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Self Care is Important for Writers
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Writing can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s not simple work! A lot of writers end up dealing with a lot of stress and emotional instability in their personal lives and their writing lives. It’s important to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally, if you want to remain healthy and able to continue writing for the long haul! Self Care is as important to a writer as the desk they work from. Learn why and read about some helpful resources for maintaining your mental health.Here are some ways to keep yourself sane as a writer so that you can avoid burnout, anxiety, or other emotional problems related to your writing career.
Develop Good Habits
This should come as no surprise, but good habits make all of us feel better. And we already know that writers have enough to worry about—no need for you to worry about your health, too. Write at least three healthy habits and give yourself a week or two (depending on how bad things are) to incorporate them into your life.
Remember: if you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t do your best work. Setting up small, daily goals is one of many ways to improve your self-care habits. Here are some ideas: drink more water; walk around while you talk on the phone; meditate after breakfast. Make these changes one at a time, so they don’t seem like much extra work and before long, they will be part of who you are!
Eat Better
Give your body what it needs for optimum energy with healthy, nutrient-rich foods. Simple carbs and processed foods can leave you feeling lethargic and sluggish, making it hard to get into a creative groove. Eat plenty of vegetables and lean protein so you have plenty of energy for writing, taking care of yourself, or just playing with your kids. It also helps to eat mindfully. For every meal, make sure you’re not distracted by work or other obligations. Finally, slow down. Eating fast can lead to unhealthy weight gain over time due to increased calorie consumption.
Everything in Moderation
Don’t be afraid to indulge now and then; sometimes that chocolate chip cookie really hits the spot. Just make sure you monitor your portions and stay within a reasonable limit most of the time. And if all else fails? Move! Physical activity is absolutely necessary for brain health besides keeping excess pounds at bay. Keep in mind that food is fuel—your body will run best when it has quality fuel (both in terms of quantity and quality). It’s important to take good care of yourself even if you don’t feel like doing much else! You want all your energy focused on writing!
Do whatever helps you achieve optimal productivity without compromising your health too much–and see a doctor if something gets worse instead of better! Besides aiding your health, seeing a doctor could prevent serious future problems from developing.
Exercise
It’s no secret that regular exercise is good for you, but how much exercise do you need? If you want to write regularly and consistently, it’s best if you try to get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (or 20 minutes of intense-intensity exercise) every day. The key with exercising is variety—do lots of different things! And don’t forget about strength training: You need it too.
Staying physically fit will also improve your posture. That can help prevent or ease back pain when typing for long periods of time. Workout routines should include exercises for your legs, abdomen, lower back and upper body; consider doing stretches before each workout.
Breathing exercises are also beneficial. They help reduce stress and strengthen respiratory muscles by filling lungs with more oxygen than normal breathing allows. Regular exercise helps combat disease and makes recovery easier after an illness has set in. Also helps relieve stress, which directly relates to anxiety and depression. These are among many issues writers face frequently during their career. Exercise releases endorphins which make us feel happy; they become naturally triggered by vigorous movement such as fast running or even jumping up and down while playing sports like tennis or soccer.
Have a Routine
When you’re writing every day, it’s important to have some sort of routine. Some writers enjoy working during specific hours of the day. Many need absolute silence, while others prefer lots of background noise. Maybe you work better outside or perhaps sitting in your pajamas works best for you. There are no hard and fast rules—maybe one day it takes five minutes and another day it takes ten hours. If you don’t stick with a routine that works for you, things will probably go haywire. That said, there’s no reason routines shouldn’t change over time—there’s nothing wrong with trying something new! Just evaluate whether something works before going all-in on it.
Build in Writing Breaks
Every day, take some time to do something unrelated to writing that you enjoy. For many people, it’s walking or stretching after sitting still for hours on end. If those things don’t appeal to you, play a quick game of pool or go work out at your local gym. It may surprise you how little time it takes before you feel rejuvenated enough to keep working on your project with new enthusiasm. One essential aspect of surviving as a writer is balancing non-writing activities with your work life. Planning daily writing sessions can lead to writer’s block and burnout.
