Home Wellness & Lifestyle
Category:

Wellness & Lifestyle

Quiet Quitting Time And Mental Detoxification For Writers
Wellness & Lifestyle

Quiet Quitting Time And Mental Detoxification For Writers

by O.J Ebubeoha
written by O.J Ebubeoha

Quiet quitting time and mental detoxification are things I do when my head is spinning into overdrive and veering down the wrong lane.

It’s also a thing I do when I need to relax, tackle the overwhelming thoughts in my head, or work through some negative feelings.

Writing is no fun when I’m struggling with myself, mentally. It drags the process, frustrates my thoughts, and ruins the joy I derive from creating any artistic piece.

As writers, our freedom to create with clarity and flair comes from a place that is not riddled with little nagging nannies. It manifests in spaces free of intrusive mental critics, and negative emotions running around unhinged.

When it gets too much for us up there, in the attic of our mental sphere, tapping out from everything and flipping the switch on time, itself works like sorcery.

For me, it doesn’t matter where I am. I flip the switch on everything and go incognito until I’m ready to spring clean.

What Quiet Quitting Time & Mental Detoxification (Isn’t) For Me?

  • It isn’t an action I have to exert energy to achieve. Like walking, dancing, or exercising.
  • It isn’t an act that I cannot achieve indoors using any method suitable for my current mood.
  • It isn’t a non-mentally stimulating activity.

Why Is Quiet Quitting Time & Mental Detoxification Important?

Quiet quitting time and mental detoxification is important to:

  • Slay the nagging nannies in our heads.
  • Put down the nosy critics saying shit about us.
  • Work through troubling emotions instead of compartmentalizing and waiting for the lid to pop off and drown us in the mud.
  • Heal.
  • Process riotous thoughts.
  • Deal with unpleasant and unhealthy triggering feelings.

Quiet Quitting Time And Mental Detoxification For Writers

Simple ways I quiet-quit time and detoxify my mental spaces — Personal favorites.

Listening to podcasts:

When I need to work through difficult thoughts, I tune in to uplifting podcasts with ambient sounds.

If I’m home, I pause everything, lay down, and allow the mix of sounds and words to guide my thought process until I’m settled enough to sort through them.

When I’m not home, I prop my feet wherever I’m and flip the switch.

Quiet Meditation:

This happens more often when I’m alone or in a space where I can tune time out undisturbed. It could happen at the office, while I’m waiting for something, or on a private ride home.

Shower Meditation:

Time stands still when I meditate in the shower.

A combination of ambient music or podcast talks, while I’m in the shower, helps me work through my shitty days. I just stand there, unhurried, and let the waterfall guide me.

This is by far the most effective and refreshing.

Listening To Music:

Music is food for the soul and a first-class ticket out of time.

With a careful selection of songs that numb my racing mind, I’m able to separate myself from the chaos in real life and help me just be where I am.

Music helps shut the voices out while I repair the parts of my mind overrun by those nitwits I mentioned earlier.

Reading A Book:

When I’m holding a book, a good book, everything else fades into oblivion. Including time itself.

Nothing gets past the gates of my mental kingdom except the soul-crushing characters helping me detoxify my mind.

The rest can take a hike and never come back. And when they do, I’m armed and ready to brush them off like specks of dust on my coat.

That’s about everything I do when detoxifying my mental space, after shoving time into my closet.

Endnotes

Quiet quitting time and mental detoxification are important to writers. It helps us clean up murky, unproductive spaces and make room where refreshing creative ideas thrive.

Have a list of activities you do to quiet-quit time and practice them from time to time to keep your mental space decluttered.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
7 Benefits of Expressive Writing for A Sound Mental Health
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

7 Benefits of Expressive Writing for A Sound Mental Health

by Fausat Abiola
written by Fausat Abiola

Expressive writing, also known as personal journaling or emotional disclosure, is just a fancy name for writing from the heart. It is an aspect of self-care that involves a pen and a notebook.

Journaling is a habitual practice of processing your feelings and thoughts regarding everything important through writing.

Your emotional disclosure on paper is more than just writing. Often, it is a therapeutic, stress-relief tool and a great way to maintain sound mental health.

In this article, we will discuss seven benefits of expressive writing for your mental health.

7 Benefits of Expressive Writing for A Sound Mental Health

  • Stress Relief
  • Improved Mood
  • Better Sleep
  • Increased Self-Awareness
  • Improved Emotional Regulation
  • Increased Resilience
  • Improved Mental Clarity

Stress Relief

Stress is a natural part of life, and various factors contribute to its cause.

Increased stress levels can take a toll on our mental and physical health, leading to symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

As a writer, effectively managing stress is important because writing is sometimes mentally tasking and emotionally draining.

Expressive writing is an excellent stress relief tool because it helps you gain control of your emotions and intentionally process your stress triggers.

Improved Mood

Writing about your feelings and issues helps you control your emotions and lessens the intensity of drowning in negative feelings like anger and frustration.

This practice improves your mood and makes you feel better.

Better Sleep

Journaling before bed helps you make a clean break from your day and eases your mind into sleep without hassles.

Incorporating expressive writing into your nighttime routine grants you access to quality sleep, leading to overall improved mental health.

Increased Self-Awareness

The process of introspection and reflection that occurs when journaling increases your self-awareness and provides a deeper understanding of yourself.

Writing expressively is an excellent strategy for fostering sound mental health through heightened introspection.

7 Benefits of Expressive Writing for A Sound Mental Health

Improved Emotional Regulation

Writing enhances your capacity to manage your emotions by recognizing and addressing repetitive patterns of feeling and responding.

This helps you regulate your emotions and improve your emotional and mental health.

Increased Resilience

Journaling about your tough experiences and finding clarity through writing boosts your resilience and ability to deal with adversities in the future.

Improved Mental Clarity

Writing your thoughts and feelings on paper makes them easier to organize with clarity and helps you proffer sound decisions.

