Guest Post Re-Post: Originally posted 6/23/2014 on Indie Author How To as a guest post – part of my Black Orchid blog tour organized by Masquerade Crew.
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I had a lot of fun with this top 10 list. There were so many ways I could take it. My personal bad habits, my writing habits, my pet peeves for other’s bad habits, the bad habits I’m trying to train my kids out of. And so on. For fun, I decided to go with my personal top 10 bad habits. What’s funny is that these bother ME when I do them.
Nail Biting
It’s true. I’m a nail biter. It doesn’t tend to be a nervous habit. It’s more that my nails are more on the brittle side. If there’s a sharp edge anywhere, I can’t stop messing with it until I’ve worn that nail down. If I bother to file them, my nails can get quite long and lovely.
Dessert-aholic
I have a very bad sweet tooth. I’m known for it all my previous places of work. The trouble is, I have zero self-control if a dessert I like is anywhere near me. In a restaurant I have to order it. At home, I can’t stop eating it. It’s a problem.
Pencils
This is more of a weird pet peeve. I can’t stand the sound of a pencil writing. It’s this horrible scratchy sound. Nails on a chalkboard have nothing on a pencil on paper to me. Gives me the willies every time.
Going to Bed w/ Make Up On
As I get older and have moved to a dryer climate, this has become more detrimental to me. I’m horrible about washing my face at night. I’ll do everything else – brush, floss, wash my hands, etc. But I just can’t get the good habit of washing my face every night to stick. My poor skin.
Don’t Call Back/Email Back
I can be very slow to respond. I just depends on what mood you catch me in, how urgent it is, and how long it’s going to take me. Especially if you’re calling or emailing just to catch up. I love catching up, but until recently I was a working mom who also writes full time. Slammed. Sorry!
Speeding
All of my tickets are for speeding. It’s a horrible habit. I tend to be very good about it when my kids are in the car or if I’m in traffic of any sort. I’d feel horrible if I caused someone else pain. But when the roads are fairly empty, or especially on back roads where no one else is there, I fly.
All Over the Place
I have ADD. And with that, my focus can be all over the map. Especially when I don’t take my medicine. I rarely can sit and watch just one show at once, or do just one thing on my computer. The good side is that I tend to be super productive. But on the flip side, I can miss details.
Tunnel Vision
Another aspect of ADD is the ability to hyper-focus on certain things. This definitely happens to me – especially with writing. I can get so tunneled on something that an entire day will go by without me moving from one spot. The good news is, this works well for writing books!
Ms. Forgetful
Things tend to creep up on me. Oh? It’s already your birthday? Is Christmas already here? Oh that thing was yesterday? Woops! I’ve had to become uber-organized to stop this from happening consistently. Spreadsheets, calendars, and reminders are all my friends. And I’m great about deadlines, oddly. In fact, I work better under pressure. Weird right?
Ditsy-ness
Luckily it’s small things that I get ditsy about. I’m constantly misplacing things – my keys, my computer, my phone – anything that travels with me regularly. Not my kids yet – thank heaven. I lock myself out of vehicles a lot. I once locked my purse in someone else’s car. I’d gotten into the car thinking it was mine. It looked the same and they’d left it unlocked accidentally. Horribly embarrassing, but makes for good writing fodder.
So those are my bad habits. I have to say that, in looking at them, they’re pretty vanilla. I think the reason for that is that I’ve had a blessed and lucky life. I haven’t had to struggle with things like addiction or poverty or loss. And I thank God for that every day.
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