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On any given day, you’re sure to find a post or comment by someone saying they can never find the time to write.

Yes, if you work a fulltime job, have a spouse and children, friends and family, a hobby…any semblance of a LIFE, most days, your time is not your own.

But. Think about it. How many times have you sat down with your device of choice with a task in mind—paying bills, checking test scores, researching a future major purchase, book travel plans, etc.—and found yourself opening your email, checking any or ALL of your social network accounts, watching a video of a sloth eating a grape or taking a quiz to find out which Avenger you’re most like?

Distractions.

You’re not alone. We all have the pretty, shiny object that so easily pulls our attention away from the task at hand.

Pinterest is my downfall.

I can pull up the app in search of a photo of a land mass or mountain range to match a location I’ve written about, and two hours later, I have no photo of my location… but I do have three recipes for Pad Thai, a new pattern for an afghan, fifteen more coffee memes, and a detailed infogram on how to turn empty toilet paper rolls into a decorative Christmas centerpiece.

I am weak and in need of help… and probably intense counseling.

In my last NaNo Diaries post, I mentioned I’d jumped on the AlphaSmart bandwagon. No Internet connection, no wifi—just me and a sturdy little word processor that I purposely use away from all my other devices, including my phone. My adult children hate that.

But there are still times when I need to be online and around all my favorite distractions, and that’s when I use an Internet blocker. I have the paid version of Freedom.to. I can set it for any amount of time I chose, from minutes to hours, and the Internet is gone. Can’t open a browser or app. (Yes, I’ve tried.)

There are quite a few other Internet blocking apps available, but not all have free versions.

Anti-Social (In the process of merging with Freedom.to but love the name!)

Cold Turkey (Free Version Available)

Rescue Time (Free Version Available)

FocusMe

These are great little tools to have to help you block online distractions, but the writing part is still up to you. Sorry.

I started coming down with a head cold yesterday and had to struggle for word count… but I got it! For NaNoWriMo Day 3, I’m at 5544/50000.

Today is NaNoWriMo Double-Up Donation Day. Check it out. Make a donation and double your word count for the day.

I’m going to give it a shot… even though I can’t stop sneezing and my head feels bigger than Wyoming.

Keep Writing!