Yesterday, we hosted a #StetChat about managing distractions. In this blog post, we’ve rounded up the questions we posed and some of the best answers from our #StetChat about managing distractions. stetchat.com/managing-dis... #amediting #freelanceeditor #edibuddies

#stetchat late to the party. I’m Robert. I edit mostly fiction and narrative nonfiction, the odd cookbook as a treat, some corporate work and localisation. Report writing too. Usually work four to five billable hours a day but can do more if I’m in the zone and less when the lassitude hits.

*Me, this morning, swooping in to take all the amazing tips from the #StetChat I missed last night*

Oooh yeah I do something like this too! In Trello for book projects, I break the manuscript down into 25-page chunks and have a checklist that looks like: 🔲 Edit thru ch. 5 🔲 Edit thru ch. 7 🔲 Edit thru ch. 10 Really helps to see the progress I'm making on the book! #StetChat

I missed #StetChat yesterday! 😱 Guess who was distracted? 😆 Now to set aside time to catch up. #AmEditing

Great tip on managing distractions / getting yourself to work! #StetChat

I wasn't part of the live discussion yesterday but my two reliables are: 1. Writing out the page numbers I'm working on (10, 11, 12...) on scrap paper or a digital sticky note pinned on top and crossing out or deleting as I go along. Seeing progress (or not) is the only thing I find motivating

If you missed this week's #StetChat, read through our recap of it! The recaps have a collection of answers to the questions so you can follow along and get the gist of the convo. #amediting #edibuddies #freelanceeditor

This week, we hosted a #StetChat about managing distractions. In this blog post, we’ve rounded up the questions we posed and some of the best answers from our #StetChat about managing distractions. stetchat.com/managing-dis... #amediting #freelanceeditor #edibuddies

#Edibuddies and #translator friends 👋🏻 Do you have an AI policy/statement on your website? Like, what you expect from your clients and what your clients can expect from you when it comes to AI? I'm collecting examples for a resource I'm putting together, and I'd love some more. #AmEditing #xl8

Join our upcoming #StetChats on Bluesky: July 15: The Value of Editing August 5: Worldbuilding August 19: Editorial Certificates and Courses September 2: Style Sheets September 16: Red Flag Roulette #amediting #freelanceeditor #edibuddies

This week, we hosted a #StetChat about managing distractions. In this blog post, we’ve rounded up the questions we posed and some of the best answers from our #StetChat about managing distractions. stetchat.com/managing-dis... #amediting #freelanceeditor #edibuddies

I’d say between 1-5 hours a day. The five hour days are usually around deadlines, the one hour days are either because of admin, other business requirements, or straight-up bad brain days/brain fog (#ADHDer here). I work best in the late morning to late afternoon, depending on brain/deadline/etc.

Q3: Welcome to my Ted Talk. 😂 But ADHD means that small external things become big distractions and every day, there’s at least some (if not a lot of) struggle to get my focus up and working. Finding novelty, interest, or curiosity in what I’m doing is the best way to get my focus back.

Solid strategy—check in first so you're not thinking about it all day! The only danger is getting sucked in for too long! #StetChat

A5. Working in sprints. Make sure I check everything else first. Don't keep anything else open in the background. Other than my Sprint program

This is incredibly relatable hahaha #StetChat

I'd never heard of Focus Friend before, but so many people in the #StetChat today mentioned it that I'm going to look it up! @hankgreen.bsky.social #focusfriend

Focus Friend! I tried using other interval timers, but there's something about that little bean knitting socks 😆 #StetChat

#StetChat Good strategies for managing distractions!

One of the best things I've done is rearrange my office so my desk faces the windows. I can see the cute dogs and birds and, more importantly, sky, trees, and grass. It's way better for my mental health than facing a bland wall for 6-8 hours a day. #StetChat

YES lol I'm glad I'm the only one! #StetChat @printrunpodcast.bsky.social is my go-to publishing podcast, if anyone is looking for recs! :)

I just listened to the new episode of @nadiageageapupa.bsky.social's Editor's Half Hour today while folding clothes! Learning + finishing chores = big wins #StetChat

This is hilarious! Look, whatever works to trick your brain into working! 😆 #StetChat #amediting

This takes immeasurable strength 🫡🫡🫡 #StetChat

I still need to read The Checklist Manifesto! But yes I am obsessed with checklists in Trello. I have different templates for different types of projects and client-specific checklists (spaced em dashes for this client, non-spaced em dashes for this other client...). #StetChat

It's an app developed by Hank Green that gives you a little bean that likes to knit. It can only knit when you don't use your phone. When you meet you time goal, you get socks that you can trade to decorate and upgrade the bean's house. It's super cute! #StetChat

A7? I don’t think of distractions as necessarily being “bad.” Sometimes it’s just information about the environment and you’re reacting to it. Understanding who you are and how you get things done is the key. #StetChat

Little things like this trick my brain into treating each project like a wholly different activity instead of a variation on a theme, and that makes it harder to get distracted since it feels like I'm doing something new instead of continuing something I've been working on for days/weeks. #stetchat

But the alpha reading is on my Kindle Scribe, and I've printed out two of the three manuscripts I'm evaluating and placed them on separate desks in my home, one downstairs and one upstairs, leaving only one eval to be done "on screen." #stetchat

For example, I'm working on three manuscript evaluations, an alpha reading, and a set of illustrations right now. The illustrations are best done on my desktop since that's where I access my Adobe Suite and have my drawing tablet. #stetchat

Sometimes I like to listen to my editing and professional dev. podcasts while doing chores. It makes me feel super productive! #StetChat

Adjusting to a new schedule or environment Finding wisdom/knowledge in unexpected places and using it for editing Bizarre catches and how you caught them #StetChat

A7: Already mentioned this, but I love Focus Friend. The free version works just fine, but I sprung for the lifetime subscription and it was worth it. #StetChat

#StetChat A7 | There are many free, online Pomodoro timers and those have been a life-saver (job-saver?) ever since I discovered them. Approaching projects in a physically different way can help as well since I find sitting in the same place / position heightens distractibility.

Q4: 😆 Umm… yes.

A6: Silence/"peace and quiet." I have tinnitus: it has to be drowned out by something.

Q5: One of the funniest ones is when I’m “intentionally doing something else” (like watching a show) then I pull up the manuscript, out of curiosity, but *that’s not what I’m doing right now.* Then I keep looking over until I’m actually working on it… Aaand I got distracted into working.😁

The Life Of An Editor #StetChat

Music is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it ends up in a karaoke session.

Nuclear option—turning off the internet! 😮 #StetChat

I go with it, and chase the dopamine. 🤷 #AuDHD

The less things pinging at you, the less distractions! #StetChat

#StetChat ⏰

I also prefer to get up regularly to fill it. Otherwise I'm likely to forget to move. Noise cancellation is definitely a must!

My first step before diving into editing is usually to prepare all my materials -- word documents, tabs, bookmarks, etc.

What I started doing was putting it on my keyboard at the end of the day / keeping it right in front of my monitor... so I HAVE to move it to get started. (It also has to make noise at each interval otherwise... nothing lol) It to be right in front of my face, or else it's not happening, haha!