Writing Rituals. A Productivity Guide for Commercial Writers and Copywriters.

How distractions reduce your freelance writing income.

As freelance writers and copywriters we work at home.

For all its benefits, working in your home can also be an enormous source of distractions.

And that's a big problem when it comes to our levels of productivity.

Let's just tackle the home distractions for a moment. Here are eight examples of how we can get distracted from our work.

1. It's a beautiful day, I think I'll take the client's brief and go read it in the garden.

2. If I go to the bank at 10:30 I'll avoid the lunchtime line-ups.

3. I forgot to take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. I had better go do that now.

4. I need a break. I think I'll relax in front of the TV for a few minutes.

5. I should call Frank and find out what time I have to take the kids for baseball practice.

6. I feel yukky this morning, I think I'll lie down and read for a while. I can catch up later.

7. What was the name of that book I wanted to read? I'll take a quick look on Amazon.com.

8. I feel hungry. No harm in going to the kitchen for a quick snack.

Do any of those sound familiar? You can probably add another eight examples of your own.

When we work at home we don't have the kind of structure and discipline that is imposed on us when working for an employer at an office.

As always in the freelance life, we're alone and responsible for absolutely everything relating to our work.

This means that we have to take a very disciplined approach to our work. We have to take the place of a manager in an office. We have to set start times and end times for our work day. We have to set times for short breaks in the morning and afternoon.

Now for the distractions we face when we are at our desks

Let's say you start on a project at 9:30 and aim to have it completed by 10:15.

Here's my advice on how to maximize your output during that forty-five minute period.

1. Turn off the ringer on all your phones. If someone calls, they can leave a message.

2. Turn off any kind of instant messaging or Internet phone service.

3. If the arrival of email is accompanied by beeps of pop-ups...turn those features off. Better still, close your email client completely between 9:30 and 10:15.

4. Close any browser window that is not directly and immediately relevant to the task you are working on.

Now you are ready to work.

The tools we depend on for our work, like phones, emails and browsers, are a source of constant interruptions.

Take control. Turn it all off while you are working.

Try this and see just how much you can achieve in 45 minutes.

Next, do the same for 60 minutes and then 90 minutes.

You may well find yourself struggling with what amounts to an addiction to distractions.

Can you stay focussed for 90 minutes without checking your email, or seeing if you have any phone messages?

You may say, "But my clients expect to be able to reach me at any time!"

I don't think that's true. I think it’s an excuse. I think you can very reasonably tell your clients that there will be times during the day when you are focused on getting work done, and that you won't always be able to answer calls and emails immediately. It maybe an hour or two before you can reply. Does that sound so terribly unreasonable? They do the same. They will often be in meetings and unavailable for similar periods of time.

The bottom line is that the way in which we deal with distractions during the work day is probably the number one influence on how effective and productive we are in getting our work done.

Try it. Apply some real self discipline and see what a difference it makes.

If you need a little more self-motivation, look at it this way...

If you can double your productivity each day, you'll double your income.

For more help in managing your writing work, learn about the Writing Rituals method...

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