This is my first post on this forum, so I wanted to do something short and light.

What types of distractions interrupt you when you’re hammering away at your keyboard? The phone rings? Your significant other shouts at you from the other side of the house? Your cat comes in and plops down onto your keyboard?

Just when I’m on a roll clacking away, or deep into researching, posting on social media or any other writing-related activity, my German Shepherd strolls into the office carrying her ball. She drops it at my feet then comes up to me under the desk and gets into my business. I rub her snout, scratch behind her ears with one hand while trying to top off the sentence or finish the task at hand with the other.

Sometimes, I push her head away and redirect her off to the side. Normally, she climbs onto the nearby couch and proceeds to sit there, first looking at me, then at her ball, then back at me again. I say, “All right. All right. Just let me finish this and I’ll go out and throw the ball to you.”

Shepherds are too smart for their big ears! She understands, jumps off the couch, grabs her ball, and heads to the door. If I don’t get up right away, she stops at the door and looks back at me.

Oh, the life of a writer. If it’s not procrastination, writer’s block, it’s a German Shepherd getting in the way of my productivity!

How about you?