Ways To Incorporate Expressive Writing In Your Nightly/Daily Routine

Journaling is the simplest form of therapy. As a writer, journaling is part of your daily routine.

However, intentional journaling isn’t a habit for everyone. But, if you seek to incorporate it into your nightly/daily routine, here are six ways to achieve your goal.

Set Aside Time and Space

Set aside a few minutes from your regular writing time/daily activities and a quiet space to journal.

The time you choose to journal is your choice to make. You could pick first thing in the morning, right before night, or even during your lunch hour.

Find a peaceful spot free of intrusions and let your words flow.

Start With A Prompt

You can use a writing prompt if you are having problems getting started.

Don’t feel terrible because you can’t come up with journaling prompts on your own.

Pro Tip: Your prompt can be about anything.

Write Freely

Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

The purpose of expressive writing is not to create a perfect piece of writing, it is to release your pent-up emotions and thoughts onto paper.

If you’re stuck on what to write, just let your thoughts flow.

Write Regularly

Consistent writing will get you into the habit and make you feel more at ease with it.

Begin by devoting 15 to 20 minutes a day and add more time if desired.

Read What You’ve Written

Reading what you’ve written is a great way to get perspective and examine your inner thoughts.

You may discover some recurring ideas or motifs that will inspire future pieces.

Keep Your Writing Private

Expressing yourself via writing is an intimate endeavor, so keep your writing a secret unless you’re ready to share it with the world.

Endnotes

I recommend journaling/expressive writing as the simplest form of mental therapy for writers.

It has significant mental health benefits and is an easy practice you can incorporate into your daily routine.

0 comment
1 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
How To Use Storytelling To Process Your Negative Emotions
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

How To Use Storytelling To Process Your Negative Emotions

by Fausat Abiola
written by Fausat Abiola

Dealing with negative emotions is a part of our experiences as humans.

Particularly for writers, dealing with negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, doubt, or frustration, destabilizes us mentally and emotionally, which causes a shift in our creative productivity.

These feelings are inescapable because we live in an imperfect world, and there’ll come a time in your writing career when you’ll have to deal with one or a confluence of these negative feelings.

What Are Negative Emotions?

Negative emotions are unpleasant or uncomfortable feelings, such as anger, sadness, frustration, worry, guilt, shame, or despair that wreck our minds apart.

Personal experiences, disputes, or difficult situations might trigger these emotions in your life and affect your self-care and your mental and emotional well-being.

Common Cause Of Negative Emotions For Writers May Include-

Life Events

Personal experiences, such as losing a loved one, a breakup, a conflict, or a traumatic experience, can trigger negative emotions.

Creative Struggles

When your writing plan doesn’t follow through, or there’s a gap in your goals or expectations, it’s natural to feel frustrated, anxious, or disappointed.

Rejection

Receiving rejection from publishers, agents, or readers can lead to feelings of disappointment and frustration.

Comparison To Others

It’s easy to compare yourself as a writer, especially a budding one, to others.

Comparing yourself to other successful writers or feeling envious of their success can lead to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

Internal pressure

Putting pressure on yourself to complete a project on time or to a certain standard may lead to experiencing tension and anxiety.

How To Use Storytelling To Process Your Negative Emotions

How To Deal With Negative Emotions

Dealing with or processing negative emotions is extremely difficult, especially for burgeoning writers.

It takes several layers of self-acceptance, conviction, self-motivation, and sheer will to push through these feelings, including harnessing the one key ingredients you’re blessed with.

Soul-writing.

You may not know it, but writing is therapeutic, and you can use it to process emotions — negative, positive, or uncertain feelings.

There are many ways writing can help engage with your feelings, especially when you harness the power of storytelling.

Telling your story in any form you choose, is a powerful tool for self-expression and processing your negative emotions.

It allows you to make sense of your experiences, gain insight into your thoughts and feelings, and connect with yourself on a deeper level.

How To Use Storytelling To Process Negative Emotions

As a writer, you can use soul-writing in storytelling to process your negative emotions and better understand your feelings.

Processing your negative emotions through storytelling provides you with a rich source of emotional material and even gives you insight into the human experience and the intricacies of the human predicament.

7 Tips On How To Use Storytelling To Process Your Negative Emotions-

Narrate Your Experience

Narrating your experience helps clarify your thoughts and feelings.

I know it’s sometimes hard to get vulnerable on paper, but writing gives you a chance to express yourself in a safe and controlled environment.

It creates room for you to reflect on your experiences from the perspective of your pain or negative feelings.

Countless times in my life, I have used storytelling to sort through my feelings, and each time, it has helped me much.

Whenever I do this, I ask myself three questions. As my feelings surface in response to these three questions, I find my feeling flowing more easily through my story.

I ask myself these questions: How do I feel? How do I want to feel? How do I manifest through affirmation, cleaner, and healthier feelings?

If there is any leftover stagnant energy, this last question helps to deal with it.

Transform Your Story

Once you have written or shared your story, consider transforming it into something positive.

This involves re-framing your negative experiences, focusing on the lessons learned, and writing a new ending that represents your desired outcome.

Give Your Emotions To A Character

This is ideal for you as a writer. You can create a character and allow him/her to manifest your current emotions.

You can also describe the character’s traits, expressions, and feelings to mirror yours. In this manner, you are personifying your current feelings and releasing them.

Personifying your negative emotions enables you to detach yourself and separate your mind from the sensation by letting go.

Join A Storytelling Community

Joining a storytelling community, such as a writing group or therapy group, provides you with a safe and accepting space to share your story and make connections with people who have had similar experiences.

Also, a community makes you feel safe discussing your feelings because they have comparable experiences and you can trust them to help you feel heard and understood.

They can also create a safe environment in which you can process your feelings and gain new insights.

Write About Your Personal Growth

Explore the positive sides of how you’ve grown because of your struggles by documenting your thoughts and feelings in writing.

