Do you ever sit down to write something only to end up blankly staring at your computer? Yeah, me too (don’t you just love writer’s block). Before you can get going, distraction kicks in. You open a new window browser to surf your feedreader, Twitter, an interesting link here and there and it’s like “wait a minute…where was I? Oh yeah, I’m stuck on this post…”

(If you never get stuck, good for you, you’re officially a writing machine).

Lately, I’ve decided to change up my routine and the tools that I use to write. And here they are…

My 3 Favorite Writing Tools

1. My Moleskine Ruled Notebook – I take this with me everywhere I go. I don’t lug around the laptop any more. Instead, I write down all my random notes and ideas (post titles, bullet points, sketches) in the notebook and reference it daily to see what I can cook up. I find that I’m writing more this way and getting distracted a whole lot less (no more endless browser tabs and other online distractions).

2. My Taylor Timer – I picked this tip up from Christopher Penn at Blue Sky Factory. It’s the 10-2-5 System. Focus for 10 minutes on something. Take a 2 minute break and repeat this process 5 times. It works like a charm…try it!

3. WriteRoom – Last but not least, I use WriteRoom. It’s a distraction free writing program for Mac. Basically, it creates a full screen writing environment so that you focus on just that, your writing. Sure, you could use a basic word document, but hey, don’t knock it till you try it. So far, I love this. I write every post in there instead of in my WordPress editor. Wanna try another cool writing programming, check out OmmWriter.

Ultimately, if you want to be more productive (with your writing or anything else, you just have to focus and do it). That means cutting out distractions…

• No watching TV,
• No camping out on Twitter and Facebook,
• No spending hours on your FeedReader (reading is good but do it in moderation),
• No checking your cell phone every two minutes (I put that sucker on silent and don’t take calls),

Identify your distractions and eliminate them. Then, find when you’re most productive (what time of day are you most creative), and schedule time to write then.

How do YOU do it? What are your best writing tips and what are your favorite writing tools? Do you ever get distracted, if so, how do you deal with those distractions?