NaNoWriMo Survival Tip

We're one week into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). If you are still writing, congratulations! I was on track until yesterday, when I didn't write at all and now I'm suddenly a day behind. But, there are still 22 days left to get to 50,000 words and I know I can do it. Here is one of my personal favorite tips for getting through the month with your word count high.

To stay focused while writing, I have a specific writing playlist in my iTunes. The value of this is fourfold:

1. When I hear the songs (always played in the same order) I know it is writing time, and Pavlov's dog-like, I want to write. 
2. They length of the playlist helps me keep track of how much, or how little, time I've spent writing and I can tell myself I'll keep going just through the next Broken Bells track.
3. If I need a little extra motivation, I'll buy a new song I like on iTunes, and put it in my writing playlist. The only way I'll let myself listen to it is on the playlist, and I don't listen to the playlist when I'm not writing, so it's like a little reward.
4. I'll add certain songs to my playlist if I think they will help inspire some part of the writing process, so if I character mentions a certain song, I'll do my best to add it. The playlist becomes tailored the novel I'm writing, and I get to start over again when I start a new one.

What strategies do you have to keep focused when you are doing a task that takes time and energy, that perhaps you don't always want to do?

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com