Putting your thoughts on paper can help you gain perspective, find optimism, and strengthen your resolve for positivity.

Explore Different Emotions In Third Person Form

When writing about your negative emotions, try to be specific about what you’re feeling. Write about anger, sadness, frustration, or any other relevant emotion.

This helps you get a better handle on your feelings and gives you a clearer picture of what you’re going through. There is a catch. You should do it in the third person.

By doing this, you detach yourself from your feelings and allow them to fill the space you are not a part of, as therapy.

Use Storytelling In Therapy

Therapy provides a safe and confidential space for you to explore your emotions and work through any negative experiences.

Agreeing to see a therapist helps you gain insight into your thoughts and feelings, and to develop new coping strategies for dealing with your negative emotions.

Endnotes

It’s important to note that you are different and your triggers are different, and so are your processes.

Not every tip listed here may help you effectively process your emotions, but some of them may be the right outlet for you.

By using storytelling to process your negative emotions, you can find a healthy outlet for your feelings and develop a deeper understanding of yourself.

ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERSHIP WITH JANE

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
How To Deal With Sudden Life Changes As A Writer
Wellness & LifestyleWriters Listen

How To Deal With Sudden Life Changes As A Burgeoning Writer

by Jane Anne
written by Jane Anne

In the course of your creative journey, you will grow through different phases and changes in your life. Knowing how to deal with sudden life changes that may or may not disrupt the flow of your creative process is important.

Dealing with these subtle or monumental changes when they occur gives you room to accommodate them as a part of your progress rather than plague your thoughts with guilt for picking one over the other.

What are sudden life changes for humans and writers alike?

Sudden life changes are subtle or monumental events that externally or internally disrupt normalcy in your life and your creative process.

It’s sudden because you had no power to prevent it from happening, but have to deal with it when it does.

These changes manifest and affect you in different ways. Some events can have devastating implications on your well-being, while others might barely scratch your mood surface.

In some cases, these events may stretch you beyond your limits, while others will drain every last drop of the mental and emotional energy you have.

Some changes elicit happy and excited moods, but give you little time to act on them. Others may leave you in a perpetual state of agony and pain for a while.

Examples of sudden life changes include dealing with the death of a loved one, getting married, having a baby, or healing from a broken heart.

It also involves instances of moving to a new environment, changing jobs, relocating, hospitalization, or caring for a sick relative.

It could also manifest forms of personal challenges (self-care, health, financial, mental, social, emotional, or physical), political mandates, environmental challenges, technological challenges, and more.

Are Sudden Life Changes Orchestrated To Make You Feel Guilty?

Negative. Change is the law of life and a normal process. It asks no permission to invade your privacy.

You shouldn’t feel guilty for halting your creative process because you lost a loved one. You should mourn and process their death as long as you want.

Giving birth is a joyous moment, but you also need time to heal and settle in with your new routine that involves a newborn before allowing guilt to eat you up for not writing as much anymore.

You also need to settle down in a new environment and learn your way around and fully unpack before jumping right back to your creative schedule.

You might even find that you need to make some new adjustments or additions to your schedule.

These are important parts of your life, so give yourself time to process all of it without guilt.

Embracing your life changes as a part of your growth process, and life stage is a great way to accept these changes guilt-free.

How To Deal With Sudden Life Changes As A Writer

How To Deal With Sudden Life Changes As A Burgeoning Writer

Take Some Quality Time Off

Your primary priority as a human should be dealing with the changes in your life first.

To do that, you’ll need to take some quality time off to ease off the pressure of juggling a lot at once. You will also need to stay completely honest with yourself and anyone else your absence will affect. ‘

Reach out and inform them why you need the time off.

There are two ways to approach this viz:
  • If you’re handling creative projects, honestly ask for an extension from your clients, explaining why you need it.

Leaving without warning will put your work relationship at risk.

However, in cases of extreme health conditions, it is understandable that there won’t be time to give changes, a heads-up.

Still, when you’ve recovered, make it a priority to extend a notice to them.

If you’re dealing with changes that’ll happen in stages, like bereavement, relocation, or marriage, inform your clients about such changes before things get chaotic.

  • If you’re working on your project and answer no one, you still need to evaluate your projects before placing them on hold.

It’s harder to take time off when you’re working alone because the guilt runs deeper. Still, it is necessary so you can process your changes in real time.

Process Your Life Changes In Real-Time

Don’t leave your processes for later. Don’t shove it aside or discard it as bothering. It doesn’t help.

It’s understandable when dealing with grief and healing because we process things differently, but prolonging preparations or delaying actions that you can do right away will cause you more harm than good.

If there are things you can do now to fast-track your adjustment to this recent change, do it now. Make plans when needed, and pick up where you left off until that phase settles in.

Let me paint a picture here.

Recently, I traveled for the holidays which also coincided with the burial ceremony of my late grandmother.

This change happened in stages. First, I grieved when I got the news that she had passed on. Then I had to make some burial arrangements alongside my dad as it concerned my family.

Afterward, I had to set up remote processes at work since I traveled earlier than usual and will return late because of her burial.

With each stage of accepting this change, I had to pause my creative process to focus on them. It wasn’t until it was time to travel that I officially took time off and asked permission from my clients based on the reality of my situation.

Accommodate New Changes

Before the first two can effectively take place, you have to make room to accommodate these changes.

Have you accepted the loss of a loved one yet? Or opened up your heart to healing from pain? Are you ready to relocate and explore new opportunities? Are you ready to get married?

Have you made appropriate plans as an expectant mother?

How ready are you to accept these new changes in your life? Are you willing to make room and accommodate them with all the baggage that comes with it, or are you dealing with things even deeper?

Sometimes, your unwillingness to accommodate new changes is what allows guilt to slip through.

Or, not being honest with how we feel about these changes and dealing with them permits guilt into your headspace.

To avoid feeling guilty about dealing with sudden life changes instead of pounding away at a computer, accommodate and process it.

