It’s Time To Set Work Hours and Minimize Distractions.

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Alrighty, this is basically part two of my previous post. But I decided to split them up since they could easily be two separate posts. Warning: This is lengthy, but writing it all out may help me to stick with it, and it’s very important (to me) that I stick with it this time around. Now, onto my freelance writing in general.... I’m not going to lie, my productivity this month has sucked. It’s not that the work has been there. There has definitely been work between my writing teams and clients, but my motivation has been lacking. I’ve messed up my sleep schedule again, which has messed up my time management. I find myself procrastinating because I’m unable to focus, and I just cannot afford to continue with these bad habits any longer. I literally cannot afford it. I’m not going to completely blame it on grief because at the end of the day, I know a lot of this has been my fault. And of course, I miss my Mom, and my Dad, but again ---- I cannot afford for these habits to continue. So, I was originally going to set these goals in November when I returned to work, but I’ve decided to start this week. 1. It’s time to set work hours again. I feel like it was sort of working, and it could’ve worked more if I had stuck to them, so I want to set work hours again. I’m thinking this upcoming week I’ll do either 11am-7pm or 12pm-8pm, and 11am-7pm for sure next week. I would also like to get out of bed AT LEAST an hour before it’s time to “go to work” just to have some time to do whatever. Exercise, eat breakfast, etc. My goal is to work my way to work hours 10am-6pm. And who knows? Maybe by 2022, I’ll be at a 9am-5pm shift. I’m a night owl, so I need to work my way to it. And since I wanted to officially start next week, this week can be my “practice” -- so I can figure out what I’m doing wrong and what I can do to get to bed at an earlier time. I know what I need to do to get started though, so I’m good on that part. 2. I need to limit the distractions. It’s time to limit the distractions that are messing with my focus when I’m writing, so I’ve made the following decisions: A. No social media while I’m actively working on an order, unless I need social media for research (i.e., sometimes I may do a website/company description that requires me to visit their Facebook for research), and I’m to get that information and close the tab. B. If I’m checking any social media or whatnot during a break, it MUST be done on my phone. I typically don’t spend a lot of time on my phone when I’m at my laptop because… it’s just not something I like to do. So I won’t be on for more than a few minutes at a time. And this is ONLY to check notifications, not scroll through news feeds and timelines. I can do that before/after my work hours. Using my phone only during those hours also keeps me from opening a new tab and forgetting about my work tabs. Unless I have a post or interactions on my to-do list, this also includes MyLot. Sorry, but I can get lost on here just as easily as any other site. C. I’ll check text and online messages in case someone REALLY needs something, but if it’s someone just trying to chat, I’ll answer back before/after my work hours, just like any other job. I don’t really get a lot of texts as it is (which is fine by me), but I think limiting the social media scrolling and online chatting will be a big help. D. My only background noise is going to be things I’ve heard so many times, I can easily work while it’s playing, i.e., The Golden Girls, New Kids On The Block, etc. Another option is something like rain sounds, if I’m not in the mood for anything else or everything else is too distracting. So, I’ll check my social media, email, etc. before I start working, during a break and then after work, but I won’t be on any of those sites much while I’m working, just as it should be. (Also, I know I should’ve been doing this already, so no lectures, please. I’ve been hard enough on myself.) Alrighty, I’m going to work on a few short orders while watching “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. I’ll eventually feed the dogs and just relax for the rest of the evening. If I want to try to start my work by at least 11am tomorrow (12pm if I fall behind), I’m going to need to lie down at a decent time. Wish me luck lol. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe and take care! :) Photo Credit: Pixabay.