Day 957 - Dictation easier with a change of scenery

I’ve had somewhat bad IBS for the past couple days—I was in pain, but it wasn’t as bad as I’ve had it at other times. It was still distracting and hard to work, but I still managed to get writing done.

What I did was work on stuff like marketing and editing in the morning, when my IBS was worst, and I took medicine and waited for it to kick in. Sometimes the medicine didn’t work all that well and I didn’t start to feel better until the late afternoon, but I usually found at least 30 or 60 minutes where I wasn’t feeling too badly.

I took advantage of my time when I felt better in order to dictate a bit of my book. I mentioned earlier that it seems easier for me to focus when I’m dictating. Maybe it’s because I tend to walk when I dictate—whether walking outside, or like yesterday, just pacing in my room. I find it’s easier for me to forget about my IBS when I’m walking and dictating, at least most of the time—sometimes there was just so much pain and nausea that it distracts me from dictating, but I tried my best to relax and wait for the wave to pass, and then kept dictating.

I have been doing the cleanup editing after dinner, since most of the time my IBS has started feeling better so late in the day that I only have time to dictate a bit before I have to eat. I’d prefer to dictate earlier in the day, but that hasn’t been a possibility all the time.

Regardless, I’ve gotten some dictation and writing done each day no matter how I’ve been feeling.

I don’t know if it’s just that I’ve gotten more comfortable with the dictation or if it’s just that I’m away from my computer, but it’s been a bit easier to get started dictating and writing. I think the walking around helps a lot to get me to start—I either put on my shoes and leave the house to dictate, or else I start pacing in my room with my digital recorder. Since I’m not in front of my computer, maybe it makes it seem like a different place even if I’m still in the house.

I’m not going to complain since it’s been helping me not to procrastinate quite so much the last couple days. But I also want to remember this, because for my personality type, perhaps I really need that change of scenery to more clearly and easily trigger the start of my writing time.

I also can’t discount that I’ve gotten more used to doing the dictation, so it’s not so stressful for me to jump right in each day. I’ve settled on using a digital recorder and then using Dragon to transcribe the recording. The recorder is just easier for me to hold and less fussy than arranging the position of the podcast microphone on my computer, plus the whole “different scenery” thing.

So I guess the past times I’ve tried dictation has really helped me get used to it, even if it didn’t seem like it. I hope that if I continue to dictate, I’ll be able to dictate faster. I seem to be dictating better, or at least, I think I sound more like myself so that the cleanup editing doesn’t quite take as long as before. Or maybe my editing is just getting better, but I’m not entirely sure I want to hope in that, since my self-editing skills have been so poor for so long.

I’ve also gotten a lot of marketing done in the mornings while I’m waiting for the IBS to subside, so that’s been great.

Writing streak: 436 days

Dictation streak: 12 days

My takeaway for today: It seems to be easier for me to start writing work with the dictation whether because I’m getting used to it or because I’m walking while dictating, which takes me away from my computer and seems like a change of scenery.