Find Balance In The Chaos

As a writer, it’s undoubtedly true that you love your peace. And quiet. Naturally, we all do.

What we all despise is anything interrupting that bubble, but the truth is that accommodating life changes comes with chaos and baggage.

It either you swim through the chaos or sink with it.

I believe we both prefer the former, so ensure you make enough room to embrace the chaos. That’s why taking time off and processing your changes in real-time is important.

In Your Spare Time, Do The Little You Can

Your routine as a writer will be messy during this time.

There’s every possibility that you’ll be stressed, tired, unstable, and emotional as you progress through these phases. So, don’t force even the most mundane task if you can’t concentrate.

But if you can, work on it as little as you can handle.

If you can spare ten mins, create for that time and let it go.

Truth pill – I was on holiday for a month but couldn’t get anything done because I was stressed, too tired to lift a finger, and emotionally unstable.

When you throw in the fact that my hometown had little or no electricity, and we did everything manually, you’ll understand how frustrating it was to think about creating.

So, I made outlines instead and took notes for later, saving them in my notebook, which worked well for me.

I had to do the little I could gratefully, and let the rest be until I got back to base.

Reshuffle Your Creative Schedule

When accommodating sudden life changes, you’ll have to make adjustments in your creative schedule to fit your current situation.

Reshuffling your schedule doesn’t make you a lazy or unproductive writer, and you shouldn’t feel ashamed for accepting your current reality.

Reworking your creative schedule helps you understand how best to make the most of the sparse time you have, to create.

Example: If you’re a morning person, but have to commute to your new place of work early to avoid traffic, you can split your creative time into morning and evening.

This way, you won’t have to force yourself to work long hours in the morning and have a shitty day at work.

Reshuffling provides you an opportunity to work reasonably despite the new changes you’re dealing with.

Spare Yourself The Guilt

Protect your headspace from guilt.

You are not the cause of the sudden changes in your life. Directly or indirectly, they add or take away something from you that you cannot control, but have to deal with.

So, if you’ve got to take a few weeks off to prepare for your wedding ceremony, why feel guilty?

Or if you’re hurting so much from loss, and can’t concentrate without breaking down, why feel guilty for taking time off to process it?

Spare yourself from the guilt and accept your reality instead. Deal with what you should, embrace your growth, and process your changes.

That is the best way to deal with anything that life suddenly throws at you.

Endnotes

As a burgeoning writer, you’ll have moments that’ll challenge your creative headspace positively or negatively.

How you choose to navigate the chaos when it’s time will determine how refined you’ll come out on the other side.

Genuine acceptance and openness to your reality are the best ways to deal with sudden life changes as a writer.

The Creatives Oasis Blog pop-up Accountability Partnership Service Banner

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
3 Beautiful And Breathtaking Places In Nigeria Writers Should Visit
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

3 Beautiful And Breathtaking Places In Nigeria Writers Should Visit

by Precious Adaey
written by Precious Adaey

There are beautiful, and breathtaking places in Nigeria writers should visit that inspire and stimulate creativity.

Finding creative sources of artistic inspiration is always a thrilling adventure for burgeoning writers, especially for writers who enjoy traveling and exploration.

Traveling and seeking fresh adventures is a great way to unwind, free your mind, and allow nature, culture, and heritage to unlock your creative imagination.

As an African writer, there are three beautiful and breathtaking places in Nigeria you must add to your travel bucket list.

What’s A Travel Bucket list?

This is a cool list, where you have your dream travel destinations penned down and crossed off when you eventually travel to these places.

Your travel bucket list may include both local and international locations you’ve longed to visit.

Why Should Writers Make Travelling Plans?

Tourists are not the only ones permitted to make traveling plans. Writers need a change of scenery and exposure too.

Traveling switches up things and jolts your imagination. It refreshes your inspiration bank and paints a perspective in your mind’s view that you may have never imagined.

Making travel plans is a recipe for experiencing new and revitalized versions of yourself as a creative writer.

3 Beautiful And Breathtaking Places In Nigeria Writers Should Visit

Top 3 Breathtaking Places In Nigeria, Every Writer Should Visit

Lagos

This city is the heart and bustle of Nigeria where you can run out of creative ideas. A city filled with so much culture and artistic displays of unique human characteristics that only one encounter can trigger something exceptional.

Everything in this city triggers your creative imagination from the soulful graffiti on the wall to its people, food, environment, music, and landmark areas.

Abuja

This is the serene and breathtaking capital city of Nigeria.

Do you want to get out of the noise and find comfort in writing? Take a trip to Abuja and you’ll find the peace and inspiration you seek.

This beautiful city is rich in exotic natural habitats and has interesting landmark areas that intoxicate and amplify your creative senses.

Calabar

This is the capital of Cross River State, Nigeria.

It’s a beautiful place and a major tourism center in Nigeria. It boasts of significant history, beautiful scenery, and outstanding culture.

Calabar has great tourist centers, natural habitats, a beautiful city, and a cultural heritage to die for.

It is a definitive must-add to your travel bucket list.

Intentional Plans To Make Before Traveling

It’s difficult to visit a place for the first time and not get lost in the thrill of adventure and exploration.

I advise you to make intentional plans for your visit before traveling, so you’re ready to tap into your flow when you arrive at your destination and make the most of your visit.

Here are 3 intentional plans you should make before traveling:

Documenting Your Journey

It doesn’t matter what you go searching for when you travel, make an intentional plan to document your journey.

Take notes of everything and the tiniest feeling as you explore the cities on your travel bucket list. Journal your experiences with the culture, people, food, environment, and even music.

Write about your perception of the characteristics of the people you encountered, their uniqueness, and their relationship with one another.

Document your encounter with nature, the sunrise, and anything else about the place that catches your fancy or triggers your emotions.

Learning Something New

Stay intentional about learning something new while visiting these breathtaking places in Nigeria.

As a writer on an adventure, you must explore and learn. Don’t put yourself in the box or remain static throughout your visit.

