To live a good life, do excellent work, and give as much to the world as you can, you need to care for yourself first. It’s like the rule for using the oxygen masks on airlines: You have to put yours on before you help the person next to you.
It’s hard for writers to know when they need self-care. We have unique problems with this. For example:
- Most of us have less time to write than we would like, so when we do have time, we want to spend all of it writing.
- We often struggle with procrastination, and taking time for self-care can feel like procrastination, even when it’s not.
- It’s hard to tell when that urge for a break means you need a well-deserved breather and when it’s just a way to distract yourself.
- Many of us believe we should just keep plugging even when our brains feel like wastelands. Stepping away can feel like giving up.
Being aware of when you need self-care and taking the time for it is an essential part of a joyful—and successful—writing life. Here are some things to watch for:
1. Trying to do too many things at once. You have two blog posts to write. You need to get those poems out. You agreed to look at a friend’s story. You’ve got an editing gig. And then there’s the novel you’re determined to finish by December.You have too many plates spinning.
2. Feeling guilty. I’m not getting enough work done. I’m not writing every day. I’m not finishing stuff fast enough. I shouldn’t be going out tonight—I have an essay to write.
3. Panicking. That feeling that the world is closing in on you, that you’re never going to do enough or be enough. The sense that you can’t get your bearings. It’s panic. And it’s telling you to take time for self-care.
4. Not being able to remember the last time you played. Many of us think of play as wasting time—but we couldn’t be more wrong. Play stimulates creativity and is good for brain health. Plus it’s fun, which is reason enough.
5. Being tired. The dumbest advice any writer has ever heard is to create writing time by getting up fifteen minutes early. This is so important, I feel the need to shout it: DO NOT CUT BACK ON SLEEP TO WRITE. If you are tired because you aren’t sleeping enough, or because you are stressed or not eating well or for any other reason—you need to change what you are doing right now.
6. Never taking time to simply sit and breathe. Whether you have a formal meditation practice or simply spend a few minutes now and then to just be, the basic act of breathing and focusing on the moment is essential to well being. If you never do it, you are not fully taking care of yourself.
Here is my public service announcement for inadequate self-care:
Be Aware of the Warning Signs! Take the time to take care of yourself.
Your writing will thank you.
Thank you for the insightful article. I remember when I had a mundane job and my thoughts were my own. I was so much happier then. We often let things get in the way of our “real” lives much to our dismay and confusion as to why we feel depressed or just not ourselves.
I’m glad you liked the post, Mike. Thanks for your comment.