Writers – How To Overcome Anxiety, Boost Your Energy And Improve Your Concentration Skills

As a writer or creative artist, your most important asset is your health.

Have you ever had days when no matter how hard you try, the words don’t flow and everything you write seems wooden and false?

In today’s post I would like to offer you three simple healthy habits you can use to overcome writer’s block and improve your concentration skills, especially on days when your energy is low and you struggle to concentrate and complete your assignments.

Given the hectic pace of life, it can be difficult to always be creative and inspired. When you write you want your words to be remembered, honored and hopefully inspire your reader.

So what can you do to ensure your words always achieve the results you require? Is there a secret formula you can tap into that allows you to always be creative and inspired?

I don’t believe there is a golden formula but I do believe it is possible to adopt certain habits which help you to become a healthier, more focused writer.

1. Healthy Writer’s Habit #1- Hydrate Your Body – Drink More Water

No one can run on empty. Just like a car requires a regular service and petrol to run, so does your body. Constantly burning the candle at both ends to meet deadlines leaves you feeling empty, demoralized and tired.

Water has the ability to hydrate and nourish your brain. Your brain consists of 85% water therefore drinking water helps to naturally lift your energy. Aim to drink at least 5 glasses of water a day. A good tip is to have a bottle of water on your desk and take regular sips throughout the day; this simple habit instantly improves your concentration skills and boosts your energy levels so you feel more alert and focused.

Healthy Writer’s Habit#2 – Breathe

If your mind is full of clutter and you find it difficult to focus and write, a few rounds of yogic breathing exercises instantly leaves your mind feeling calm and clear. On a basic level, breathing allows you to draw in oxygen into your body and eliminates toxins and bacteria which prevent your body functioning correctly. The slower and deeper you breathe, the more you allow oxygen to enter and flow through your body. This expands your lung capacity and makes you feel brighter and more alert.

Here is a simple breathing practice you can try when you feel your energy levels slipping.

1. Sit comfortably, gently cradle your belly with your hands and allow your fingertips to lightly touch each other.

2. Close your eyes and spend a few moments to tune into your everyday breath. Don’t try to control your breath just be aware of how you are breathing.

3. Slowly take a full steady breath in though your nose for a count of four and breathe out for a count of four. Continue to breathe in and out through your nose and as you do so notice your belly and hands rise and fall with each breath.

4. Repeat this pattern of breathing 5-10 rounds. As you do so, notice your thoughts slow down as your body lets go of tension.

5. Slowly open your eyes and be aware of how much calmer and quieter you feel.

2. Healthy Writer’s Habit#3 – Relax Your Eyes

This is my favorite tip to reduce anxiety and calm your mind. As a writer, you spend a lot of time staring at a computer screen; this can lead to eye strain and in some cases headaches. To reduce eye strain and improve concentrations try this simple eye exercise.

Palming Exercise

1. Flap and loosely shake your hands for 30 seconds. Keep your shoulders lowered and jaw soft.

2. Next rub your palms vigorously together until your palms generate heat as they warm up.

3. Rest your elbows on the table. Close your eyes and cover your hands over your eyes with your fingertips pointing up towards your hairline and heels of your palm touching your cheeks.

4. Hold your hands in this position for about 30 seconds. Remember to breathe deeply as you rest in this position.

5. Slowly release your hands from face and rest your hands on your lap. Sit still for a few more moments and be aware of your calm and clear you now feel.

On days when you feel overwhelmed and anxious make sure you keep your body and brain hydrated, practice a few rounds of breathing exercises and rest your eyes by practicing the palming exercise.

Together these simple yogic practices help to revitalize and reenergize your system so you can continue to focus on your work with minimal effort and stress.

If you want to learn more simple yoga practices to calm stressful situations and feel relaxed check out my other posts at The Next Goal.

If you enjoyed this article feel free to share the love and link back to it from your own blog. Take care and thank you.

Mother, blogger, yoga teacher and author Ntathu Allen strives to encourage others to weave moments of calm and rest into their busy life so you have the energy to have more fun time with your family and be positive and productive at work. (Image: Bindaas Madhavi)

By Jeanna Rutledge

While I’ve been a writer pretty much a good chunk of my life, and have written professionally for some years (including a year stint as a freelance writer for a single newsweekly), this is my first time ever running my own freelance writing business.

And let me tell you: it’s not easy! It’s challenging and extremely rewarding, but not easy. Being your own boss is definitely not a walk in the park.

Thing is, there’s so much advice out there. It can all be pretty overwhelming getting started. There’s always something you can be doing: tweaking your blog, seeking clients, staying up-to-date. Oh yeah — and writing (!), either for yourself or your clients.

It’s no wonder then why after only a short time in the game, many fizzle out.

With all that being said — I’m not trying to fizzle out. I love what I do and would like to continue. So, in an effort to make that happen, I’ve thought of what has been helpful so far in my journey to keep it moving and keep those “I’m so overwhelmed!” feelings at bay.

May these tips help you as you navigate your life as a newbie freelancer.

1. Find and Follow One of Those 30 (or so) Days to Freelance Writing Guides

There are several great ones out there. I like them because they give you a specific task to focus on each day.

