Distractions

 You may have noticed that I've been missing from cyberspace for a few weeks. My excuse, the distractions were just too much. In my inspired post to yesterday's prompt over at Creative Copy Challenge, I actually started out with an apology for missing so long:

*Missed coming here for a while. I think it’s actually harder to write at home than when I was abroad. Need to get away from here I guess.

 At this point I was just thinking I couldn't focus at home, and maybe I just needed to get away for a little while, but I reflected on it more throughout the day actually. So by the time one of the regulars asked me if location actually affects writing, I was more ready to respond than I had intended:

And yes, I think a different location helps. I was actually thinking about this earlier today. Home is either a very small town in rural Iowa, twenty miles away from the nearest coffee-house, or about an hour’s drive away in a slightly larger, very “rural” city (if you can call it that) where people go to the coffee shop for the coffee, not to get work done.


Perhaps the last five years (first four in college and the last one abroad) have spoiled me. When I needed to get stuff done (homework, or in the current case, self-assigned writing assignments), I would go and “hide” somewhere to avoid distractions. In college, if I really wanted to focus, I would find some secluded place in the library or some place where there weren’t many other students. Sometimes I would go and “camp” in the school’s cafe, just to get some of that added caffeine into my body. Even when I was abroad I was able to find several places to “hide.” If you noticed back in the spring and early summer, the only times I was off were when I travelled. Hard to stay focused on anything other than traveling during those periods.


I just got back home in August, and by home, I’m back with my parents (who are separated, hence the two homes thing)… The job market isn’t doing so hot right now, so I’m sort of stuck… I might just opt into doing a seasonal job for now. But in the little town (more like dwindling village), I feel trapped at times. There’s not a whole lot to do unless you want to drive 10-20 minutes. So I could just stay at home and write, right? Not with a parent who has a question for you every 10-30 minutes. “How do you do this? What does this do? Could you help me with this?” And where am I supposed to go to hide? My room? That’s just a knock of the door away from the 10-30 minute question interval. To summarize Home #1, I can focus here, but there’s too man distractions.


That leaves us with Home #2. it’s in a larger town, but there still isn’t much to do. Like I said, people go to the coffee shops for the coffee here, not to get work done. The town is definitely more blue collar than white collar. I will admit, though, Home #2 has less distractions, but I just can’t seem to make myself focus here.
Sorry to leave this rant here, but it actually feels good to get it off my chest. Thanks for asking that, though!

Looking back on what I wrote less than a day ago now, I find myself sounding quite immature. I should face my distractions head on, shouldn't I? Not to control it. Just to stare it straight in the face and say, "I win." And I'm talking about the distractions, not the people. That would be awkward. But yeah, what about just learning to defeat distraction. That's been my problem all along. I've been avoiding it so long now (five years or so) that I've nearly forgotten how to fight it.

Well, it's about time that I learn how to fight back against distraction. I could really use it for what I plan to do next month. What am I doing? The answer is twofold. Look for one post later today. The other? Well, I'm just going to save that for another day in the near future... ;)