Creating a Steel-Walled Bomb Shelter to Get Some Work Done

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Sometimes the only way to get anything done is to isolate yourself in what I call a “bomb shelter,” where if anyone wants to get in and keep you from working on your business, they will have to go through 6 feet of steel walls before they can reach you and poison your work with the most toxic, radioactive substance known to man, which I call “Distractonite.”

Though my square jaw and single curl of hair on my forehead may liken my appearance to Superman, I freely admit to a secret weakness — Distractonite. It’s caused by people, ads, moving objects, TV screens, phones, emails, blips, beeps, sounds, windows, etc. Being A.D.D. is fun enough as it is without having outside distractions going neck and neck with the voices inside my head.

So when you’ve absolutely got to get some work done…HIDE. Bury yourself somewhere deep in the bowels of the earth where no one can find you, and where the creeping clouds of distractonite can’t penetrate and asphyxiate you. Sometimes I go outside, or to the library, or to my car, or (my favorite) go to some slow-paced, quiet restaurant like the Flying J or IHOP and just crank it out (facing the wall and making clear to the waitress that I won’t be needing anything else for the remainder of my time there, of course).

Virtually any article I’ve ever written, as well as The Assistant Who Pays Their Own Salary, has been birthed in a cloud of coffee, butter, and bacon aromas. I challenge each of you to find your bomb shelter to use when you need to get away from it all, concentrate on what you’re doing, and finally get some real work done.