I’ve got to do this

Some fabulous tips on how to concentrate on writing (something I want to do a lot more of (sorry for the hanging prepostition)).

• Switch off email. I don’t start Outlook (or if I do, I disable all the notifications that tell me I have new mail).
• Isolate myself. I use Bose noise-cancelling headphones but don’t plug them into anything. The silence really is golden.
• Greed and guilt. I remind myself how much money I’m getting paid for a particular assignment and ho ashamed I will be if I miss the deadline. This actually works sometimes. (This one doesn’t apply to me. -Ed)
• Stop with the blog already. When I’m pressed for time, distractions like blogging and hoovering become very compelling. Knowing this makes it easier to resist.
• Get up early. 6am is the most productive time of day for writing. No distractions. It also feels more virtuous than staying up late with work.

As they say, go read the whole thing.