Creating Sacred Writing Space

I wrote last year about the successes I’ve had with time blocking. How it’s helped me accomplish my goals, streamline my work and it’s increased my productivity. In these posts, I get asked a lot about how we get others to respect our time blocks. It’s one thing to set aside two hours where we shut down all social media and turn off our phone, it’s another to convince the people around us that they need to leave us alone.

If you’re finding yourself in this situation the problem isn’t the people around you. The problem is you. You haven’t truly set aside the time, or created the proper boundaries if others still feel like they can barge into your office, ask you questions or text. The problem is that you’re still answering them.

When I say shut it down, shut it down. If you’re worried you’ll miss something critical you can set do not disturb on most phones and someone who urgently needs you still has the option to break through. Truthfully, how often is something so urgent you can’t respond an hour later? Close the door on your office, or wherever it is you write, and put up a sign. Stop people before they can even get to you. If you write at Starbucks and find people still bother you, put up the sign.

If you really value your time and the time you need to accomplish your goals and achieve your dreams you need to set the boundaries to make those things happen. No one else is going to do that for you.