productivity | writenowcolumbus

Freedom Reprise

by Theresa Garee | Feb 4, 2018 | Blog

“As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” – Henry David Thoreau

I don’t usually plug products in my newsletter essay or blog posts, but this month, Freedom saved my bacon so I will make an exception. Like many folks I know, I spend way too much time on social media and possibly on the Internet in general. I find myself on Facebook before I realize I’m there. And wow does time fly while I’m “like-ing” all the cute animal videos and making angry faces on political posts that upset me.

Technically, I have to be on Facebook sometimes since I have an author page. But I don’t have to be there all day. I can schedule my author posts so they appear throughout the day even though I’ve created them all in the same hour.

So how do I tame my desire to see every running photo any of my friends or their friends or anyone in the world anywhere posts on social media? Enter Freedom. I love it so much that I wrote about it back in 2014. I’d forgotten to use it for a while, but recently, with deadlines looming, I went back to it like an old friend.

Freedom is software that limits access to certain websites. It works both on a computer or your phone. I use it to block Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Yes. I’m the kind of woman who, if Facebook isn’t available, will spend inordinate amounts of time making LinkedIn connections under the guise of marketing. For shame!

With Freedom, I can start a blocking session immediately or schedule one for later. The scheduled blocks work well to remind me to go to bed. If it’s 10:30PM and both Ed and the puppy are snoring, perhaps I don’t need to read one more post about how to use the Insta Pot. I don’t even cook!

No, I am not being paid for this. I am not an affiliate or linked to Freedom in any way. I just know, as writers and human beings, our time is limited. We need to use it wisely. I’m not very good at that. So I let Freedom do for me what I can’t do for myself.

Do you have distractions that keep you from writing? How do you manage them? I’d love to hear more about it.

Daydreaming

by Theresa Garee | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog

“Every exceptional writer holds a Master of Arts in Daydreaming.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich

Daydreaming gets a bad rap. In our culture, if your mind wanders, you are labeled lazy and unproductive, two of the worst things you can be called.

In her Tedx Talk Rosanne Bane, author of Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance, explains the importance of daydreaming.

Bane confirms that writers and other creative types need to daydream. Daydreaming is a different mind process from focusing on tasks. Daydreaming allows parts of the brain to connect that don’t normally talk to each other during a task-oriented focus.

Bane suggests allowing yourself to daydream while you’re standing in line at a store or other times when you might normally stare at your smartphone. I’d add meditation and writing practice to the mix.

In meditation, while sitting quietly attempting to focus on your breath, the mind is bound to wander because that’s what minds do. They generate thoughts. Meditation is inherently creative. Ideas pop into the mind and solutions arise that can’t be force by trying to focus on the problem.

Writing practice produces similar results. If you keep the hand moving and write down whatever thoughts arise, that too feels like daydreaming except the hand is recording it as it flows. Many conclusions come during writing practice.

Do you allow yourself to daydream? As writers, we owe ourselves what some might call this “guilty pleasure.” If someone says you’re dawdling, direct him to Rosanne Bane’s Tedx Talk. Explain how deep daydreaming leads to realizations. Daydreaming is part of the writer’s job!