There is no doubt that there are tons of writing benefits. For us who make a writing living, the foremost one is making money to pay the bills.
But there’s more to writing than having an income, and science has something to say about that.
In an infographic put together by Global English Editing, the health benefits of writing are outlined. The premise is that writing benefits not only the mind, but the body and spirit as well. [Read more…]
Being a freelance writer means spending lots of time at home sitting in front of a computer. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have the opportunity to stay in shape. Because your time is a bit more flexible than the rest of the nine to five world, you have some other perks, if you’re willing to use them.
Related: Freelance Writers Have Health Insurance Options
When it comes to fitness and exercise, though some of you may have to learn how to push through the barrier of “I can’t do it” mindset, the actual keeping in shape part really isn’t all that difficult.
Consider the following five ways for remote workers to stay in shape. [Read more…]
The topic of work-life balance is a real problem, for both regular employees and freelancers. It is such a huge issue that countless studies have been done about it.
It’s easy enough to say that a freelancer can achieve a good work-life balance better than those who have day jobs, but that may not be the case. Due to the flexibility that freelancers have, the line between work and personal life becomes blurred. Some people may have problems working too much, while others become too lax when it comes to work.
Usually, however, the problem is that the imbalance is due to spending more time on work and neglecting personal life. As you may have experienced, this can have disastrous results.
What are some adverse effect of work-life imbalance?
These three points are umbrella effects that can be broken down into so many other problems that point to one thing: there is nothing positive about having work-life imbalance.
How do you know if your work-life balance is askew?
Asking yourself a few questions can help you determine your situation.
If your answer to these questions is yes, then your work-life balance needs some fixing.
You can also ask the people closest to you what they think. They have an outsider’s point of view, which can discern behaviors that you may not realize.
What can you do?
Short answer: work less.
But it’s never that easy, is it? You need to come up with a plan with a specific goal and concrete actions to reach that goal.
Here are some ideas.
So, have you assessed your work-life balance lately? How is it?
I’ve come to realize that the freelance writing lifestyle is not as healthy as one would like to think so. Sure, you avoid the pollution by having to commute to work every day. You also avoid the stress of having to deal with irritating co-workers face to face (although that is easily replaced by other stress factors at home).
On the other hand, even the most introverted person needs some social interaction. Staying within the boundaries of your home is not healthy, too. That’s why I mentioned before that it’s good to occasionally work outside.
However, there are bad days when one just can’t seem to get anything done, and even with the knowledge that changing one’s surroundings will help, one just can’t muster enough energy – or desire – to go out.
Today was one of those days for me.
The day started out pretty good, but by lunch time, I was running on fumes. I couldn’t get a single coherent sentence together. I couldn’t get my ideas to make sense. Heck, I couldn’t even manage to read an email without getting agitated!
Disclaimer: I’m sometimes over irritable/sensitive/anxious like that.
As usual, I tried to slug my way out of it. That’s how I roll. I force myself to stay in front of the computer and get things done. After an hour or so of fighting off a headache, trying to actually work, and about 5 cups of coffee, however, a thought suddenly occurred to me: maybe I should take a nap!
I don’t know about you, but as much as I love to nap, I try to avoid it during the work day simply because I want to finish my tasks as early as possible so I can enjoy a relaxing evening. This afternoon, my body and mind gave in. I didn’t even think of the consequences as I went to the bedroom, turned the AC on, put Vivaldi on, and turned the lights off.
An hour later, guess what?
I woke up, not feeling all perky and chirpy, but I felt so much better. I didn’t jump right back into work, but I did make myself another cup of coffee and a PBJ and settled down on the sofa.
After that, my focus was back, the looming headache gone, and my irritability levels down (somewhat).
I don’t know if you regularly take naps during the day, but I wrote this for those of you who may be like me who try as hard as possible to just keep working no matter what. I know there is always work to be done. There are clients to be satisfied, deadlines to be met.
If you do not listen to what you body (perhaps the mind, too) is telling you, though, you might end up burning out, and that’s definitely no good. The next time you feel really off, maybe you ought to consider giving yourself a break and taking a nap.
Oh, and if you think one nap’s just good as any other nap, here’s an interesting article about power naps that might just teach you a lesson or two.
How do you deal with “off days”?
Writing for a living means, by necessity, keeping your eyes constantly glued on your monitor, laptop or tablet for many hours each day. Given the implied risks of having strained eyes, taking the time to treat them nicely can only help you to avoid nasty side effects of eye strain, which is very important for us writers and bloggers. [Read more…]
