Walking the balance bar between work and self-care is difficult, but so worth it for your mental and physical health. We will discuss why you should take care of yourself, the self care, and ideas for self-care for writers/authors. Read to the end to find out about a challenge you can join.
Why taking care of yourself is important.
The self-care and mental health awareness age is where we are now. We’ve realized just how much stress will age the body and mind, causing health issues and premature deaths. We now try to eat right, watch our stress levels, and have therapists on call. All these things are wonderful when you think back to the ways we’ve handled stress and mental health in the past.
Image from The American Institute of Stress
I got 55 on the quiz. If you tallied up a score ranging between 51 and 60, your stress level is marginal and you are bordering on being excessively tense.
One thing I wanted to work on this year is self-care and work balance.
What type of self-care do writers need?
Did you know there are different types of self-care?
Physical
Mental or Intellectual
Emotional
Spiritual
Practical
Financial
Environmental
Occupational
Technically, we need to address all these forms of self-care, but today we are going to focus on occupational self-care for writers and authors.
Some of us are part-time writers or authors and others are full-time. It’s a good idea to see what your top priorities for your family, and/or your money day job require of you before you set up your author/writer goals. Here are some other ideas for some experts and other writers/authors.
Psychology Today has a wonderful article for Better Self Care in the Workplace. Here are their 7 steps
Set and maintain professional boundaries
Balance your work schedule and life demands so no one day or one week is too much.
Make time throughout the workday for intermittent self-care breaks (i.e. lunch or afternoon walk; social time with co-workers, listen to relaxing music).
Create a healthy work space for yourself.
Develop a short list of top priorities each day
Minimize procrastination and maximize a sense of control
Before committing to a project, etc. First, consider your needs and resources, and whether it will lead to overextending yourself-a sure way to compromise your self-care.
Lindsay Elizabeth of lindsay-elizabeth.com suggests.
Connect with Nature
Journal daily
Visualize and create a vision board
Schedule “creating” hours and downtime
Set aside quiet time
Establish morning and evening routines
Unplug
Move your body
Absorb art
Make time to socialize
Organize and declutter
Become a writer today .com has 10 ways to avoid burnout suggestions
What do your eating habits look like?
How important is exercise to you?
Is sleep a priority to you?
What does your social life look like?
Are you taking care of your mental health?
Is your life simple?
Are you constantly rewarding yourself?
What are your hobbies?
What does your alcohol consumption look like?
Are you using social media mindfully?
These are some significant questions for you to examine and look into balancing.
And last but not least, multitalentedwriters.com suggests.
See your work as work.
Surround yourself with supportive people; walk away from negative ones.
Don’t sit on your arse all day.
Budget for your health.
Self-care for writers is self-care for readers (set aside reading time).
Don’t forget your loved ones.
But don’t forget yourself, either.
Have a hobby.
Self-care for writers who don’t fit the writer stereotype.
Take frequent breaks.
Creating your own Self-Care Plan
Process.st has 22 Self-Care Plan Checklists and Printables https://www.process.st/self-care-plan/
For, those of us that use Notion here are 21 free Notion templates to improve your life by Just Free slide .com
I fell down a Notion template rabbit hole researching this blog and added a habit tracker and another journal to my Notion daily items.
Challenge
This next month I am going to make a self-care kit for authors. I’ll be recording the project and sharing it on my YouTube.
I challenge you to make your own self-care kit and share it with everyone by tagging me on Facebook @crowshirley, Instagram @author_sacrow, or @sacrow14 on TikTok. Using the hashtag #writerselfcarekit2022
What do you think you will include in your kit?
What do you have in your writing space that helps you with self-care?
Upcoming Events:
May 25th
May 28th
We will also be encouraging everyone taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo
June 1st Wednesday 6/1/22 5pm Central US time
June Retreat
What am I working on this week?
I'm taking this month off a bit and enjoying doing character profiles for my other pen name. If you would like a sample head over to Facebook and follow Ann Crow. Especially if you love Paranormal, urban fantasy, noir mystery.
Writing Coaching Program.
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