Allow yourself the liberty to open up to the call of nature. Ask questions about the people’s culture and heritage, myths and stereotypes, hidden truths that are whitewashed, and anything else that interests you.

Fill your knowledge bank with as much information as you can about your location but also build unforgettable memories and moments with that place.

There’s nothing as beautiful as that for a writer.

Savouring The Experience

Your purpose for traveling mustn’t lean toward finding inspiration alone. It is a time for you to unwind, relax, and rejuvenate.

Allow your mind to wander and reflect, and enjoy the moments spent visiting these breathtaking places in Nigeria.

Plan to savor every aspect of the experience, both its good and terrible parts.

Allow your creative mind to swim in the many explorative possibilities your journey could bring and savor them.

Endnotes

Making travel plans isn’t a bad idea, even when you don’t have the means to fulfill them. Add these 3 breathtaking places in Nigeria to your travel bucket list and, who knows, the universe might just grant your wish.

However, your inability to fund your travel plans shouldn’t prevent you from exploring other places within your immediate environment.

Visit parks, resort centers, natural habitats, and places known for the cultural heritage in your location.

What you’ll find around you may surprise you.

CREATIVE WRITING RESOURCE HUB

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
7 Toxic Effect Of Sleep Deprivation On Creative Productivity
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

7 Toxic Effect Of Sleep Deprivation On Creative Productivity

by Mbam Mary
written by Mbam Mary

Sleep deprivation is a norm among writers that has devastating toxic effects on our creative productivity.

Have you ever worked for a full 24hrs straight and felt normal the next morning? I guess not. Your morning routine will feel like crap.

You’ll feel drowsy, disoriented, and exhausted, along with the head-splitting migraine, lack of focus, and motivation to do anything except stare at your cream-colored walls or go back to sleep.

These are signs of sleep deprivation.

Consciously depriving you of sound, quality sleep as a writer for lengthy periods because of your creative projects is injurious to your mental and physical health.

Sound sleep, relax, repair, rejuvenate, and refill your creative bank with enough juice to keep you active and productive daily.

Writing is exhausting and mentally tasking because your mind is constantly in overdrive, imagining, thinking, plotting, and reshuffling pieces to fit the picture you are painting on your canvas.

This process is consuming and demanding, especially as a young writer striving to develop yourself, which may push you to opt for longer work hours while sacrificing your sleep.

Forfeiting your sleep for more work hours might seem like nothing important until it becomes a repeated, addictive process that drains your mental energy and leaves you out to dry.

You don’t want to cultivate poor sleeping habits as a young writer. The toxic effects on your creative productivity are innumerable.

Relationship Between Sleep Deprivation And Creative Productivity

Sleep deprivation is a consistent, conscious avoidance of sleep. It is depriving you of quality sleep to create more time for your scheduled activities.

Creative productivity is the volume of creative work you tick off your daily planner as scheduled by you.

Measuring creative productivity is subjective to the writer, but it’s usually about your set writing goals for a period.

Sleep deprivation has a direct relationship with creative productivity because a lack of sleep leads to poor productivity, inferior quality of creative work, lack of will and motivation to write a word, and disorientation.

Lack of sleep can lead you to produce draft copies that are half-baked and ridden with errors, lack clarity, and are devoid of style, begging for mercy because you wrote them while half-asleep on your monitor.

Or after depriving yourself of sleep for days.

The result? You’ll have to start afresh. After an uninterrupted week or even a month of sleep and proper self-care.

To produce quality work as a writer, you need to take your self-care seriously, which advocates quality sleep as an effective way to practice self-care.

Without enough sleep, your creative productivity will suffer alongside your consistency and goals.

7 Toxic Effect Of Sleep Deprivation On Creative Productivity

Effect Of Sleep Deprivation On Creative Productivity

The effects of poor sleep on your productivity as a writer are glaringly obvious when you measure your performance.

Sleep deprivation impairs your crucial cognitive and executive functions which are vital to your creative productivity.

Here are 7 effects of sleep deprivation on your creative productivity.

  1. It Impairs Creativity

Fatigue and micro-sleep in the long run impair your ability to think creatively because your mind is in a chaotic state and has jumbled together your thoughts in a muddy mess.

For your imaginative mind to thrive, it needs a healthy space that provides room for clarity of thought. You can’t expect to think or write clearly when half your body is screaming at you.

Nor can you create any quality piece of work, when you’re half struggling to keep your eyes open and figuring out why the keys on your keyboard look so strange.

  1. It Causes Irritability And Terrible Mood Swings

Sleep deprivation causes a drastic change in your mood swings and increases your irritability levels.

You’ll become grumpier and easily put off by the things you previously enjoyed doing. This impairs your productivity because mood swings and irritability create room for procrastination to thrive.

  1. It Causes The Production Of Erroneous Work

It isn’t out of place for exhaustion to cause you to make mistakes while working. A lack of concentration precedes it.

Your inability to focus will cause you to overlook tiny details in your work, which will ruin long hours of good work in just minutes.

Imagine writing and struggling to keep your mind alert at the same time. I sure bet that you’ll find paragraphs laced with repetitive words or obscure sentences in the morning.

  1. It Reduces Your Productivity

In the absence of quality sleep, your creative productivity will suffer. Your performance will rank below average and way below your expectations, which may cause you to spiral negatively.

Frustration and disorganization will set in, making a simple task seem unworthy, laborious, and time-consuming.

Your future projects will suffer from a backlog of uncompleted or poorly done projects which tanks your writing goals and drag your creative productivity through the mud.

  1. It Causes Easy Distractibility

Fatigue causes you to become easily distracted by the most insignificant of distractions. Things that will not normally hold your attention will have it for a long period.

Imagine staring at the wall for hours. It’s usually but not uncommon if sleep deprived. It’s your mind’s way of trying to grapple with the chaos inside your head.

