Why NaNoWriMo is Making Me More Productive

It's that crazy time of year again, where hundreds of thousands of writers sit down to write 50k words of a novel in a month. Some write more, some write less, but everyone's sitting down to write. Or not write as the case may be.

For me, NaNo goes a bit like this.

I sit down at my desk and pull open my lap top. Hang on, I can't write when my desk is such a mess. So I close the lid of the lap top again and tidy the desk. There, now I can write.

But what about the stuff on the floor? Now that my desk is all nice and tidy, shouldn't I make sure that the rest of the room looks just as nice? It'll only take a few minutes and think how much better I'll be able to write with a nice clean room. So I scurry round and clean up.

Mmm, what's that smell wafting out of the kitchen? I follow my nose out to find one of my sisters baking. "You can help if you like," she said. Soon we're concocting muffins and brewing coffee. There's plenty of time to write later.

Goodness, is that the time? I've spent so long eating muffins and drinking coffee that it's time to make dinner. Oh well, writing will have to wait until after dinner now. This really has been a busy afternoon!

Now, what shall I get done today? Maybe I'll redesign my blog. Or I might teach the cat how to play the piano. Maybe I'll actually get some writing done. Who knows...