What is your biggest excuse to not post regularly? Bet I know what you’re going to say.
What keeps you from actually writing something down? As soon you plonk yourself before your computer, what happens?
Is it lack of time?
Really?
Well, funny I have the same complaint as well. And so do the hundreds of bloggers. Few lucky ones don’t. How do they do it? Well, the reason is very simple. They don’t get distracted. Heard this before? Don’t know why it doesn’t REALLY click in. It did for me yesterday.
At my house, I had a fuse blown for more about two hours or so. I couldn’t turn the TV on, receive any calls and access the internet (which was probably the hardest). I went offline – and I went invisible.
So I sat down and wrote- and wrote- and wrote.
We can see what had happened. There is a reason why I was able to do exactly what I wanted to do and even a bit more.
I was NOT distracted.
I did not start my day by checking my email first. Believe me when I say this, nothing happened when I didn’t check my email in the morning. The world didn’t stop. The sun did come out a usual.
I did not spend hours looking at other blogs, and commenting on different posts. Thats all good but if I do that, then I am not working on my own blog.
I did not have a quick look at my facebook. Now, I have only few close friends and family on my personal account, even that takes me away from work. A quick message here and there, maybe I’ll write a long overdue email to someone who just posted a quick update to their status. Hang on, might as well watch that youtube video while I am here. You get the idea.
I did not log on to twitter. I did not see who started following me, therefore, I was not enticed to click on their profiles, which could lead to looking at their blogs. I might have decided to follow them back and send them quick messages. It takes away time that I could use to finish my work.
I did not turn the TV on and drift away by catching mindless piece of information.
I did not receive a long call from a close friend and end up chatting for 45 minutes. Nor was I tempted to make one.
I did not sit around feeling intimidated by the task ahead of me. Didn’t have to think, oh I can’t do this, it’s beyond me. Was that really the case or have I made it this way.
I had something to do and I did it.
When you are working at and office, are you constantly doing things that take you away from work? I am guessing no – for the most part. Then why do we do it at home?
Distractions are funny, they are small and seem insignificant. They come unexpectedly and when you start attending to them, all your planning flies out the window. And you are left wondering where all your time went.
You can beat them in 3 easy steps.
Get Organized
That’s the first step to having a shot at acheiving what you want in life. Make a list of tasks for the day and follow through. It’s that simple.
Yes, you will have to be very self-disciplined. But that’s the whole point of it.
Prioritize Your Time
Make blocks of all the demands on your time that take you away from your task at hand –ie writing a new post. If it’s being on the internet, turn it off.
Set a time aside for checking your blog subscriptions. Say 20 minutes. Even if you can’t read everything, you’ll probably find out that you did the thing that is more important at the moment. Writing a post.
Do not go around commenting everywhere. Only comment if you genuinely have something to say, or praise the exceptionally well-written post.
Check your emails together instead of checking throughout the day. Same goes for the phone calls, return them in bunches if you get many while you are working.
And finally,
Stick To It
Would you be able to access social networking sites or tv at work? Do the same while you are working from home, its no different really. If you allow too many distractions, you will lose valuable time and end up accomplishing nothing.
I did it for one day. The goal is now to do it for every day of the week. No more lame excuses for why I did not publish three times a week. I have taken the first step.
What keeps you distracted from writing post regularly? Share your tips on how to beat these nasty buggers with all of us.
Subscribe to keep up with all blogging fun… :)
My biggest distraction is my younger siblings, and all family members, popping in and out of my room throughout the day. They always seem to be doing something more fun than what I’m doing, so I end up taking off to join them.
The way I’ve attempted to get around that is to get up earlier than the rest of them to write my post for the day, or stay up late to write the one for the next day, then just publish it in the morning.
Good on you! :) My biggest distraction are my kids – so the little people are the culprits here as well heheh … but as much as I’d like to, I can’t write after they have gone to bed as I am sooo exhausted by then. I try and write when they are at school and Kindy. I write when I can! Thanks for your comments. Cheers :)
very nice and informative
Thank you, Glad to help. :)
My biggest distraction is my children. I have to figure out how to make a block around me when I am at the computer trying to think through their favorite cartoon songs buzzing in my brain. LOL you are right, distractions are the biggest reason why I do not post as much as I like too :) I have to say, I always have time to FB haha.
I can totally relate. Do you have small children? I couldn’t do anything till my older one started school and younger had gone to Kindy/daycare. Now I have some time on the day I am working from home. My biggest distraction is tendency to run wild on the web. I need to control that and I am good. :) Thanks for posting.
I am not a blogger but I know what you mean. I think returning to calls and emails at the same time is a good idea for busy moms. It just makes writing so much easier. But there are millions other things to be done as well, and being a stay at home mother, my problem is not so much as getting distracted, but finding enough time to sit and write in one go. Sigh.
Thank you Kelly. Are you looking to start your blog?
Yes, as soon as I have the confidence of doing so. Love your new name, suits you.