and tried hard not to go off on that boss who gets on your nerve, cooked dinner, cleaned up, maybe did some laundry and then mediated conflicts between children all day.

            Now it’s seven o’clock and you’re taking a break. It’s time to write only you find that you can’t keep your eyes focus on that glowing screen. You just want to rest.

            You might not do all that, but some of us have got a pretty good mix or if you’re like my sister, you just like to sleep anyway. Solution, do something that gets your energy up. I usually drink coffee. Yes. I will brew a pot of coffee no matter how late or early when I really want to write. The latest was eleven o’clock. Now it doesn’t have to be coffee, but that favorite tea or if taking a walk gets your blood pumping or turning on some music does it do it. I can usually stave off sleep for at least another hour or two.

            5) Your surroundings: It can be quiet with no one bothering you and you still get distracted and surroundings play a part in it. So don’t go to that room that you really hate and want to redecorate because believe me you’ll start thinking about redecorating. Don’t go to a room that’s messy and you just can’t resist the urge to clean. If you like to watch the scenery and see the leaves fall or the sun set or the birds fly and the cats fight or whatever don’t go outside.

            Go to a nice clean room that you’re comfortable but has nothing in it that you like to look at or that you may need to rearrange and write. I can’t write in my room because the dresser is a mess and needs to be cleared or the closet door isn’t closed or my sister is breathing too loud or the bed is too messy even though it’s messy because I’m sitting on it. (So I have a few compulsive behaviors… It’s inherited. The older I get, the worse it becomes and it’s always the little things). Go somewhere where the room itself won’t distract you.

Now those are just a few of my biggest distractions. Some of you have wives or husbands or really demanding jobs and other things. I think it would be interesting to hear other distractions I didn’t think of. Lol. But the fact that my Wii isn’t working inspired this. I just had to write it… I haven’t done a post this long in a while. Wow…