  1. It Causes A Lack Of Motivation

Usually, even non-sleep-deprived writers struggle with maintaining motivation and riding with it, how much more a sleep-deprived one.

Your motivation will pack its bags and take flight once your muddy mind beckons to it. No matter how many times you try to grasp a hold of it, it’ll only flicker and slip through.

Without motivation, there’s a very high possibility that’ll remain stuck in a spot for the longest, most excruciatingly painful moment of your career struggling with writer’s block.

  1. It Causes Break In Consistency

Consistency is the key to improving your performance and creative productivity as a writer, but allowing your lack of sleep to rub you off is unwise.

Writers need to maintain a consistent creative flow to grow and thrive, but there’s a lot that hinders that goal.

Consistency and creative productivity have a yin-yang relationship. One cannot attract the expected results without the other.

So, take that nap when needed and return to your keyboard revitalized.

Tips For Sound Sleep To Improve Your Creative Productivity

  • Schedule your sleep time and keep to it daily.
  • Wind down with a relaxing activity like yoga, reading a book or magazine, listening to soothing music, or having a bath 30 minutes before nap time.
  • Exercise regularly, about 30 minutes per day (done earlier in the day or 2–4 hours before bedtime)
  • Limit naps to about 30 minutes and none after 3 p.m.
  • Avoid stimulants (alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine) 4–6 hours before bedtime
  • Your bedroom should be prepared to serve the purpose of sleep. Take work to your study.
  • Eat healthily. Avoid heavy and spicy meals 2 hours before bedtime.
  • Turn off your television, computers, and phones an hour before bedtime. Don’t keep your phone close to your bed.
  • Let go of the day’s failures and be grateful for what you have achieved.
  • Make a to-do list for the next day as this reduces worry and anxiety.
  • Switch off the light and take out any source of noise from the bedroom. The temperature of the bedroom should be just perfect for you.
  • Avoid unnecessary use of alarm clocks. They affect your sleep.
  • You can play relaxing background music to lure you to sleep.
  • Invest in a great mattress and suitable bedding for a comfy feel when sleeping.
  • Consult a health practitioner where these tips aren’t substantive.

Endnotes

It is impossible to separate sleep from creativity. Better concepts, ideas, and innovation filter through your mind when you have clarity of thought.

In the long run, sleep deprivation and micro-sleep will impair your creative productivity and eventually ruin your physical, emotional, and mental health.

The Creatives Oasis Blog pop-up Accountability Partnership Service Banner

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Effective Ways To Practice Self-care As A Burgeoning Writer
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

Effective Ways To Practice Self-care As A Burgeoning Writer

by Grace Malik
written by Grace Malik

Self-care is a practice focused on preserving and improving your health and well-being as a writer, and there are effective ways to practice it.

Sometimes, when we hear or think of self-care, we think it’s something that we should only take the liberty to practice, perhaps once in a while.

Self-care demands more. It’s more than enjoying a bubble bath, a day in Paris, or a ski day. Although these are acts of self-care, it’s much more personal than that.

Self-care is caring for yourself and taking time to do acts of service for yourself, physically, emotionally, mentally, and in ways that matter. It is taking accountability for yourself in ways that count.

When you’re in a good relationship with yourself, and you constantly take deliberate acts to better yourself, that’s self-care.

It comprises the actions you take to nourish your mind, body, and soul, which will enhance your productivity as a writer.

Practicing self-care big doesn’t have to be an elaborate event. It only has to be significant and mindful, and you can show it to yourself in a lot of ways.

Don’t convince yourself that you don’t need it and can carry on without it. Don’t lie to yourself that they built your body out of mechanical parts because it isn’t.

At some point, it’ll get weakened, and you’ll get sucked into an abyss of burnout, frustration, stress, anxiety, and other forms of harmful tendencies that’ll affect your health, creativity, and productivity.

Importance of Practising Effective Self-care

Practicing self-care is important and a necessity for you as a writer to improve your well-being, state of mind, focus, and personal health.

It increases your happy hormones and helps you live a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle.

As a writer, practicing self-care improves the following.

Self-care Ramps Up Your Productivity As A Creative

Practicing self-care increases your productivity levels.

When your body, mind, and soul are at peace and in sync, your creative flow will remain untampered, which enhances your productivity.

Self-care Improves Your Intellectuality

As a writer, you intentionally have to check your mental and emotional state to filter what you feed your mind.

This helps to detach your mind from toxic consumables and clears a path that is refreshing and more in sync with your creative pursuit.

When practicing self-care, you take more time to see yourself, to focus on yourself, and to make yourself your utmost concentration, which is an important detoxifying process for writers.

Self-care Reduces Stress

Intentionally practicing self-care reduces stress from your life as a creative. It also reduces the chances of spiraling into anxiety and helps you rejuvenate.

Effective Ways To Practice Self-care As A Burgeoning Writer

7 Effective Ways To Practice Self-Care As A Creative

Give Yourself The Chance To Say No

Saying no is an enormous form of self-care. Repeat this mantra severally till it sticks, if that’s what it takes.

Most times, you feel ashamed of saying no, to reject that last-minute job that is at the detriment of your me-time, your sleep, and your break.

That “help me out with this” will sometimes demand more than you’re willing to give. Still, you do it regardless.

I’m not faulting you for helping, by all means, lend a hand. Help a friend when you can. Take a last-minute job if you can. But make sure that you’re not doing this to the detriment of your sanity.

Learn to put your priorities and needs first.

Prioritize Your Healthcare

Don’t disregard prioritizing your health over anything else.

It is an effective self-care practice to engage in activities that’ll improve your health and personal wellness.

Do not abandon your health self-care routines because you’re too busy to care. Take time out for proper care.

Go for checkups, eat regularly, and eat healthy meals. Exercise as much as you can, and practice meditation.

Have Off-screen Time Intervals

One of the best things that you can do for your creative mind and productivity is to steer clear of your phone at scheduled intervals.

Honestly, creative ideas flow to me more when I’m off my phone than when I’m on it.

