Writing Through the Plague

I've been having a bit of trouble concentrating. Every other indie writer I've spoken with over the last month and a half is having similar problems.

All the little tricks we use to get us in our writing are a bit limited. Especially if you're like me. Both DH and I have been working from home together since 2012. Technically, he's bee doing it since 2004. Our issue is noise.

DH is on the phone. A lot. Even with the plague, he's on the phone reassuring his staff. He jokes that he should have gotten a degree in psychology instead of computer science.

When we lived in 2500-square-foot house in house, it wasn't hard for me to go to a room. Now, that we live in an apartment, well, let's just say DH's voice carries. So I would go to Tim Horton or Panera to get some writing in. But, since I can't do that now, here some tricks that have helped.

1) Use music as white noise.

The type of music depends on you. I had a pretty extensive collection before digital music came along, most of which I've converted. Classic, Top 40 Pop, rock, funk, dance, instrumental. Whatever gets you in the right mood.

2) Write after your significant other goes to bed.

I've done that a few times. The entire apartment is in bed by one a.m. Frankly, I've gotten more words in between one and two a.m. than any other time of the day. thanks to the mental and physical quiet.

3) Do writing sprints.

This feeds right into my competitive streak. You don't even have to sprint with someone else. Just try to beat your previous word total from the last streak. Figure out a time that produces the optimum amount of words. For me, that's an hour. It could be more or less for you.

Those are my ways of coping with the stay-at-home orders. Anybody else find something that works for them?