Free Your Mind

Some days you can feel overwhelmed by a project, worrying about how it’s going and whether it will work out.

Image by Anton Novoselov via Flickr

These are the days to free yourself up. People often emphasise hard work and routine with writing yet it’s also important to have free time and play. Your mind may figure out the problem while you are working on something else. When you are really struggling do something else for a while and then return to it later. This can be frustrating but get yourself back into the right frame of mind before getting back on the horse.

Above all, try to keep your mind relatively free from restrictions when thinking about writing. This isn’t always easy but the right frame of mind can make a difference to what you write and when.

Here’s a few tips for downtime and getting your focus back:

1. Puzzles – I’ve mentioned this before, one’s that you can do but will challenge you a bit. A book/magazine with a variety of puzzles is usually better.

2. Video games – This may seem an odd one to some people but games that have really good gameplay can be great for your attention span. Many games challenge lateral thinking, quick-thinking and focus.

3. Reading – Currently I have a book that I read a bit more of just every now and then so I have something else to focus on in downtime.

4. Friends – Taking a night out/off to meet up with friends or even just to chat for a while can be a great way to get yourself back into focus.

5. Input/All of the above – I was watching that old film Short Circuit 2 the other day with the robot that loves new input. He wanders the city reading everything and sightseeing. Take heed, writers need this too. More Input! 

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