3 Health Conscious Tips to Help You be a Better Writer

Do you safeguard your health or are you a writer out of control?

In order to be a better writer and more productive on a daily basis, it requires paying attention to your overall health and well being.

That is why any writing tips and advice given to new writers should always include something about safeguarding your health.

This is probably one of the best writing tips from writers who are more experienced and learned this lesson the hard way.

That describes me.

This story provides a few tips that can help you become more health conscious, specifically when writing and working online. In case you’ve never given this topic any thought, there’s no better time like the present. Ask yourself:

Do you safeguard your health or are you a writer out of control?

Whatever your answer is, you will still be able to benefit from the tips provided below. They will help you be more health conscious in your writing sessions.

These are beneficial tips that you should start implementing right away. When you do, you will soon become more aware of their value.

Because these are actually some pretty common activities, we tend to take them for granted, but do not be misled. These are truly useful reminders.

Sitting, Standing and Writing

Always work in a healthy, but comfortable position, whether you’re sitting in a chair, on your bed or couch, or out in public somewhere, like a park, a beach, or a coffee shop.

The laptop image above shows where I have my laptop situated, when I feel like writing standing up. I’m the queen of improvising, so instead of always running out to spend money first, I think about what I have around the house to do the job, or some other way I can improvise.

That is what I did when I wanted to elevate my work desk, so I could stand up and write sometimes. I merely stacked up a couple of plastic milk crates, and placed a flat surface on top for my laptop. Now, I can stand there and write, while looking out the window and still feel like I’m enjoying the day outside.

If you want a way to stand up and still get your writing done, you can improvise something similar, or buy yourself a stand up desk on Amazon (or wherever).

After reading this story, click and notice the quick video of how cool it can be to get your writing done while standing up. The desk in the video has what they call an “ergonomic curve” and it is supposed to work well for people with back issues (that’s not an endorsement, just re-stating what they claim).

Whatever you do, and whenever you can, you should try and be as health conscious as possible, regardless of where you happen to be spending all your time writing. That includes on your makeshift, or your new stand up and work desk.

Take Regular Breaks

Regular bathroom breaks, stretch breaks, snack breaks, hydration breaks, bath or shower breaks, meal breaks (Not to be confused with snack breaks), sanity breaks (Not to be confused with bath or shower breaks. Go outside instead).

When you look over the above paragraph, is there anything listed that you could absolutely get away without doing for an extended period of time? If your answer is yes, then clearly you’re not taking enough sanity breaks!

Every item in that list of breaks, you should be taking on a regular basis each and every day. Give it a try for one entire week, and see how much better your body feels, which in turn will begin to affect your story writing and personal essays in a positive way.

Choose Optimum Writing Times

If you notice, the subheading above says “times” as in plural. Some newbie writers have the misconception that there is only one optimum time they can do their best writing. But us old timers who have been writing online for years know differently.

Sometimes your optimum time to write is not based on a time of day (or night).

Your optimum time to write is when you have uninterrupted time, and your mind and body is healthy enough to formulate your thoughts without distractions or intrusion.

One of my favorite optimum times to write is in the wee hours of the early morning (between 4am and 6am). I discovered this when I found myself going through a phase where I was waking up that early (for no apparent reason), and not bothering to go back to sleep.

I decided I might as well take advantage of being up so early, and eventually I turned into an early morning writer. When I shared this information with my younger sister, she said something really interesting. This is what she said:

“Somebody told me that when I wake up early like that for no reason, it means it’s your turn.”

I asked her what the person meant by that, and she gave me their explanation. They told her God is really busy handling people’s problems and requests all day and night, “…so when you get a wake up call so early like that, it means it’s your turn and God is on the line.”

Being a spiritual minded person, the theory made total sense to me, so I took it to heart. Now I feel like any profound thoughts and ideas that come to me during that early morning “conversation” have a purpose. Whatever I write will have a strong chance of succeeding, as long as I respond accordingly.

Does that mean that every writer needs to try and get up at the crack of dawn, hoping for a call from God? That’s not what I’m saying, and that’s definitely a personal decision, in more ways than one.

What I am saying is STOP sacrificing your health by forcing yourself to write because you think it’s your only optimum time to do so.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I’ll simply reemphasize how important it is to be health conscious with your writing activities.

Keep in mind:

• Taking care of your health will enable you to be a more productive writer.
• Taking care of your health will enable you to write better stories.
• Taking care of your health will enable you to have a fuller life.

Your body will appreciate you, your stories will appreciate you, and your readers will appreciate you.

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