Keeping up with these practices ensures that I take the needed breaks away from writing throughout the day and keeps me in tune with my needs. These five practices are quick and easy, so I can be consistent. 

There is a long list of health and self-care practices to choose from. These are the ones I have found most important and beneficial for me. Of course, I’d recommend giving them a try yourself, but everybody is different. You have to figure out what works best for you. 

What practices best fit your needs, schedule, and lifestyle so that you can stay happy and healthy as you write? 

1. Spend Time Outside 

I’ve learned the hard way that fresh air and sunshine are essential to being a functional human being. I’ve gone through periods where I was only outside long enough to get to work and back, spending the rest of the day under artificial lights, staring at computer screens. No wonder I was always too depressed and exhausted to write. 

Eventually, I wised up and started taking walks on my lunch break and saw drastic changes in my mood and energy levels. 

Working mostly from home now, I can easily go days without leaving the house. During the warmer months, it’s easier to get outside: working in the garden, barbecuing, or sitting on the porch to read. 

But winters are much harder. I’ve had to push myself into the habit of taking short daily walks. Often tricking myself by spreading out errands over the course of a couple of days. One day I’ll do my grocery shopping, the next a run to the library, and then another I’ll treat myself to a mini shopping spree at the dollar store. 

2. Move My Body 

I can spend hours sitting in the same position in front of a computer, tv, or reading a book. But it wreaks havoc on my body. Especially, when I’m hard at work and focused on writing. 

Maybe it’s just me but does it seem like the more intensely focused on writing you are, the more you hunch over your keyboard? 

Even with good posture, it’s not good for anybody to be in the same position for hours. I always end up feeling stiff, achy, and sore, which drains my motivation to jump back to writing the next day. 

To help prevent the stiffness, I’ve begun starting my day with a few minutes of stretching and maybe even a short yoga session. I’ll usually do it after journaling and before I really get into serious writing, otherwise I lose track of time and forget. 

After a couple of hours of writing, late morning or early afternoon I’m ready for a break. I’d like to say I work out every day, but that’s not true. While I do squeeze in a few short workouts a week, most often I just walk. I enjoy it and I can kill two birds with one stone, moving my body and getting outside. 

It’s one of the best things I can do for my writing. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a writing epiphany during these walks and came back home even more excited about whatever I was writing. 

3. Treat Myself 

I make sure that every day I find a way to treat myself. I change it up from day to day. It’s usually something small and spontaneous to reward myself for a good writing day or as comfort when things haven’t been going so well. Most often it’s something I can pick up from the local dollar store, a piece of candy, a pen, or cheap art supplies. 

Some days I’ll plan ahead and use it as something to look forward to, a favorite meal, an indulgent dessert, or a long hot bath. 

Regardless, it keeps me motivated to accomplish whatever goal I set for the day. 

When I have had a particularly bad day or week, I’ll give myself an afternoon or even a whole day off to binge whatever show I’m currently obsessed with. It might sound counterproductive, but sometimes we all really just need to give ourselves a break.

4. Embrace Silence and Stillness

I used to be the kind of person that always needed background noise. I’d write, read, and work with music or the TV on to fill in the silence. It’s taken me many years and many abandoned daily meditation practices to really learn how to enjoy and embrace stillness and silence. 

I was a victim of the busy mindset, thinking that to be productive I should always be doing something. This was especially discouraging when writing was hard, and it felt like I was spending more time thinking about writing instead of actually writing. But I’ve come to understand that quieting my brain can help me connect with my creativity and reach a state of flow. 

Every morning before I even take my first sip of coffee, I’ll sit and just do nothing for a few minutes. I try not to think about anything, take a couple of deep breaths and just sit with that silence. 

If I can remember, I’ll repeat it throughout the day when switching from one task to another. Again, I’ll just take a couple of breaths and try to clear my mind before moving on to something new. 

5. Read for Fun 

I was a bookworm from a very young age and was naturally drawn to writing. My desire to write was a direct result of my love of reading. But somewhere along the way, it became a requirement of the job and not something simply for enjoyment. I learned that you needed to read like a writer, interpreting words/lines/sentences, identifying themes, and picking apart the craft elements that made a piece of writing work. 

I’m always reading a couple of books at once. Often it will include a writing craft book, nonfiction research, and writing similar to what I am working on. While I do enjoy reading these books, sometimes it feels too much like work. I get bogged down when I go to pick up a book and think about how it can be applied to my writing. 

I offset this feeling by keeping at least one book handy that I’m reading simply because I know I will enjoy reading it. Even if I only get to read a chapter or two a day, it’s nice to read something just for fun. 

