Self Care and Writing

Odds are, if you're a writer, then you probably go out to work too. Hell, even T.S. Eliot had a day job. Whether it's full-time or part-time, working while finding time to write isn't easy and it can be tiring to have all your time allocated. 

When you work and write, keeping up your energy and health is important to consider. So, what exactly is self-care and how do you do it? Read on to find out.

What is Self Care?

In a nutshell, it means taking care of yourself by doing things that strengthen your physical and mental well-being. It's a choice you make and it's different for everyone. Maybe for you it's reading a good book in the bath, or it could be sky-diving out of a plane. It might even be as simple as putting aside your work in progress to write a poem instead. It's whatever brings you joy and improves your mood.

Self care doesn't mean you have to go out seeking adventure. It doesn't mean you have to find a dark room and meditate. It doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be difficult. 

Why is Self Care Important?

When you're a writer, or artist, or anyone with a side-gig, it means your free time isn't really free. It's already taken up with whatever you're working on. When you have a spare minute, your mind automatically goes to plot-lines and characters. 

The need to be productive all the time can be exhausting, and it can lead to burn-out, depression and anxiety. The good news is that building a self-care routine has proven to reduce stress, while improving your concentration and your energy. 

Mental health is important and by taking care of yourself, you're tackling depression and anxiety. 

How to Care For Yourself

There are different aspects to consider - Physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being - and it doesn't have to be expensive. 

Some simple and cheap ways to look after yourself can include: Going to bed early, taking a walk, watching a movie or listening to music. You could eat your favourite meal. Drink more water. If you enjoy it then do it, and don't feel guilty about not spending every minute being productive, because self-care is productive.

Maybe what you need is to get out of the house and spend time with your friends. Go for some food, have a board game night. Meet your friends for cocktails. 

Do you enjoy puzzles? Do you like spending time with your pet? How about paint-by-numbers? Taking photographs? What do you enjoy, because spending time on whatever it is... that's going to save you from burning out. 

What Works For You

Find the thing that makes you happy. We live in a time where money is short and bills are steep. It's expensive just to live, and that means we work hard for every little thing we have. That means we're tired. 

I have a baby, a dog, a day job and a writing career to nurture, so my idea of self-care is eating Maoam JoyStixx while watching Modern Family in the middle of the night as my baby sleeps on me. It also includes naps on the sofa and walking my dog. 

What is it for you? If you don't know then you're not spending enough time on self-care. 

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Break Time

Sometimes you just need a break, or you end up having a breakdown. 

I've been tired, I've been working and I've been preparing for Christmas, and so I found that these last couple of weeks something had to give, and that something was social media. I just needed to not worry about logging on, thinking about hashtags and what I could say to entertain. 

And I gave myself that rest, because I needed it. 

Obviously, I kept writing, even if not as much as I usually do, but there are times when the rejection, the thought of rejection and the possibility of rejection makes me not want to try, and so I wrote for fun, things that were just for me. I journaled, wrote poetry, and I worked a little on my WIP, but this was a vacation for me. One where I concentrated on Christmas excitement and focussed a little more on that. 

Now, I feel slightly rejuvenated, though still tired, and I'm ready to get back to work. 

Week of Sleep

I'm reaching the end of my week off and I'm more tired than ever. 

Fatigue has been an issue, and I think I've had a little bit of an illness. Maybe a virus or infection, but as I recover, the fatigue clings to me. Maybe by the time it's time to go back to the day job, I'll be good as new. Or maybe I'll just be back to my usual late-thirty year old tired self. 

I did plan to write a butt-load this week off, but in the end, I've done very little. I actually think I'm one of those weird people who works better with a routine. Going to work gets me up and active early, and then I've got the rest of the day to write. I don't always make the most of my free time, but it does help to have a schedule and to wake up straight away. 

Once the routine goes, all my motivation goes with it. 

So, yeah, this has been a bit of a wasted week in one respect. But in another, I've absolutely loved going to bed early and not setting my alarm. Not setting my alarm is one of my most favourite things ever. 

I've got two days left of this week off, and if I get to it, I might get a bit of writing done, but the weekend might fade away into making the most of the final two days. And by making the most, I mean wearing pjs and being sleepy. 

The writer's life! 

Chronic Fatigue: The Parasite of Energy

 

Sometimes other people just suck the life right out of you. They make demands on you until your spirit is depleted.

 

This is where I’m at right now. Exhausted and battling to find the reserves to get through just one more day. And then I make it through that one, and I have to get through another. Crawling to the weekend so that I can finally have time and rest, to gather strength to get through another week.

 

It’s like my days are on a conveyor belt, dropping off the end into the aether, while I run in the opposite direction. Exhausted and getting nowhere.

 

This is what chronic fatigue is to me. In fact the symptoms of chronic fatigue are so similar to the symptoms I had when I had cancer that I can’t tell the difference, but because I work, because I have to keep trying, others don’t see or understand the pain in my body. I feel like I’m leaking petrol and any moment my engine is going to splutter to nothing. I feel like every footstep takes a mammoth effort, yet all I get for it are requests and demands. To try harder, to work more, to give my all.

 

Believe it or not; they’re getting my all, and it’s breaking me.

 

I want nothing more than to take pain killers and hide beneath my duvet sleeping. I’m tired. I’m tired all the time, and it makes me less patient, more snappish, less likely to put up with bullshit and drama because I just don’t have the energy. I don’t have it in me to listen to life-suckers and those who only take.

 

Chronic fatigue is like a parasite, sucking the energy and spirit right out of me, and when it’s at its worst, it feels like I’ve been beaten. This is the aftermath of chemo years later.

 

My brain has stuff to do, a to-do list to get down, but my body won’t let me. I have plans to make, a future to build, yet I have to figure out how to do it with a body that won’t co-operate.

 

Chronic fatigue doesn’t mean a person feels a little bit tired, it doesn’t mean they’ve had a busy week, it means their body is broken, and just because they struggle along, they don’t give in, they fight against it, it doesn’t mean they’re not ill. And when they give into it, it doesn’t mean they’re lazy or weak.

 

Sometimes I have to crumble in order to build myself back up. That’s what chronic fatigue is to me.