It’s not just for research (and procrastinating) anymore!

Back in November, we ran a whole series on little ways to psych yourself up for your story. Since then, I’ve found another way I really like.

I recently switched my browser from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome. It’s a few months in and I’m still getting used to it, but there is at least one feature I really like: an add-on called Incredible StartPage. Whenever you open a new tab or empty web browser, it loads a set of links/information that you might need: your bookmarks, your Chrome apps, your recently closed tabs, a set of notepads, links to your email and calendar, and a picture.

You can use the default picture from Flickr, or you can set up a custom picture. I decided to set up my Incredible StartPage to help fire me up to write. Since I like making covers for my WIPs, I resized the cover for the book I was writing or revising at the time:

Notice the little note to self: Shouldn’t you be working? It shows up every time I open another tab for more research.

There are lots of other ways to use your browser to get you back to writing. When I was on Firefox, I used an extension called LeechBlock to limit the time I spent on time-sucking websites. I loved how flexible it was: you could allot yourself a certain number of minutes per hour to use your web-based email or social networking sites (you specify which sites to block!), pick the days of the week, select the time of day, or block certain sites altogether!

I haven’t tried any of the similar apps in Chrome, but StayFocusd comes highly recommended.

What little tricks do you use to get excited for your story every day?

PS: a special reveal today. This month as part of the Authors Incognito March-a-thon, I set a goal to write a new book. And of course, I made a cover. So here’s a tiny peek at the book I should be finishing tomorrow!