365 days of being a writer: day 272

I came to the library to write a slew slough bunch of Demand articles, and found their site down. This will likely mean that I lose one of them if I can't get back here tomorrow night to work on it.

Can I curse the dumb idea of turning off my internet again?

But really, it's still preferable. Internet at home is a huge distraction. I don't get "work" done--I get hours and hours of surfing done. I am the queen of distractor-mousing. This makes me think about my belongings critically as well (especially as I pack them in dozens and dozens and dozens of boxes). Whenever I stay in hotels, I get so much more done--I get up early and workout, I write, read, knit. Sometimes even with a bit of TV.

What's the difference, if not all my clutter of stuff? I mean, I love my stuff: Bali masks and Paul Bunyan salt shakers and small boxes full of rocks from all over the country and a little copper bird nest, and so many books! I have gotten rid of so much stuff, it seems crazy that I still have too much for my mental health or productivity or both. What's the solution? Am I just blaming my stuff  when I should be blaming my lack of work ethic?

I know when I come home, there are seemingly dozens of small chores and I either spend all my little times doing them, or avoiding them in creative ways. These are things I don't have to do in a hotel room: dishes, sort mail, fold laundry. I can just get up and go. I don't have to dig through three shelves of vitamins, lotions, soaps, and makeup to get to the three or four things I use every morning... Maybe it is less about visual clutter, and more about functional clutter. How hard is it to work at my desk? I have to move a few things around each time I set up or take down my laptop. This is just thinking out loud now, on-screen.

Maybe I just need to segregate the "distractions" to one wall of bookshelves? Clean all of the extras out of the bathroom and kitchen. Extra ketchup packets? Fortune cookies? That tiny honey jar I was going to reuse for something...? All these are energy suckers, stealing my writing time by requiring attention and acknowledgment. Or, I'm just unfocused and nuts. Either way, going home and doing another round of purging while I pack can't hurt.

The next space will be more focused on what matters--because I will be more focused on what matters. That's what I am going with for now.