Tell us in the comments: What do you do to stay happy, healthy, and writing?

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Alexis M. Collazo writes in a wide variety of styles, forms, and genres. She’s worked as a freelance writer, copywriter, and content marketing blogger. She is currently working on a memoir written in prose and poetry. After moving to Pennsylvania in 2016, she worked at the local public library where she led monthly writing workshops. In 2021, she was certified as an Amherst Writers and Artists workshop facilitator. She now leads online workshops and hosts write-in sessions, to see current or upcoming events visit www.alexismcollazo.com.

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I love decluttering, and I do it on a regular basis a few times a year, so removing clutter from my home isn’t something I need help with. What I’d love is for someone to come and declutter my brain. Imagine a Kon-Mari method where the result is a reduction of mental clutter, prompting changes in focus and reprioritized lives. Doesn’t that feel like something you need in your life?

Well, I’m no Marie Kondo, and I’m not about to be signed for a Netflix show titled Declutter Your Brain with Leanne Sowul, but I can share with you a five- step method that helps me lose my mental clutter and focus on what’s truly important.

Step 1: Do A “Brain Dump”

What to do:

Find a private space, then take out your phone and start your voice recorder app. Then talk out every thought or concern buzzing around your head. Keep talking until you feel completely emptied out. As you address each concern, try to hit on why it’s bugging you and follow the worry to its natural end. Then try to pivot to a potential solution to the problem. For example: “I’m worried about what my supervisor is going to say about the project I just turned in. Her feedback is so unpredictable, and that makes me nervous. I’ll calm my nerves by reminding myself that I did my best work, and by thinking up a few key points to defend my project if she pushes back on me.”

Why it works:

Stream-of-consciousness talking gets all your worries out in the open, which helps you to diffuse stress.

Tips:

The voice recorder part is important. You must talk out loud to truly rid yourself of all of your worries, and it’s easier to talk to something than into thin air. You can delete the recording immediately afterward.

Step 2: Write a List (or two, three, four…)

What to do:

Make a list of every nagging task that’s been distracting you. Jot it all down on one paper or document as fast as you can. It’ll be like microwave popcorn: first your thoughts will pop fast, then the pops will slow as you reach further into your mind. But don’t stop until every kernel has been excavated. After it’s all on paper, organize it into multiple lists: things to do, things to buy, issues to discuss with your supervisor, plans to schedule. You’re not just decluttering your mind; you’re also finding shiny new boxes to put your thoughts in!

Why it works:

It puts all the little things that have been bugging you into black-and-white, which makes them feel more manageable.

Tips:

Use scrap paper during the initial jotting so you don’t feel the need to write neatly or justify the use of a pretty notebook. You can always go neat and fancy when you’re organizing your lists in the second step.

Step 3: Distance Yourself

What to do:

This is the part where you step back from the emotional clutter you excavated in Step 1 and the practical, task-oriented clutter you unearthed in Step 2. Take some time to distance yourself from your clutter and enjoy the newfound space in your mind. I recommend meditating, taking a walk, or doing a creative project during this time.

Why it works:

You’ll begin to see all of those nagging tasks and worries as something separate from you, which will make them easier to release.

Tips:

Don’t rush this step. Your mental clutter will still be there after you’ve gotten some perspective.  

Step 4: Delegate Tasks

What to do:

Is there something on your to-do list that you don’t have to do personally? Assign the task to a co-worker, a helpful friend, a spouse, or a capable child. (Take note: delegation comes more naturally to men than women; women should see this as a skill worth cultivating.)

You could also outsource some of your work. Signing up for a laundry or cleaning service can have a highly positive effect on mental clutter, because those tasks are recurring and are made up of several smaller individual tasks that weigh on your mind (sort clothes, load washer, set timer to swap the clothes into the dryer, etc…)

Why it works:

It frees up your time and allows your mind to focus on deeper work.

Tips:

Throwing money at a problem only works if it results in permanently removing it from your to-do list. If you sign up for a grocery service that requires you to be home during a four-hour window, you may be trading one frustration for another.

Step 5: Forget the Rest

What to do:

Look over the lists you made in step 2. Is there anything on there that you can simply drop? If it’s neither urgent (like getting an oil change) nor important (like making a will), does it need to be done? Chances are, if it’s been lingering on your list for a long time, it doesn’t truly need to be there.

Then consider the brain dump you did in step 1. Are there any worries that you can release? (YES!) Put yourself in the mindset of accepting the things you can’t change so that you can let go of unnecessary emotional baggage.

Why it works:

Letting go of unimportant tasks and distracting worries allows you to focus on the things that are truly important.

