Wasting Time: A Day in the Life Sunday

The past several weeks are in the bag. Looking back, I came upon a realization: I devoted less time to writing than I did to anything else. It's not new for me but now the stakes are higher.

Last week, I made a commitment to myself to energize a novice writing career. It's not going so well.

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These Words with Friends letters were taunting me in a game I was losing. No U for my Q, no triple word boxes in sight, I didn't make a killer word. I didn't win the game. I didn't unwind at the end of the day. I didn't write.

I was distracted. Again.

It's times like these when I pull out my dog-eared copy of a 2010 Chris Brogan post, Distractions are Yours to Manage. His three points: distractions are a part of life, you own this life and you set the limits are always right on for me.

Some days, I am better at managing distractions than others. Like Chris, nothing beeps for me except text messages from the kid. Tweets, Facebook notifications, emails are all silent. I am in Google Reader once a day, star items to read later and started Buffering as I move around the Web.

I even bought an iPad so I can use my time in the bleachers to write while the kid swims. Great intentions foiled by great apps.

From Chris, "When all is said and done, you own your own time. You own your own life. You own the distractions."

I get it. They are my distractions. I own them. Now, what the heck do I do with them?