There are days when I feel a bit like a little girl looking through her papa’s reading glasses. Fuzzy. Out of focus. I sit at the computer, staring at the blinking cursor and wait for some miracle to put me in the zone.

Trouble is, eventually I start to wander away from my original intent, drift to the internet to check email and kill time, and then suddenly, I’m completely adrift in a sea of procrastination, and can’t find my way back. Though I’ve suspected for quite some time now that this method is not working for me, LOL, I’ve just convinced myself that it is time for change.

But how? My first thought was to figure out what time of day the writing bug ‘bites’ me. Easy. It’s usually later afternoon. Sounds good, except, by that time, both my boys are home from school and clamoring for my attention.

I have a couple of hours in the morning when both Daredevil and Science-Boy are at school that is usually ideal, except my brain doesn’t seem to want to function and I usually end up throwing the time away in some sort of procrastination wasteland.

So, here’s the deal. I need to train my brain to ‘get to work’ during those morning hours. Great. I can do it. If I commit to writing from 9-11 every Monday through Friday morning WITHOUT getting on the internet during that time for 21 days, I should be able to make this a habit.

But I can’t do it without a little help from all you writers out in blogland. How do you find your focus so you can get down to business when you sit at the keyboard? Does listening to music do it

? Lighting candles? Brewing a cup of tea? Editing previous chapters of your manuscript?

What ‘magic’ ritual snaps your brain into focus and puts you back in your story?