Instead, schedule your writing breaks into each day and make sure they actually happen. Spend five minutes of every hour doing something unrelated to writing (besides eating or drinking). Give yourself space from your work and you’ll increase your focus when it’s time for focused work. If you find yourself tempted to do non-writing activities during these breaks—go ahead! Walk around and stretch. Get some water. Breathe in nature. Just be sure not to get lost on YouTube or Twitter. For many writers, limiting screen time helps reduce distractions while they’re trying to get words down on paper.
Keep a Journal
Keeping a journal is also an excellent way to get through that writer’s block. The very act of putting thoughts on paper will often spark ideas for story ideas, characters, and plot twists—plus it keeps you practicing your writing skills. By switching off between working on projects and keeping a journal, you can keep yourself sane while still accomplishing work. You might even surprise yourself with some unexpected insights that come during journaling.
There will be periods when you need to sit still and think, such as during an airplane flight. Take advantage of them by journaling about how your story is going so far and what could happen next. The more you write when you don’t need to, even if it’s just one page per week, will help keep ideas flowing and stop the creative block from taking hold!
Don’t Compare Yourself
It’s easy to compare yourself to others who seem more successful. But what seems like failing is often just part of an upward trajectory. A writer who has only published one book isn’t less successful than a writer with multiple books under her belt; she’s simply behind on her career path, and there’s no shame in that. If you feel defeated by someone else’s success, stop and remember that you are where you need to be right now. All of your experiences (even those without obvious value) will bring you where you need to go in due time.
It’s easy to get sucked into comparing yourself to other writers. You see someone with a book deal or six-figure advance and want to know how you could get there—but making comparisons just makes things worse. Don’t compare your rough draft to other people’s finished novels; instead, focus on how far you’ve come. And always remember that everyone has their own journey—and every person’s path is different! Don’t compare yours to anyone else’s. Instead, focus on personal growth over time and celebrate your successes along the way. Remember: Imitation doesn’t make for better writing; it only reinforces bad habits that will keep you from ever becoming successful!
Join a Writers Group
Whether you’re just starting out or have been in it for years, writing can be one of the most isolating professions. People don’t always understand what you do—and why you love it so much—and that can make dealing with rejection and criticism especially hard. But support networks can come in many forms, and some writers find that regular meet-ups with other writers are an essential part of keeping themselves sane.
There are several ways to find or start a group that meets up locally. You might also consider joining your local branch of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) where there are groups dedicated to different writing, such as young adult fiction, middle grade fiction or picture books. While these groups don’t focus on critiquing each others’ work (though they certainly will if desired), they provide mutual support and encouragement.
Writers groups offer members opportunities to network through sharing contacts, events and social media. Other communities like Mastodon’s WritersCoffeeClub also offer online communities in which people share ideas and critique works online rather than face-to-face. And for those who prefer more tactile interactions, workshops run by publishers often offer lots of useful advice from published authors about how to stay motivated, write more consistently and engage readers from a wide range of genres.
De-clutter Your Workspace and Mindset
Clutter can stress us out, take up our attention, and force us to postpone things in order to make way for something else. De-cluttering your physical environment and your mind will help you find peace of mind and get more done—especially if you’re prone to procrastination. The first step is knowing where to start: use some sort of productivity app or plain old pen and paper to break down your projects into manageable chunks.
Get started by letting go of what doesn’t matter right now, mentally (and physically) decluttering whatever space that project takes up in your life/minds, then setting realistic goals for each small task along with deadlines to keep yourself on track. Procrastinators are often perfectionists; focus instead on getting stuff done rather than being perfect at it. Prioritize tasks by writing them down, putting them into lists or with colors/labels/etc., so that you can quickly see what needs doing next (as opposed to having an anxiety attack about it). Similarly, keeping yourself organized helps manage stress and feel accomplished!
Prioritize Health
The benefits of self-care are many, but there’s one in particular that appeals to me: it can positively impact my creative output. If I’m feeling mentally and physically healthy, I’ll be able to produce higher quality content consistently. When we release stress, we have more space for creativity. It is worth it for me—and you—to devote time and energy to caring for ourselves each day.
-R.E.