Tips:

If you’re having trouble releasing a task or a worry, try writing it down and then destroying the paper as a symbol of your release.

What are your favorite methods for reducing mental clutter? If you have anything to add, please leave a comment. I’d love to expand these five steps. Hey, you never know— maybe Declutter Your Brain with Leanne Sowul will actually be a thing!

Leanne Sowul is a writer and teacher from the Hudson Valley region of New York. She’s the curator of the website Words From The Sowul and authors the “Be Well, Write Well” column for DIY MFA. She writes historical fiction and personal essay, for which she won the Scott Meyer Award in 2017; her work is represented by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary Agency. Connect with her at leannesowul(at)gmail(dot)com, at Facebook.com/sowulwords, or on Twitter @sowulwords.

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Every failure, every good circumstance turned sour, every unmet expectation or unfulfilled dream is another opportunity to get to know ourselves better. Our thoughts and actions, how we react to others and even how we treat ourselves is integral to our creativity and our writing.

In the nearly four years that followed after that first session, I dedicated time every week both with and without my therapist to parse through who I was and who I was becoming. During that time I felt my imagination open up in ways I never knew possible because of how well I was learning to understand me and my motivations, which in turn helped me better understand others and theirs. As a result of that learning and knowing, I was inspired to:

Write Fuller Characters

When I’m nervous or anxious about something, I tend to hold my breath. My therapist had to keep reminding me to breathe whenever I spoke about something that made me uncomfortable or vulnerable. I also speak very quickly when I fear judgement from others, so sometimes I run through things as fast as possible to get them over with.

These quirks continued to pop up as time went on and eventually, I began to observe similar behaviors in my friends and family, and how they interacted with each other and themselves. Some of my characters now hold a few of these traits, which gives them a depth they’d always been missing. The main character of my novel, for example, holds her breath when she’s anxious and runs when she’s emotionally overwhelmed.

Creative exercise: Pay attention to how you interact with others and yourself. Make note of your body position, if there are phrases you repeat again and again. And be sure to pay attention to others’ interactions, as well. These small signatures in language and body can help inspire how you write characters in stories, and how they respond to others and the circumstances they’re in. Engaging in this learning will help deepen your characters on the page because they’ll hold a shared human experience with your readers.

Tell More Detailed Stories

As a storyteller, having a captive audience of one for a full hour every week was everything to me. I got to tell my therapist the stories I wanted to tell, in my own way, from my own perspective. The issue, however, was that I usually gave my therapist the “big picture.” I spun a good yarn, but the finer more substantive details were things I’d leave out. Though a lot of that had to do with my lack of self-confidence, it was also an issue of keeping those details all to myself because I either assumed they were obvious or I thought they weren’t worth noting. But once I started adding in those details, my stories on the page and to my therapist drew richer pictures and held more meaning.

Creative exercise: Try picking up on the tiniest of details wherever you go, from the location to the people to the general mood. Each note can help inspire unique details for your stories that give audiences one-of-a-kind insight into how both you and your characters think, and what is most important. Additionally, these small observations can be fodder for building upon older worlds in your stories and creating new ones.

Learn the Ultimate Why

One of my most stark memories during those nearly four years in therapy was a moment in time where I was easily irritated by my best friend. Any and everything she did, I found something to complain about or feel agitated by, even when her behaviors weren’t directed at me. It wasn’t until a few weeks after it started happening that, on my own, I was able to parse through why.

She was confident, beautiful and beloved, all things I couldn’t see or refused to believe were true about myself. So, anything she did was irksome. But once I discovered why I was responding that way, it helped me understand my feelings weren’t about her. They were about me. That period’s now long behind us, but because of it I gained an invaluable creative tool for my stories.

Creative exercise: Try thinking about your own ultimate whys. Why do you really talk to a certain person? Why do you eat foods you don’t like? Why do you feel hurt more than you think you should? Everytime you answer a question, challenge yourself to go a little bit deeper. Write one more sentence, like someone is asking you to tell them more, then write another one. Keep going until there’s nothing left to say. Then try the same thing with your characters’ thoughts and actions. Doing this can help inspire not only their ultimate whys, but also your story’s, and deepen a reader’s connection to your work.

Though I didn’t know it at the time, that first break up was perhaps one of the best things that could’ve happened to me. It was the catalyst to beginning the process of self-examination and pulling apart 20-something years worth of brokenness while more fully understanding what it means to be human.

Knowing and learning about yourself is one of the best and most important things you can do for the sake of your own health and the health of those around you, but also for the health of your imagination and creativity. Because when you know yourself, you’re more open to being inspired by the relatable and empathetic characters in your own life, and can create stories on the page that truly resonate.

