Technology May Be The Death of Me, But I’m Still Writing

On December 31, I sat down to list my writing goals for the year. I shared in my post that day that while I planned to be an intentional writer in 2013, I didn’t set specific goals. Therefore, I did not achieve as much as I had hoped.

While browsing Facebook (one of the many distractions to my writing) Jeff Goins posted a challenge—to write at least 500 words a day for 31 days.

Okay—it sounded like a great idea. After all, 2014 is the year to reach my goals—not just talk about them. So, I signed up for the challenge.

I woke up early on New Year’s Day and promptly wrote 743 words. I was pumped! I could do this thing! I stopped because my husband took me to IHOP for breakfast. I planned to write more later on.

We had to purchase a few grocery items before returning home. While there, John decided to visit the wireless store because he was having trouble with his iPhone. After going through the checkout line, I joined him. I could tell he wanted a new phone—and we were due for an upgrade. Long story short, we upgraded both our phones. Easy enough, except:

• I spent much of that afternoon backing up the data from the old phones to iCloud, then transferring it to the new phones (Note to self: Back up more often!)
• The following day, I discovered our data package and text messaging did not transfer. Had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with customer service. (Second note to self: Go directly to the AT&T store to upgrade and do not use the services of a well-known retail chain, which will remain nameless!)
• I was unable to leave a voice mail for my husband and had problems setting up the voice mail on the new phones. More time spent in order to resolve the problem. (By the way, AT&T customer service was great.)

Needless to say, I didn’t write anymore on January 1. And I’m thankful I wrote early in the day on January 2.

Technology is great—when it works. (My husband)

The difficulties didn’t stop with the phones. I had internet problems Sunday afternoon. Monday morning, when I arrived back at work after being off for nine days, I forgot my network password. (Third note to self: Don’t change your password immediately prior to vacation.) A quick call to our helpdesk remedied that problem.

This morning I had a 7:00 a.m. meeting. The caterer did not receive my food request. Some sort of system glitch. Try being in a room full of doctors with no breakfast and no coffee! (Actually, they were very understanding.) My tablet PC decided it needed an update, and would not allow me to log in for 20 minutes.

What next?

However, in spite of all my issues with technology, I’m still writing. I’ve met the 500-word goal for eight days. This exercise in free writing has been liberating. I write. I don’t edit or worry about spelling or grammar until I’ve finished with the rough draft. This is the year I will reach my goals.

And tomorrow? Well, I have another 7:00 a.m. meeting. I’ve already made certain the caterer received my food request and the PC is up to date. And I’ll write.