And admittedly, it’s different for everyone.

You may get more ideas when you’re on your phone or laptop 24/7. Still, too much of everything is not good. Take out the time to set aside distractions — in which your phone plays a significant role.

Stepping away from the screen is an act of self-care, so schedule some time for you every single day offscreen and find something in your schedule to tick off or take as your break time.

Take Regular Breaks

Yes, take breaks. Take long walks with yourself and breathe.

Do something creative that is not your job. It could be journalling, exercising, or even decluttering your space.

Set out a specific time for you to have breaks and take them.

Breathe

In life, there are moments when the most effective form of self-care is to inhale deeply and exhale.

Breathing is an uncommon act of self-care but is highly effective in mindful meditation. So take out time to step back from what you do and breathe.

Simply breathe.

Sleep

One of the worst ways to create is when you are sleep-deprived. Sleep is important to you as a creative and as a human.

I know you have deadlines to meet, and a trailer-load of work to complete, but when you compare the amounts of time you spend working versus the actual time you set aside for rest, does it balance the scales?

Sound sleep reinvigorates your creative mind and keeps it active and alert, but when you are sleep-deprived, it is glaring in the quality of work you produce.

To avoid this drastic outcome, ensure you have quality hours of sleep daily. Don’t compromise having a good night’s sleep or you’ll risk hurting your creative productivity.

Find your flow/timeline

Finally, you can decide how to practice your self-care. It’s not dependent on what you see others doing. Get to know yourself and what works best for you, and start actively doing it.

Endnotes

As a writer, it is easy to get tired, burned out, frustrated, and stressed. Self-care is one way that you can effectively elevate your mood and engage in a more uplifting lifestyle.

Slight changes and small habits go a long way in ensuring your productivity and health stay in check. It improves your efficiency and lifestyle as a writer.

2 comments
3 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Simple DIY Mental Wellness Tips For Burgeoning Writers
Guests PostsWellness & Lifestyle

Simple DIY Mental Wellness Tips For Burgeoning Writers

by Stephanie Ideho-Iraoya
written by Stephanie Ideho-Iraoya

Mental exhaustion is a challenge encountered by burgeoning writers in their careers. By implementing these simple DIY mental wellness tips in your writing routines, you can protect your mental space from burnout and acute stress.
The demands of the writing process can be brutally taxing, making it normal to feel anxious at the beginning of your journey. But overly accumulating stress can impact your productivity and cause severe burnout.

Maintaining a healthy and productive writing lifestyle demands that you prioritize your mental wellness alongside your creative pursuits.

As a writer, if you are feeling overly distracted, lack concentration, are depressed, or otherwise unwell, it can be difficult for you to think creatively and produce your best work. On the other hand, if you are feeling happy, relaxed, and healthy, you’ll create better content.

In this article, we will explore simple DIY mental wellness tips you can implement to prioritize mind care as a writer.

Establish A Writing Routine That Effortlessly Blends With Your Daily Schedules

Succeeding as a writer demands that you establish a regular writing routine and stick with it to induce long-term writing habits. This produces positive results only if you establish a writing routine that effortlessly blends with your daily schedules.

Dedicating ample time to focus on your writing that doesn’t upset your regular routines provides a sense of structure and purpose that increases your creative productivity without causing too much strain on your mental health.

Avoid scheduling your writing routine haphazardly without considering your triggers, creative time, and daily obligations because this could fast-track your journey to burning out.

Seek Support/Professional Help When Needed

Although writing is tagged as a solitary pursuit, it is important to resound the reminder that you do not have to go through it alone.

If you are struggling with your creative pursuits or sense that it is taking a toll on your mental health, do not be afraid to seek support from friends, family, or a mental health professional.

These individuals will provide you with the valuable guidance and support you need to retrace your steps, reprioritize, and maintain a healthy and productive writing life.

Stay Organized

Have you ever wondered why your thoughts are all over the place? Psychologists say a cluttered workspace can lead to a cluttered mind, making it difficult to focus on your writing.

Take out time to organize your writing space and create a system for managing your projects and ideas.

Simple DIY Mental Wellness Tips For Burgeoning Writers

Practice Mindfulness And Meditation

Practicing mindfulness and meditation is a powerful tool in managing stress and anxiety when ingrained in the writing process. It also helps improve your overall well-being.

Incorporating mindfulness techniques into your writing routine, such as deep breathing, meditation, and paying attention to your thoughts and feelings in the present, is a great way to prioritize your mental care even while writing.

Another way to practice mindfulness is to connect with others. Consider joining support groups, an online community for writers, or reaching out to friends and family for support.

Sharing your experiences and struggles with others who understand can provide a sense of belonging and validation that makes your writing journey feel less isolated.

There are many techniques and approaches to mindfulness and meditation, so experiment to find what works best for you.

Take Regular Breaks

The simplest DIY mental wellness tip in the books is taking regular breaks.

Writing can be mentally exhausting, so making time for activities you enjoy outside of writing is important. These activities may include exercising, spending time with friends and family, or engaging in a hobby.

Taking breaks and engaging in activities you love reduces stress, prevents burnout, and boosts your mood. It also improves your mental state by making you feel less overwhelmed and drained.

These activities can be as little as taking a walk, listening to music, or doing something refreshing that relaxes your mind when you get swamped and occupied with writing and meeting deadlines.

Take Care Of Your Physical Health

Eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep can positively impact your mental health. Be sure to prioritize these things in your daily routine.

Only a healthy body can support a healthy mind and help you maintain the energy and focus you need to write.

Setting Realistic Goals And Expectations

The pressure of achievement induces stress, which is made worse if you’re chasing unrealistic goals and expectations you’ve set for yourself.

A key aspect of conditioning your mind for success and protecting your mental health as a writer is setting realistic writing goals and expectations.

It is easy to become overwhelmed and stressed out if you are trying to achieve too much in too little time and with few actionable plans. Instead, try setting smart goals for yourself and give yourself the time and space to work toward them.

