Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tigger Brained

I'm  Tigger brained. I admit it...I have a problem. My brain bounces from one thing to another...maybe it's adult ADD. I wonder how many of you that write suffer from this. Is it just me??? I feel like I'm all alone here. Maybe me and Michelle Simpkins. I've heard her say she gets distracted all the time too. Maybe I should go to Dean C. Rich's site and see if he can help me organize my time.
Being a teacher, we've been bombarded over the last few years about brain research and the best ways to teach these young brains.
What about us old brains? Are we just toast?
Since I turned 40, and I'm way past that now, thanks, my brain has hit a creative peak. I'm coming up with stories and characters and all this stuff I would've never been able to do earlier in my life. Maybe  because I just never tried.
I'm not sure.
What I DO know is that my creative brain can also be very distracted. I can say, "I'm going to go do blah blah blah and five minutes later completely forget what I'd said I would do. I'm just a step above Dory's short term memory loss.

Some days, my focus can go on for an hour..sometimes several. Usually, it's when I'm working on something new. This summer, I noticed when I was writing the short stories I wrote, I was distracted when I was working on the initial idea for the story and where it would go, but not as much as when I'm editing. I guess my brain is bored with it, but it has to be done.
When I try to go back and work on the MS I've been tweaking and rewriting for..uh...well...forever, seems like my brain bounces around like a 'Tigger'. That's what I call kids that can't sit still. They're Tiggers because they're bodies bounce...lol.
Lately, I've been doing a little better, but I still catch myself wandering off to facebook or yahoo, or twitter...if only for a few minutes...
Why can't I just stay focused on what I'm working on???
Frustrated.
I've even tried to use a timer and say..."I'm going to edit for this much time." Inevitably, somebody or something distracts me and before I realize it, 10 minutes have passed that was not spent editing. Sometimes I have to do things like...cook ..or wash the dishes. I wish I had an 'ON' switch for the concentration level in my brain. When I need it to be upped, it's enough to keep myself working on what I need to do so then I can play.
So is this common for writers or just me?

4 comments:

  1. I think it's fairly common. It's so easy to get distracted and to have a million and one things/ideas running in our heads. :D

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  2. I get so frustrated with myself. I think I notice it more with my much younger partner teacher. She's very focused and organized, which I am not..lol We make a great team. I just feel like I can't begin to get the things done that she can. Of course, no kids for her yet. I know that will change her level of accomplishment and her priorities..lol ;)

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  3. That probably explains it. When you're a mom, your brain goes into multitasking overload. And then it just becomes a habit. I'm the same way--I'm constantly thinking of other things while doing a task at hand. :)

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  4. It's something in the water! It must be...

    Tigger was always my fave character. What a great analogy for ADD. LOL

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