Writing in an office environment can be difficult. Distractions are everywhere. I hear coworkers talking about the details of Tiger Woods’ alleged affair and I get distracted. They ask me a question about updating a profile on BlogCatalog and I get distracted. The UPS man shows up, asks for a signature and I get distracted. Even on the days when I find myself alone in the office, I still get pulled off track by the various tones emanating from my phone and computer alerting me to a new email, a new text message or an incoming call.
So, how does one eliminate all of the outside distracters and get back to the simple task of putting words down on a page? This is the question I asked myself at the beginning of the week, and after a few days I have come up with three tips. I have no illusions that these are ground breaking pieces of advice. In fact, writers have probably seen them expressed one way or another a thousand times. Still, even when one knows something already, it is nice to have a periodic reminder.
1. Schedule time to write when you know you will not be distracted. I usually get to the office between 8:30 am and 9:00 am in the morning. By that time, most of my coworkers are here too and so I come into an environment where there is already a lot of activity. By arriving between 6:30 am and 7:00 am, I give myself anywhere form an hour and a half to two hours of alone time when I can concentrate on my writing and nothing else.
2. Turn off your phone and any alert systems you have on your computer. I put my phone on silent, shut down my email program and turn off all my social media applications. I turn everything off completely because even if I don’t check my email or pick up the phone to see who is calling, just hearing the beep, buzz or ring can distract me from my thoughts. And, when you get knocked out of your writing groove, it can sometimes be hard to get it back.
3. Use a basic writing program. The first part of writing is getting your thoughts out on the page. So, pick a program that allows you to do just that without being distracted by spell-check and formatting errors; these can be fixed later.
This week I have been using Ommwriter, a new application for Macs developed by Herraitz Soto & Co. Recently launched in beta form, Ommwriter is “a simple text processor that firmly believes in making writing a pleasure once again, vindicating the close relationship between writer and paper.” Forget formatting, inline spell checking, hundreds of font choices. You’ll find none of that here. What you will find is a clean, simple application that allows you to focus on just one thing–putting your words onto the page. Ommwriter does have a few options. You can choose one of three backgrounds–a clean white page, a clean grey page or a minimalistic grey and white snow scene. There are also three font choices–serif, sans serif and script–and three font sizes. There are seven meditative soundtracks and seven different keyboard sounds from which to choose; or you can turn the sounds off and type in silence. For those of you looking for a meditative space in which to write all you really need is Ommwriter and pair of headphones and you’re there. For more information about the Ommwriter application you can go to: http://www.ommwriter.com/
Ommwriter (click the link to watch the full-size video on Vimeo.)
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