Sometimes you just need to break up.
Break up the task, that is.
I do this when writing my blog posts. Throughout the beginning of the week I collect ideas, snippets and snapshots of thoughts and funny moments, and write them in a document I keep in Google Docs. I can be outside helping my husband with a project, in downtime at work, or right after something has happened that I don’t want to forget. You know how it is. The old, “I don’t have to write it down; I’ll remember it,” trap. I fall for it sometimes and those ideas have been lost over the years. Always write the good stuff down.
Near the end of the week I sit down for the actual writing process of the blog post. This comes in three phases: the blog itself, the picture quote, and the posting and scheduling.
Writing the blog itself is easy. Once I have my idea picked from my list or from something recent, my fingers usually flow across the keyboard. I try to make sure I have enough time set aside so I can come back to the blog for a proofreading.
Then it’s the picture and quote. For this I move away from the computer and work on the couch under my electric blanket. Usually Elsa joins me and sometimes traps me with her cuteness.
On a recent Saturday, I was playing with words, trying to come up with the perfect quote, and Elsa was snuggled on my blanketed legs as usual. After I finished putting it all together, I was chilling on the couch with my kitty when my husband called to me from his study.
“Can you go check on your computer to make sure it’s on? I’m doing a backup.”
“Can’t. Elsa’s laying on top of me.”
So my husband starts making hissing noises from the study to scare her. She doesn’t budge from her sleep.
Then he throws a box into the hallway. Socks went to investigate, but Elsa could care less.
His final strategy was turning on a video clip of cats yowling at each other. Elsa’s head rose with ears perked, but she still stayed in my lap.
My husband came out to see how his last tactic was working. I couldn’t help myself and started laughing. The movement was enough to annoy Elsa, who darted across the coffee table and knocked over my tea.
“You’re the one who laughed,” my husband said as I cleaned up the mess. Fortunately there had only been a small amount of tea left in the cup.
“Yowling noises? Really?”
“Well, that’s in the past now. Go check on the computer.”
I did as requested, and also finished up the third part of my blog: posting and scheduling.
Here I take the blog and the picture quote to post, add my blurb and tags, then schedule for the day everyone will see it.
So overall, not a hard process to write blog posts. Probably the hardest things are keeping up with it, making sure you have enough ideas, and not getting derailed by kitties. What tasks do you break up into smaller chunks?