Lately I find myself unable to really dig into the books I want to read. I used to be able to read in 10+ hour stretches, only moving when a body part went numb or blood sugar levels demanded a snack. But these last few months, as soon as I sit down to read my mind swarms with thoughts.
I need to do laundry. I meant to take that bag upstairs. I should take the trash out. On and on it goes. My brain circling around everything on my to-do list and no where near the book in front of me. It is frustrating and depressing. And it bleeds into my writing as well.
Some nights I’ll sit and just stare at the books stacked up around me, wishing I could read them all simultaneously. And when I sit down to write everything I’ve been plotting and working through in my head goes, “Poof!” I look around the room at the filing that needs to be done, dusting I should do, litter boxes I could scoop, everything except my thoughts about what I sat down to write.
Part of my problem is that I’m trying to do too many things all at once instead of allowing myself to do things in chunks each day. I miss my reading binges and have a backlog like you wouldn’t believe and I have so many story ideas I keep jotting down glimpses of, but I need to make time for pesky adulting stuff like laundry and grocery shopping. That way, when I do get to sit down and read or write for a couple hours my brain can focus… I hope.
BooksAbound 