If you are like me, you end the day wondering why you didn’t get as much writing done as you’d intended. There isn’t one right or wrong answer to how our daily energy should be spent. We all need to prepare food, take care of ourselves, our kids or fur babies, and keep things somewhat clean. The online world entices us to spend time and energy there, whether checking email or browsing the Internet.

Building an author career is a juggling act. It takes practice and iteration to strike a balance between writing, reading, and community. It takes even more dedication and flexibility to build a writing career in between family responsibilities, day jobs, or volunteering. No one lives in a vacuum where the entire day is spent writing.

When your energy is scattered among several tasks, it is difficult to do one task with full strength. In my Breath Qigong Yoga class, I teach several techniques to gather scattered energy back to your core. With focused energy, you can work toward your true purpose.

Think of energy as water moving through a garden hose. When water moves through the hose and out a power washer nozzle, the water is focused, concentrated. There is a lot of power in the way the water moves. When water moves through the hose and out a fan spray nozzle, the water is scattered, not as strong. The power is dispersed in many directions. 

Both are ways to move water through a hose. Concentrating the water flow in one direction, though, is more powerful.

It feels like there aren’t enough hours to get everything done. But I’ve realized it isn’t the quantity of hours. It is the way I’m spending my hours. 

There are distinct peaks and valleys to my energy levels during the day. With an awareness of how I’m spending energy, I can make adjustments to create a sustainable writing routine in balance with other demands on my energy.

Introducing… the Marble Jar Experiment

Instead of tracking time, I track how I’m spending my energy. One marble represents a unit of energy. One jar represents a category of how you spend your energy. 

You can track how you are spending your energy with this marble jar experiment in 7 simple steps:

1. Write down 5-10 categories of ways you spend your time.

Everyone will have a different answer. For my categories I have:

• Checking Email and Text Messages
• Online Time (social media/websites/author community platforms)
• Writing/Creative Work
• Reading
• Wellness (going for a walk/Tai Chi/stretching)
• Daily Tasks (cooking/cleaning)

2. Label a glass or jar with each category.

3. Get a number of identical objects such as marbles.

4. Every time you spend energy on one of the categories, put a marble in the jar. 

Be honest!

5. At the end of the day, tally up how many marbles are in each jar.

I’m a visual person, so seeing a quantity helps me along with the tally. Remember, you’re not tracking time. You are tracking how many times you spend energy on this category.

6. Repeat for as many days as it takes to see a pattern (but not so many that it takes away from your writing project).

7. Analyze the results.

Write down ways you can tweak your daily routine to balance the energy spent in each category.

The results are in…

After three days, I tallied up my results. I was not surprised to see that 20 marbles were in the email jar, the most of any category. I’m so overwhelmed whenever I check email that I actually freeze up. And most of it isn’t even messages personally addressed to me that I need to answer.

I have two easy solutions. Part one is to unsubscribe from emails that have information I can get another way on my own time. This digital clutter drains both my creative energy and fossil fuel energy. I recently wrote about digital spring cleaning in my newsletter. It is a good first step in reclaiming creative energy.

Part two is to set specific times for checking email instead of every hour. I have a colleague who only responds to phone calls and text messages while he is out in the field. He answers emails when he is back at the office at 4:00. His clients know their emails will get answered at that time.

The next fullest jar was daily tasks. Cooking or getting something to eat takes a chunk of energy. My plan is to start batch cooking on the weekends. This way I can reheat a dish during the week instead of spending energy each day figuring out what to eat, which often results in choices that aren’t beneficial to my body or brain.

The wellness jar had only 3 marbles and the reading jar had only 1 lonely marble. These important parts of my wellbeing often get crammed in at the end of the day or neglected altogether. Cutting back on email frees up time for reading a book. Batching tasks such as prepping vegetables one day a week frees up time for afternoon walks. I am confident just a few changes will move the marbles into the right jars for a balanced day.

Are you ready to make significant healthy changes to your writing life? Taking a few minutes for a few days to do this easy experiment will give you clarity on what is out of balance in your energy account. You will be surprised at the results!

Tell us in the comments: Have you tried the marble jar experiment? How did it go?

Ambre Dawn Leffler is a Tai Chi instructor, gardener, and weather geek who writes about vegetables, seasons, communing with nature, and the interconnections of mind/body. She loves trees and cherishes time in their presence. Learn more about her tree time, garden residents, and wellness practices at her website ambredawnleffler.com and seasonal inspiration from her newsletter Sky Earth Water. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

The post The Marble Jar Experiment: Balance Your Energy Account appeared first on DIY MFA.

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.

The post #5onFri: Five Daily Practices to Stay Happy, Healthy, and Writing appeared first on DIY MFA.