Jenn Walton is a writer, editor and storyteller based in Washington, D.C., whose fiction works are housed mainly in the speculative genre. She is currently working on her first novel project that explores, through the lens of a failing utopia, what happens when society gives in to its fear of the other. She previously wrote for a communications firm where she drafted and edited sponsored and organic content for top-tier academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies and leading philanthropic organizations that has run in The Washington Post, USA Today and the Atlantic. For more from Jenn, please visit her at her website or on Twitter.

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But what if you were simply free to express yourself as you write, and not worry about anything?

This is the gist of writing therapy, a type of therapy that has been shown to be rewarding both mentally and physically. Writing therapy can foster personal growth by supporting self-awareness, empathy and understanding. Want to learn some ways you can get started with writing therapy? Read on.

1) Expressive writing

This type of writing has been shown to be immensely beneficial. However, while initially there may be some discomfort when writing about your traumas and bad memories, allowing yourself to face the trauma and to feel the associated emotions will help you gain insight and relief.

Write down your deepest thoughts and feelings about a traumatic event or bad memory. Explore how it affected you in your life. You may write for as little as five minutes, or as long as twenty minutes.If a trauma is still raw, and you feel overwhelmed, it may be too soon to deal with it through writing.

Physical health has been found to improve through expressive writing. Some examples include:

• Reduction in resting blood pressure levels
• Improved mobility and reduced pain in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
• Reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms among patients with maladaptive rumination.
• Reduction in depression symptoms, trauma-related cognitions, and behavioural problems in children with post traumatic stress disorder.
• Decrease in disease symptoms and improvement in cognition in irritable bowel syndrome patients with longer term disease.
• Reduced healthcare visits and reduction in physical symptoms in patients with colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer.
• Improvements in lung function in adult asthma patients.
• Immune functioning was found to be boosted with expressive writing. HIV/AIDS patients who wrote about negative life experiences produced higher CD4 lymphocyte counts. In another study, people who wrote about traumatic experiences before receiving the hepatitis B vaccine had a stronger immune response, producing more antibodies.

It is important to note that both Dr. Pennebaker, one of the major researchers on expressive writing, and Dr. Susan Lutgendorf, a health psychology researcher who has also done research on the subject, stress that in order for expressive writing therapy to yield benefits, people must find meaning in the traumatic memories, and to allow oneself to feel all the associated emotions.

2) Gratitude Journaling

Write down what you are grateful for in a journal once or twice a week, on a regular basis. Doing so will increase your sense of happiness and well being.

Gratitude induces brain activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, areas which are associated with moral cognition, value judgement, and theory of mind. Dr. Emmons has found that counting blessings through gratitude journaling can have a positive effect on the subjective well-being of participants. Gratitude can help you sleep better, care for your own health, and help reduce depression.

Tips by Dr. Emmons:

• Be motivated to truly feel gratitude.
• Rather than exhaustively list the many things you are grateful for, explain in detail the reasons for your gratitude about particular things.
• You may write about things and people you are grateful for, but when you focus on people, it tends to be more effective.
• Write about what your life would be like without particular blessings.
• Unexpected or surprising events of goodness can provoke a stronger reaction of gratitude.
• Don’t do too much gratitude journaling, because you can become adapted to positive things. Writing in your gratitude journal once or twice per week is sufficient.

3) Letter Writing

Sometimes you may not get the closure you need in a relationship, or have feelings towards someone you still need to express, whether it may be anger, sadness, resentment, or love. Write it all down as a letter. You can keep it stored away somewhere in your desk, burn it, or send it. It’s up to you. All that matters is that you won’t be the one carrying the burden anymore.

4) Poetry Writing

It can be fun and therapeutic to create a poem. This is because you can draw material from your own life experiences, and express yourself through symbolism, metaphor, and philosophy. You can share the poem with others as well. You may discover new perspectives and meaning for your experiences through poetry writing.

For instance, palliative care patients as well as health care professionals have been able to use poetry to find meaning and perspective in cases of “serious illnesses and losses towards the end of life”.

5) Reflective Journaling

In your reflective diary/journal, write down your positive or negative experiences, any associated thoughts, and what you learned from these experiences. A reflective journal can be used for a class, or for an event that you participate in. You can keep a reflective journal for everyday life too. In any case, write down your observations, thoughts and ideas as soon as possible. Always have your journal close by, and make it a habit to produce regular entries.

It will be rewarding when you look over entries made previously and realize how far you’ve come, and how much knowledge and insight you’ve gained since. This type of journaling has been found to encourage critical thinking and self reflection. Classes which incorporated reflective journaling have been found to yield positive results, such as cultural humility.

