I’m Taking Two Days A Week Off From Writing

Summary

Lori Carlson, a disabled writer, has decided to take two days off from writing each week to focus on self-care, spiritual practices, and planning her writing and business ventures.

Abstract

Lori Carlson, who identifies as disabled and dedicates her time to writing, has announced her decision to take Sundays and Mondays off from writing. This decision is driven by her self-care strategy, aiming to prevent burnout and manage anxiety. The time off will be utilized for spiritual practices such as meditation and tarot reading, self-care pampering, and strategic planning for her writing projects, including articles for her publications and her ongoing story series. Additionally, Carlson is contemplating a business venture that could be transformative for her life. She encourages readers to explore related essays and poetry by other authors and to consider Medium membership through her referral link.

Opinions

Carlson believes that scheduled days off are crucial for preventing burnout and managing anxiety, which have been issues for her due to intense writing periods.
She values spiritual practices and self-care as essential components of her well-being, which include meditation, journaling, and tarot readings.
Carlson sees the importance of pampering herself, which she defines as engaging in activities that nurture her body and mind, such as long baths and reading.
She intends to be more focused and organized with her writing by planning her weekly content in advance, aiming for quality over quantity.
Carlson is in the early stages of a business venture that she hints could be significant for her future, though she does not disclose details.
She promotes the work of other writers, Deb Fiore and Orla K., suggesting that their writing on music and life's purpose complements her own reflections on self-care and spirituality.
Carlson encourages readers to support her and other writers by becoming Medium members, highlighting the mutual benefits of this action.

And why I believe this is good for my self-care

Unlike most people in the world, I don’t have a full-time job because I am disabled. Full-time workers get days off from their jobs. Most would say that since I am disabled, every day is a day off for me, and in some sense, this is true. However, writing has become full-time for me. While it isn’t a job, it is what I have dedicated most of my time toward. As such, I’ve decided to take two days a week off from writing.

Here is what I hope this will do for my own self-care:

Prevention of Burn-Outs. This is one of the biggest reasons for taking scheduled days off. For far too often, I have done writing blitzes for months at a time and then burned out. This has led to anxiety issues for me that the flow won’t return, often ending in periods of depression. I don’t want, nor do I need to put myself through this rollercoaster ride any longer.

Spiritual practices. It will be purposeful, mindful days to meditate, do private journaling, channel with Spirit, and do tarot readings for my upcoming week.

Serious self-care pampering. I don’t get to pamper myself often. For me, a good pampering day includes long soaks in the tub instead of quick daily showers; targeted hair, nail, and skincare instead of lackluster attention; and spending time reading a good book while sipping some delicious herbal tea — something I rarely, if ever, get to do.

Plan out what I want to write for the week ahead. Most of the time, I just catch a prompt here and there and run with it, or Catharine will whisper an idea into my ears and I will drop everything and write on it. While this has been somewhat successful for me, I would like to be more focused on what I want to accomplish with my writing. I plan on gathering all of the prompts each week from the many publications I write for and choosing which ones I want to focus on. I will also be planning out more articles for my publication You’ve Been Informed! and chapters for my Revenge of the Raven's story. Hopefully, this will also result in quality writing versus quantity writing.

Work on a business venture. I’m not going to go into too many details here because this is still in the ruminating stage. However, if I do go forward with this venture, it could be life-changing for me.

I’ve decided that my two days off will be Sundays and Mondays. Sundays will be a spiritual practice and self-care pampering days. Mondays will be planning for writing and business venture days. Hopefully, this will keep me on track with my writing goals, and also give me sufficient Me time.

Please check out this beautiful piece by Deb Fiore on how music replenishes her soul:

And this gorgeous poem by Orla K. on how she found her life’s purpose in London:

If you enjoyed this essay, consider becoming a Member. Members get access to all the stories published in Medium. A small portion of your membership fee goes to support me at no additional cost to you if you sign up using my referral link.

Lori Carlson writes poetry, fiction, personal essays, creative non-fiction, and articles. She focuses on Spirituality, Life Lessons, Self-Awareness, Relationships, Mental Health, and LGBTQ+. She is the Owner of Promptly Written, Not For Bedtime Stories, and You’ve Been Informed!. You can find her older stories on her creative writing blog, Ravyne’s Nest and random ramblings on her personal blog, A Delicious Torment.

ARTICLES | SELF-CARE | RECIPROCAL

I’m Taking Two Days A Week Off From Writing

And why I believe this is good for my self-care

Here is what I hope this will do for my own self-care:

Music Helps My Spirit Sing with Joy

Melodic memories soothe my soul

Losing Myself in London

Reflecting on days gone by

Join Medium with my referral link — Ravyne Hawke

As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…