Finding Your Place (To Write) by Dylan Jacobson

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If you’re anything like me, it can be hard to really get yourself to sit down and start writing. It’s easy to perceive this as having a lack of ideas or writer’s block, but I think more often than not, it’s actually about the environment you’re working in. 

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my first couple of years at Rowan was trying to do all of my school work at home in my bedroom. I’m sure it varies by person, but by doing the work in the same place I sleep and relax, even if I’m writing for pleasure or doing a personal project for fun, I’ll find myself sitting in my room for extended periods of time making no progress. Your brain gets used to doing and feeling certain ways in certain places, so it’s hard to suddenly get yourself to start writing/working in the same place that your brain is used to doing something else. Because of this, it’s important to find the setting you work best in.

Personally, my writing/work place is the cafe in the Rowan University Barnes & Noble. I find I work better when there are people around me, with the chattering serving as white noise to really let me focus. Routine is important, and by coming here repeatedly to do all of my writing, my brain knows when I sit down and open my laptop there that it’s time to shift gears and lock in.

One of the great things about Rowan’s campus is that there are a lot of options for places to sit and write, whether you want somewhere quiet to work, or if you want the presence of others around you. Try different locations out, and I think you’ll pretty quickly find your place.