Distractions - The little things that draw my attention


Look up distraction in the dictionary and you get three examples of noun definitions:
1. The act of distracting or the condition of being distracted.
2. Something, especially an amusement, that distracts.
3. Extreme mental or emotional disturbance, obsession; obsession: loved the puppy to distraction.

Yes, I know...what could a picture of a huge wine bottle possibly have to do with my article? Well, nothing. Your point?

Okay I am ruled by distractions and being weak when I come face to face with them.

In relation to my writing, I am a master at creating complicated schedules of What needs to be done, Why it needs to be done (contract), and When it must be done. I color code my Outlook calendar by publisher, my writing business, promotional stuff, release dates, and personal stuff, too. It looks so good, so pretty. And when I get finished updating it all, I am so impressed with myself. I am determined to start working through it all.

BUT along comes a post on one of the groups I follow online about using Kindlegraph for autographing Kindle books…and I have to check it out. Then someone else tells me what great PR they’re getting by doing giveaways on Goodreads. Yep, I’ve got to check into it and set up my own giveaway. Oh, and someone mentioned Wikispaces in the latest RWR magazine and what a useful tool a writer can have there. I barely finished reading the article before I was out there creating my own massive database in Wikispaces.

What happens by getting so easily distracted? I have to shift my pretty colors around on my calendar. Everything that was so nicely spaced out and gave me plenty of time to finish whatever it was is now squished together. I suddenly need 48 hour days instead of 24 hour. (heavy, heavy sigh here)

My daughter and I started a travel writing website for our adventures, which, of course, keeps getting put on the “Do tomorrow” list. Anyway, I love the caption she put on it: We believe a map is merely a suggestion…until something “shiny” catches our attention.

Apparently all of my life is that way, filled with mere suggestions about the “when”s and too easily distracted by “shiny” things. I’m obsessed with loving all of those spur-of-the-moment distractions.

8 comments:

Reese Mobley said...

Starla, you are a girl after my own heart. I'm so easily distracted by everything I WANT to do I sometimes forget the things I HAVE to do.

The difference is that you make it work and I, sadly, do not! Keep up the good work!

Rox Delaney said...

Oh, Starla, I am so like you that it's sad. I'm not sure if I could continue to breathe if someone took away my lists and tables and charts. And yet I get up each morning and manage not to get done what needs to be done, thanks to distractions, some of which I manage to create myself.

I think we need to pop the cork on that wine bottle and just enjoy it. ;)

Rox Delaney said...

And curses on you for reminding me of the things I wanted to add to my list. I DID get started on Goodreads---all your fault. LOL Haven't yet made it to Kindlegraph. A client deleted her blog and her group's blog yesterday, and I was a bit distracted by setting things right again.

Penny Rader said...

You crack me up, Starla. ;D

I completely understand being distracted. There are just many shiny things out there to do and see and read and listen to and ....

Reminds me of a t-shirt I saw a couple summers ago. ADHD: Attention Defi -- Ooh, look at that pretty butterfly!

Starla Kaye said...

Unfortunately I think many people suffer this "shiny distractions" syndrome.

I've known for months that I had this HUGE program on promotions to do yesterday for KWA. So I procrastinated and battled with distractions right up until yesterday morning when I HAD to get the program and copies ready.

Penny, I love that T-shirt logo...so fitting.

Frances Fowlkes said...

Starla, I totally understand your pain. I'm constantly getting distracted by all the little things going on around me like the laundry buzzer, the kid's needing homeowrk assistance, the makeup ad with the new mascara I simply have to try, etc.
I'm still trying to figure out how to shut my ears and write through it, especially when that mascara looks like it promises more results than my writing!

Nina Sipes said...

But Starla, where would we be without our distractions? This week I've been looking into hand crank grain mills, new silverware (my current stuff gets rust on the knife blades and it makes me mad ((crazy))!, and the new program Adobe has that lets you into any PDF files so that you can edit them. Then I got to dabble into someone's financial issues that were about to eat their lunch. I live for that look of dawning comprehension. I ratted my sister out because she was limping to much to her case worker nurse. Yeah, I actually followed a group of cowboys into a cafe and drank coffee while they had lunch in a booth close by. Dang! They were good looking. And finish something? HA! Those were last week's distractions.

Joan Vincent said...

Distractions. Love them. Hate them. They disrupt life but they make it interesting also. They can also enhance our writing. I try to apply what I've learned about my reaction to distraction to my characters. Too bad that only takes a tiny part of the time distractions take up. Sigh!