It’s especially hard when you value and practice a writing habit. And like all habits, if practiced to the extreme it can start to be harmful. Exercise is good, but you can’t exercise 24 hours a day or your body will fall apart.

So, it’s important to build in times of rest when you take a break from writing. The breaks can be just as important as the times when you’re active. Without breaks, your creativity doesn’t have time to marinate.

Plus, nobody likes a workaholic or someone who only talks and thinks about their work all the time. It’s not good to live an unbalanced life.

So, make sure to take a break. Your health, mental energy, and your very life might depend upon it. These next few days after Christmas are a great opportunity to relax, take a breather, and catch your breath. There’s more to life than getting more writing done.

Question: How do you plan on spending the next few days before New Year’s?

The post Take a Break appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

It’s especially hard when you value and practice a writing habit. And like all habits, if practiced to the extreme, it can start to be harmful. Exercise is good, but you can’t exercise 24 hours a day or your body will fall apart.

So, it’s important to build in times of rest when you take a break from writing. The breaks can be just as important as the times when you’re active. Without breaks, your creativity doesn’t have time to marinate.

Plus, nobody likes a workaholic or someone who only talks and thinks about their work all the time. It’s not good to live an unbalanced life.

So, make sure to take a break. Your health, mental energy, and your very life might depend upon it. There’s more to life than getting more writing done.

Daily Question: How often do you build in breaks to your writing routine?

The post Take a Break appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Most people listening to this podcast are located in the United States, so let me focus on that crowd for a second.

Part of our culture here in the U.S. is what we call the “Protestant work ethic.” Even though not everyone is religious, or even Protestant, we still abide by this standard today. The Protestant work ethic basically says that we believe the way to a more fulfilled and God-honoring life is by working ourselves to death.

Americans love, love, love to work. While many other countries take a more balanced approach to life, Americans measure themselves by how much their work and achieve. It’s true in many other parts of the world as well, but it’s especially prominent in the U.S.

This attitude carries over to our writing as well. We feel a tremendous sense of guilt if we’re not creating or producing on the level we feel we should. But is the solution to being more effective and creative just working more? Or is there another way?

Anne Lamott said, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes—including you.” What great advice. If you’re feeling burned out or tired, don’t try writing more. Try taking a nap or unwinding—anything to reset your physical, mental, and emotional thermostat.

As they say, sometimes less is more. There is no glory and honor in working yourself to death. Unplugging for a while might be the very best use of your time right now.

Daily Question: If you’re feeling burned out, what is a way you can unplug in the next 24 hours?

The post Stop Trying to Be Productive appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.