Smashing Writer's Block for Work Documents

This really works, I promise. Tested, tried, had other people try it. 

Say you have to write a memo persuading hospital personnel to wash their hands. You are conflicted beyond comprehension because it's too ridiculous a project. 

1.  Immediately let go of resistance. Remember:

• Soon this project will be over.
• Soon it will be 5:00 and you will be sitting on your couch with your wine. It's a time warp thing, not to be minimized.
• Allowing thoughts of regret, anger, and misery to tape-loop through your mind only prolongs the experience. Sure it's satisfying to know how horrible life on this planet can be, but leave it for now. You can pick it up later after the wine wears off.

2.  With a blank mind, all you have to do is pull up a blank Word template and choose a fabulous font. 

3.  Now, simply make words appear on the blank page. It's that easy. 

Remember, no one will read it, and anyone who is not washing their hands now, will probably never wash their hands anyway. 

If you actually want to create a meaningful document, go for it. List the reasons why hand-washing might make sense during a meningitis epidemic. Insert really cute artwork. Put in a graph measuring stuff. 

And then it's completed. And suddenly your "now" moment with the wine and the couch is here, your document is a part of the permanent hospital archives, and you still have your job. 

More on writer's block in the next post.

(c) 2016 Suzann Kale

The Zen of Uni-Tasking

We've all read the report that says even though we think we're multi-tasking, we're not - according to our brains. Just like a computer, the brain gathers info very fast, but only works with one piece of information at a time. The more we multi-task, the more harried the brain gets because it's continually trying to take bits of disconnected stuff, and put them in coherent strings.  

I find when I'm creating a new document for a client, I indulge in the luxury of focusing only on this one project. Often the focus is so intense that everything else fades out - sounds disappear, time becomes nonexistent, I don't know where I am. It's a consciousness thing - it's just me and the computer screen. Keyboard and screen. Brain and project. Idea and written copy. A direct connection. 

Once I was working like this, it was winter in New England, and the power went out. Computer was intact with battery, so project continued. Although I do vaguely remember getting a blanket to put around me at the desk because the heat had gone out, there was still nothing but me and the client's document. A few hours later, when I finished the first draft, I came back to time/space and realized the house was dark and cold, the dog needed to be fed, and I didn't know where my kid was. (I found him, it was okay, I had planned for this in advance.)

This scary scenario happens also when I'm reading an absorbing novel. Hello, focus; goodbye planet Earth.

Now that I know this happens, I always pre-plan for Uni-tasking time. Always have a note next to the computer saying what day it is and where I am, always have the alarm set for a few hours in the future so my silver connection-cord can connect back to my body, always make sure ahead of time that there's nothing on the stove.

I like it better than meditation. It's like meditating, but you also get stuff done. Oooops, wouldn't that be multi-tasking?

(c) 2016 Suzann Kale