Writing and Health

The Three Reasons I No Longer Suffer from Writer’s Block

In addition to writing prolifically, I improved my health and well-being using these practical and simple techniques.

What caused my writer’s block and how I fixed it

We write for various reasons. Some of us earn our living from writing. Some use it as a hobby and therapeutic solution.

However, writing for work and pleasure are different. Ironically, when I was writing a story about fun topics in my younger years, I felt more resistance in my brain, increasing my stress. On the other hand, I produced better and more when writing a technical article or a scientific paper.

I was too ambitious to give the reader without thinking how little content could make them happy if presented with clarity, brevity, and impact.

Unknowingly, I was giving a fire hose to my readers to drink, thinking that more information would satisfy their thirst. The results adversely affected my productivity, creativity, motivation, and mental health.

I used to have so much data, information, and knowledge, but I felt frozen as soon as I sat in front of my computer. All ideas disappeared. Seeing a blank screen has devastated me. So, my point is writer’s block is real.

We all experience writer’s block at some stage in our writing journey. Some people like me feel it in earlier phases, and some writers experience it later in their writing career. However, it is fixable, as I discussed in a previous article.

Nowadays, when I focus on the needs and expectations of my readers and I write about topics close to my heart, such as health, mental health, fitness, lifestyle, and self-improvement topics in my publication, the content naturally comes to my consciousness, allowing me to produce in a flow state.

Here are the three crucial points that made the most momentous impact in overcoming writer’s block efficiently.

1 — Eliminating Analysis Paralysis by Narrowing Perspectives

The biggest mental problem in my younger years was my obsession with perfection. Having an analytic mind with a thirst for excessive knowledge led to analysis paralysis.

Dealing with these issues significantly increased my emotional stress and even mentally traumatized me to some extent. Perfection turned out to be a roadblock to my progress and growth.

The key lesson I learned from one of my mentors was a pragmatic approach focusing on the points that matter most and refraining from perfection.

Therefore, I learned to narrow my perspective instead of broadly approaching a topic. This approach made the most significant impact on eliminating writer’s block, allowing me to become a prolific writer later.

Effective use of our cognitive capabilities, such as focus, attention, working memory, task switching, and problem-solving, can eliminate unnecessary mental stress and help us produce more efficiently.

For example, when I was penning this piece, I only focussed on a single aspect of writer’s block, mainly health and well-being.

However, the topic is so large that writers can write voluminous books when they look at the subject from multiple angles.

2 — Entertaining Discomfort by Entering the Flow State & Tasting Ketosis

Instead of numbing and repressing my negative emotions, I learned to embrace them, allowing me to deal with them more efficiently.

The default mode for the brain is comfort as part of our survival mechanism. One of the primary goals of the brain is to reduce energy expenditure to protect us.

Therefore, we experience natural resistance to getting started with writing or other mental tasks. Nonetheless, a little body movement can initiate hormones and neurotransmitters to respond favorably.

Ironically, our body has abundant energy, especially if we can go into a fat-adapted state. Even if we don’t eat food for a while, the body creates energy through gluconeogenesis and lipolysis using amino acids and stored fat in the fat-adapted state. Writing requires both mental and physical energy. When we lack energy, it is natural to feel writer’s block.

Interestingly, when we run out of glycogen stores during the fasted state, the body also creates alternative energy for the brain, known as ketosis.

The brain loves to use BHP to increase BDNF as it is cleaner energy than glucose. Ketosis has numerous health, longevity, and performance benefits for the body and the brain.

When in ketosis, I deal with discomfort more easily and go to the flow state faster. Therefore, writing in a fasted state, and changing our brain chemistry has been incredibly valuable for me over the last two decades. Fasting might not apply to everyone, but it is an alternative for some people to consider.

3 — Prioritizing Goals and Removing Distractions Creatively

Distractions prevail in this modern world. Almost everything in our lives, even good things, can have the potential to turn into distractions.

In my experience, the biggest distractions were social media, email, and unexpected phone calls. They were taxing my attention, adversely affecting the flow state I needed.

As distractions are enemies of progress and success, we need to find innovative ways to remove them or at least reduce them as much as possible.

From my experience, apart from technology tools such as social media, smartphones, and email programs, the biggest distraction and time-waster were needy people around us.

Even the loved ones sometimes cause distractions if not managed well.

I shared my experience of dealing with distractions to create more quality time for my writing in a story titled Saving 1465 Hours to Write Several Books a Year While Working Full Time: Creative ways to save scarce time for writing and self-editing to be a prolific writer.

Having occasional social media fast was one of the best solutions to improve my mental health and the best decision to meet my writing goals.

Takeaways to Deal with Writers' Block

Instead of perfection, we might aim for pragmatic progress leading to excellence.

A draft structure is essential to start and keep the momentum for writing.

Not scheduling a writing time might cause distractions and delay progress.

We might move out of the comfort zone by challenging the inner critic.

We need to maintain physical and mental energy to focus on writing.

Finally, eliminating distractions is crucial for productive writing.

You might read the details of these takeaways points in my previous article summarising my strategy and tactics to overcome writer’s block titled Writer’s Block Is Real & Curable with Proven Techniques: How I fixed it, transformed myself into a prolific writer, and helped many writers improve with six easy tips.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

I document important life lessons from friends in the attached collection.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

If you are a new reader and find this article valuable, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

I write about various hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.

One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.

To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.

Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Thyroid Disorder, and Major Diseases.

I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:

Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, Cod Liver Oil, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.

Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.

I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

If you enjoy writing and storytelling, you can join Medium, NewsBreak, and Vocal as a creator to find your voice, reach out to a broad audience, and monetize your content.

You may also check my blog posts about my articles and articles of other writers contributing to my publications on Medium. I share them on my website, digitalmehmet.com. Here is my professional bio. You can contact me via weblink.

As a writer, blogger, content developer, and reader, you might join Medium, Vocal Media, NewsBreak, Medium Writing Superstars, Writing Paychecks, WordPress, and Thinkers360 with my referral links. These affiliate links will not cost you extra to join the services.

You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 26K+ writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.