This way, instead of asking, “What should I be doing?”, or getting sidetracked by the next if-you’re-not-doing-this-right-now-you-are-absolutely-doomed-to-fail posts, you can exert your energy working on something that other experienced freelancers have found to be necessary in creating the foundation of your new business.

Here are a few no-cost freelance guides that I’ve found useful:

• 31 Days to Start a Freelancing Business (or Make Yours a Better One) by Alexis Rodrigo of The Savvy Freelancer
• 31 Days to a Brand New Blog Challenge by Rosetta Thurman of From Blogger to Entrepreneur
• 30 Days to Become a Freelancer by Skellie of Skelliewag.org

All were inspired by Darren Rowse and his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog program.

I still refer to these guides from time-to-time to help me stay on track. They each have something unique to offer.

2. Pick One Thing and Do That

With all that needs to be done, you may find yourself jumping from one task to another. Not helpful. You’ll look up at the clock and see all kinds of time has passed while you’ve accomplished nothing. This then creates anxiety for you, which then leads to procrastination, which then leads to you not doing what you need to for your business, which ultimately leads your business to a bunch of nowhere if you don’t get back on track.

Decide what needs to be done for the time being and work on it until it’s complete.

Seeing that you’re making progress can encourage you to keep going.

3. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others 

OK. So all of those top writers doing their thing on the Internet, showing up all the time in your Twitter feed, being referenced in every blog you read, sought after for all kinds of interviews, pulling in all kinds of bucks — they have likely been doing this freelancing thing for a while, or have been able to apply what they’ve learned pretty quickly and it’s working for them.

That right now may not be you, and that’s all right.

Remember: You are unique. Yes, that’s way cliché’ but it’s the truth. You are! What’s someone else’s journey is not yours — and vice versa. Honor that.

You do not know what others have gone through or are going through to be where they are right now. Don’t underestimate the work that goes on behind the scenes. What you are seeing out front is the pretty picture, not the struggle.

Instead of spending your time looking at what everyone else is doing, admiring their success and feeling bad about how you’re not in the shining lights and rolling in the dough — work on you. Write those blog posts you’re taking forever to write, start building that Facebook page, make that prospect list so you can get started with those query letters and cold calls.

4. Just Do It!

You can read all the blog posts, articles and books in the world, but until you actually put yourself out there and apply what you’ve read, your business will remain a dream and in theory. In order for something to happen, an action must take place.  The best learning comes by doing and by making mistakes, and using those mistakes to do better next time.

So yes, gather the information you need in preparation for launching and managing your freelance business. But know that while it’s great to learn from the mistakes of others, sometimes we just have to learn our own way, from our own stumbles. As it’s said, experience is the best teacher — so fear the fear and do it anyway.

Jeanna D. Rutledge is new to the land of freelance and enjoys writing about it and other writing awesomeness on her blog. You should definitely visit to read tidbits here and there about her freelance journey, and connect with her on Twitter to see an example of “learning by doing” in action.

Image: Jason Prini

How has your writing career evolved?

When I started freelancing, I said yes to pretty much every job that came along. My reasons for doing so were that:

• I needed the publishing credits for my resume
• I needed the money
• I didn’t know when the next job was going to come along

It made sound financial sense to accept everything that came my way. There was only one problem. After about a year of doing that, I began to feel fatigued and less excited about my life as a freelancer. You guessed it – I was suffering from burnout.

Writing – The Second Year

The next year, I took a more balanced approach. I still mostly said yes to jobs, but I began to be more discerning about what I could actually do within a given time. I knew that I wanted to spend time with my family, look after my health and manage some other personal priorities, so I started to get a little bit pickier about what I accepted.

The Third Year

That trend continued into my third and fourth years of freelancing. In fact, I actually began to turn down work from time to time. The longer I freelance, the more aware I become of this reality: I can’t do it all. That means I have to pick the projects which:

• pay well
• fit my time frame
• match my expertise

Five Years On – A New Approach

Heading into my fifth year, I’m finding that things are changing again. I have a fairly stable client base, but I don’t take that for granted. That’s why I’m starting to say yes again to projects that interest me and offer some variety. Unlike the first time round, I am doing this in a phased way, trading up writing jobs so I get closer and closer to freelance writing nirvana.

How has your approach to your writing career changed over the years?

(Photo: Kaptain Kobold)

 

A change of scene can help refresh your ideas

This happens to every writer from time to time. You get to a point where you are not sure you have anything left to say. It may be halfway through a batch of 100 keyword articles, in the middle of an ebook or after a year of blogging. But since writing is your business, you need to find a way to keep on going. So what do you do?

 

Sometimes all you need is a change of scene. This can be physical, like moving from one room to another or getting out of the house for a while. It can also be mental, which might mean changing to a different writing job while your mind refreshes itself. At other times, this might be a sign of burnout, and you might need to take a longer break.

That’s all very well, I hear you say, but what about deadlines? It’s true that with clients relying on you, you can’t just take a break anytime to writing muse isn’t cooperating. Somehow you need to keep on writing so that you can bring in that all important paycheck.

That’s when your discipline as a writer pays off. I find that even if I am mentally tired, I am able to write a competent piece that will keep my client happy. That’s because I write practically every day, for several hours a day. Once that’s done, I can take some time off. How do you deal with mental fatigue as a writer?

Photo: jpkwitter