Creating can be exhausting, even if it’s the thing that makes you feel alive.
Even if you’re just writing for yourself right now, creating, just like any other career, requires some time apart. Distance. A break.
These self-care tips for writers are a good place to start.
Why Do I Need to Practice Self-Care?
According the the Harvard Business Review, about 1 in 5 working adults experiences burnout.
So, you work all day, then come home to focus intensely on your manuscript or latest project – you better believe burnout is/will effect your creative work.
Burnout manifests itself both mentally and physically. You might have trouble concentrating and sleeping, or feel just plain old uninspired. Additionally, you might feel anxious, experience digestive problems, or even muscle fatigue.
We can all agree that burnout should be avoided, right? To avoid burnout and it’s effect on your creative ventures, practicing self-cafe is essential.
1.) Put Down Your Creative Tools
Yep. Just set them aside. For how long? Well, that’s up to you. our
And no, we aren’t telling you to just lay down in a silo and do absolutely nothing. Simply, just take a step away from your craft to recharge.
This time can still be used productively and to enhance your creativity though! Read the book you’ve been meaning to, but haven’t found the time. Cook your favorite mac & cheese recipe (the one that might give you a heart-attack but it’s SO DAMN GOOD). Learn how to make French press coffee. Work outside in your garden, or plant some flowers. Take your kids to the park.
The best part of putting down your creative tools? Who knows, maybe one or all of these activities will inspire you when you start creating again!
2.) Experience What You’re Creating
When you’re writing, drawing, or building something, it becomes so easy to blur out the experiences that inspired you in the first place.
Have you been writing a scene about a date gone wrong on a rainy night? Take a night out on the town. Listen to the sounds. Reinvigorate your senses. Put yourself back in the real world so you can go back to create another.
Hiking, Running, Traveling. A night out with friends. These can be all very sensory experiences that can parallel and impact your art. So get out there and experience what you’re striving to create.
3.) Return to a Childhood Love
What was your favorite childhood hobby? That thing that got you feeling all ticklish inside, like you could explode?
Do that.
For example, our editor R.R. Noall loves playing Nintendo 64 – specifically Mario Cart and Zelda.
Why is this self-care? Well, you’re giving yourself permission to be a child again. As we all know, our inner child loves to play, create, and get a little lost in fantasies. What a better why to take care of yourself then to allow yourself to return to some of your favorite things?
Time to Practice Self-Care
We get it. Taking care of yourself can be difficult sometimes, especially when you’re in the thick of creating something amazing.
These self-care tips for writers are meant to be a guide. Just remember, give yourself a break so you can continue to creating. Whether you’re a writer or artist, these self-care tips can be employed so you don’t experience burnout.