Desperate Times, Desperate Crafts

I'm having one of those mornings in which I feel like a magpie -- easily distracted by every shiny thing that crosses my path. I bet you know what I mean... "Ooo, Twitter! I wonder what's happening on Facebook? I'll just click this one link..." And right down the rabbit hole you go, only to emerge two hours later with chocolate smeared on your cheek and no recollection of where the time went. It wasn't just the Internet causing me problems this morning, but everything. Laundry! What's that bird at the feeder? More laundry!

As I'm writing against a deadline, such distraction cannot stand. I had to do something to make myself focus. I needed blinders like a horse's, but for all visual stimulation.

Here's what I came up with. It's the quickest and dirtiest DIY you'll see today.

Blinders for Writers

Materials needed:

* Sunglasses
* Aluminum foil
* Bin in which to discard your pride

I started by pulling some foil off the roll and wrapping it around the sunglasses lenses.

Front View

Side View

Then I... Actually, that's it. The end. "Craft" complete. This is how they look in action:

Geordi LaForge wishes he looked this good.

I tried to get the cat to model them, but he wasn't having any of it.

Stop embarrassing yourself, lady.

Believe it or not, these actually worked out really well for their intended purpose. I put them on and couldn't see a damn thing. I was able to focus on the story in my head, instead of all the other stuff going on around me. After a block of about 20 minutes, I was able to take them off and keep writing, since I'd gotten myself in the zone.

If you ever find yourself unable to focus on writing, maybe give this a try. Obviously, you need to be a touch typist for this method to potentially help. Ditching your vision for a little while might be just the thing.