As you can see, there are many different ways to benefit from writing therapy. You can choose which form of writing therapy will suit your needs, and start from there. Writing therapy can always be there for you, even when your counsellor is asleep, or all your friends have gone on vacation. All you really need is a notepad and something to write with, so it is inexpensive and very accessible.

The next time you are feeling stressed about meeting your deadlines, or about anything at all, you can use writing to help you not only feel better, but to understand yourself on a more intimate level.

Sierra Delarosa is a musician, scientist and writer. She is the content manager for Global English Editing.

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1) Tapping

I start class with this warm up and use it when feeling fatigued from hours staring at a screen. When your thoughts are scattered so is your energy. Tapping gathers energy to your body, reduces mental stress and fatigue, opens up stagnant energy which registers as tension (headaches, neck strain, etc.), and relaxes your brain.

To begin a writing session, clap your hands a few times. Use the fingertips of your right hand to lightly tap your left arm. With your left palm facing down, tap in rhythm (about three taps per second) from your shoulder down to your hand, then back up to your shoulder. Repeat with your left thumb pointing up, then with your left palm facing down. Switch hands, using the fingertips of your left hand to tap your right arm. Finish by clapping a few times.

At the end of a writing session, use your fingertips to lightly tap your head, working up from the base of your neck to the top of your head, down the sides to your temples, and across your forehead. Finish by brushing your palms from the top of your head, across your shoulders, then down your shoulders three times, “sweeping” away tired energy.

2) Stretches

I use this five-minute stretching routine when tension creeps into my shoulders and my thought process slows down.

Bounce your shoulders for a few seconds. Rotate your shoulders backwards four times, then forwards four times.

With your arms extended to the side, rotate your wrists slowly four times in one direction, then in the opposite direction.

Stand with your feet together. Interlace your hands in front of your belly, palms facing up. Slowly breathe in and lift your palms to the ceiling, rotating your hands outward until they again face up above your head. Stay there a moment, pressing your hands up and your feet into the ground. Slowly breathe out as you lower your hands. Repeat two more times.

3) Breathing with hand movements

Whenever I get stuck in a writing project, I use this to synchronize mind and body. The pace of breathing and thinking are connected. When your thoughts ramp up it’s time for a breathing break. This breathing relaxes your nervous system and frees you from over thinking.

Sitting or standing, close your eyes. Focusing on your belly, breathe in slowly, expanding your belly, then breathe out slowly, relaxing your belly. Repeat for several breaths. Now lift your hands so they are at waist level, palms up. Breathe in slowly, lifting up your hands at the same pace as your breathing, up to shoulder level. Stay there a moment, then slowly lower your hands back to your waist as you breathe out. Repeat five times.

Lower your hands and bring them close together in front of your belly, facing your palms without touching. Breathe in slowly, pulling your hands apart to a comfortable distance. Stay there a moment, then slowly breathe out, bringing your hands close. Repeat five times.

I recommend listening to instrumental music during this exercise because it keeps your breathing at a slow pace, tracks time without looking at a clock, and transports you to another place.

4) Singing

My writing schedule includes singing breaks. When writing, your shoulder muscles tense up over time. Writing flows from your brain, down your shoulder, and out your fingertips. When those muscles tense up, that energy flow is disrupted and so is your creative process.

Singing expands your chest, opens your shoulders, increases oxygen circulation, and engages different parts of your brain.

Have fun with this! Try singing songs from the setting of your book.

5) Tree Posture

My favorite posture creates the proper energy balance of a cool head, warm hands and feet. With a cool head, your thinking is clear and focused. All energy is concentrated on the present moment which reduces “shiny object syndrome.”

It also increases circulation and releases tension from your back and legs when you have been sitting for too long.

This is best done standing, though you can sit in a chair. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart (if you are sitting, keep your feet flat on the floor). Bend your knees as you are able. Press your palms together in front of your heart, as in prayer. Relax your neck and shoulders, keeping your chin level. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly, expanding your belly, then breathe out slowly, sending all energy to your legs, the trunk of your tree. Continue this process for two-three minutes, focusing only on your breathing in the present moment.

Take a break once during every hour of sitting, using one of these techniques. You will feel refreshed and refueled with creative energy!

Ambre Dawn Leffler is an author, gardener, designer, lover of trees, and weather geek. She writes about vegetables, seasons, the interconnections of mind/body, and the environment. Learn more about her work in harmonious living at her website ambredawnleffler.com and on twitter @AmbreDLeffler.

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