Using Routines for Focused Writing

I remember hearing a story about Charles Wesley’s mom. She had a dozen or so kids in her home of various ages, personality types, and volumes.  (I bet she home schooled!) This brilliant lady had a habit, every afternoon after lunch, of sitting in her rocking chair and covering her head with her apron. That signaled the children that silence ruled the house until the apron came down. They tiptoed around, whispered, the little ones napped. Mrs. Wesley would lower the apron after a couple of hours and the house bounced back into it’s familiar clamor.

Talk about using a routine! So I tried it. Not with an apron or a rocking chair, however. After lunch, once all lessons had been explained and the kids worked on completing the assignments, I settled into my office and cracked open my lap top. Even though I worked in my office all the time, this was different. Afternoons were my in-the-zone time. I announced that my door was closed, and then I closed it. The kids understood that unless they were bleeding or throwing up, their questions could wait until after the door reopened in two hours.

That went for phone calls too. And just to be fair, I closed my internet window to eliminate interruptions from that side and sank into writing bliss.

I have to tell you, this routine worked perfectly … until my oldest boy moved home to complete his senior year in college. Since my office had been his bedroom, I got moved out.

But the spirit of the routine remained, not so much with my oldest since he hadn’t been here, but with the others. After lunch, I put in ear plugs and opened my lap top with an announcement that my door was closed.

After almost two years, this routine still works, though I don’t get the opportunity to use it everyday. In fact, now that I sit in the middle of the living room, I use that magical phrase only when I’m desperate for zone time.

Your Turn: Do you have any routines that you use to give you zone time?