You may have picked up that I like to write. What may not be so obvious is that I like to write about what I want to write about. This can be a problem with school assignments. Not wanting to do homework is not so unusual; when it presents itself as a complete writer’s block, it can become a problem though. When I find that happening I use the techniques I discuss in the video below. With distractions removed, I sit at my desk and pound out everything that comes into my head. Quite often, that will help and I will be able to keep writing. For the times it has not broken through the block, at least I was left with something to sift through for any nuggets worth keeping.

As I mentioned in the video, using a timer to focus attention on a task is now known as the Pomodoro technique, although I am sure mothers have been using it for eons. I can just picture a mom in a cave saying “sit still until that beetle gets to the other side of the fire pit” or “you can go play with Dino after you pick the bugs out of your sister’s hair.”

Finding ways to concentrate may not have changed that much, but the distractions sure have. Has anybody seen a timer with a lockbox for my phone?

See more on the Video Per Day Experiment in my introductory post.