This will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and allow you to enjoy writing rather than getting bogged down by unrealistic expectations.

Endnotes

Prioritizing your mental health by incorporating these simple DIY mental wellness tips into your daily routine, you have intentionally improved and created room for a productive writing experience.

Whether you are just starting as a writer or have been writing for years, protecting your mental space is essential for success. Overall, it is important to remember that mind care is not a luxury but a necessity for maintaining mental wellness.

As a writer, it is easy to get caught up in your work and neglect your well-being. Properly caring for your mental health as a writer requires a combination of self-care, support, and a healthy approach to your writing practice.

By setting realistic goals, taking regular breaks, and cultivating positive support systems, you can ensure that your writing remains a positive and fulfilling pursuit.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
How to deal with pressure as a writer
Wellness & Lifestyle

6 Simple Tips on How To Deal With Pressure As A Writer

by Jane Anne
written by Jane Anne

It is normal to feel pressure when you’ve set goals for yourself, but knowing how to deal with pressure as a writer is usually a little difficult.

Becoming a writer is the easy part because there’s so much you’ll have to deal with as your journey progresses. The feeling of pressure could be triggered by a lot of things, one of which is meeting up with deadlines or sticking to a drawn schedule mapped out for a project.

It’s important to note that looking up to a public figure in the industry doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be like them. In truth, they serve as motivation for the kind of things you’d like to inculcate in your craft and become an authority in your niche.

It shouldn’t drive you to go overboard with trying to catch up with them or act like them.

Things that could cause the pressure cooker to get turned up a notch include imposter syndrome, deadlines, writer’s block, lack of focus, low productivity, fear, doubt, and anxiety amongst others.

It’s common to have these feelings pile up over time and erupt all at once or one at a time; therefore, it is up to you to stay conscious of your mental and emotional well-being as a writer.

Here are 6 tips on How To Deal With Pressure As A Writer

1. Take Time-outs/Breaks

Truth be told, you have to learn to do this consciously. With random ideas popping up now and then plus drafts piling up to the brim, the pressure could pop up the lid on your sanity or leave you frustrated and drained.

Taking a much-needed break helps you pick things apart & focus.

2. Engage in Other non-writing Activities

Surprisingly, things like cooking a meal, cleaning, and taking a long walk could help take your mind off everything. It’s a therapeutic measure that works like magic if you are a domestic person. If you aren’t, long walks or a hangout, away from the chaos could also help.

Sleeping doesn’t help much; if anything it might raise the pressure cooker from the dead. In truth, a restless mind needs to be calm before it can take a rest.

How to deal with pressure as a writer

3. Re-evaluate Your W.I.P

Pressure could arise within the WIP itself and it packs a punch when it comes from within because it will leave you at the nail-biting and hair-pulling point. So, when you’re at a fix on which way forward or simply have a creative block, re-evaluating your drafts & WIP works well.

This way, you get to understand the purpose & intention of your story and pick it up from there.

4. Encourage Yourself to Press On

You are your biggest motivator.

Despite how tough it can be in this competitive environment, you should try to look inward for the strength to press on.

Pressure builds in the mind from doubt & fear, so, encourage yourself not to think too much about the unknown and focus on one thing at a time.

5. Write For Release

On days when the lid eventually pops off and boils over, I advise letting all that pent-up energy flow through your pen on a soulful piece.

Guarding your Mental & Emotional health is paramount, therefore it is important to monitor your state of mind at all times. I find writing for release therapeutic because it has a healing touch to it.

It helps you let go & just put down your feelings into words. I know you’ll sleep better after such episodes.

How to deal with pressure as a writer

6. Do What Makes You Happy

You’re weird in your way.

Doing what makes you smile and feel relaxed is a great way to let go of the pressure and free your mind. It could be virtually anything at all, pick the weirdest of them all and bask in the delight of doing what makes you glow up and smile.

Fighting pressure artificially will only work for a short while, but finding what works best for you will last a long time and become a part of your life routine.

You are a masterpiece of your creation, what you feed your mind will take root and sprout from within. If you give room for pressure to take root, it leaves an indelible mark and causes more harm than good.

Notice the signs, and take preemptive actions to tackle them in time.

0 comment
2 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
How To Cure Writer's Block With a Simple Cold Shower
Wellness & Lifestyle

How To Cure Writer’s Block With a Simple Cold Shower

by Jane Anne
written by Jane Anne

I see that smirk you’re wearing, thinking ‘how’s that even possible?. Yes, it’s possible and I will explain how to cure writer’s block with a simple cold shower in this post.

First off, it’s a routine that works for me one hundred percent and probably won’t work for you, if you reside in a country or place where cold showers are an absolute abomination.

I get it. It means you have to devise another means that works best for you, but, it’s okay if you read through this post first.

That said, I also need to tell you this; engaging in mundane activities gives your brain the space to rewind, reboot, and recover. You could doubt it, but half the time it works magic for creatives.

Cold showers and cooking work best for me.

When I’m stuck and in a rut – either with my WIP or Personal issues – I take an awesome cold shower in the heat of the afternoon. I cannot emphasize how clinically healthy it is for the mind and body.

Then comes the conversation and moment of clarity.

The trick is to let your mind wander as the water cascades down your back, giving your brain room to churn over your issues. If there’s a character you can’t seem to figure out, talk about it and converse with that character in the shower. If it’s an idea you can’t figure out, say it out loud and allow your brain to engage with your thoughts, and do the rest for you.

Standing under the force of all that torrent clears the pathway for your critical cells to function better, which in turn breathes clarity into your problems and proffers a logical solution to them.

It’s might seem crazy. It sure sounds insane and could lead to a few raised brows that you’re talking to no one in the shower but it is necessary to clear the stumps along the way.

Writer’s blocks are caused by a lack of imaginative juices flowing at some point in an author’s career, while for some, it happens every time with a new work in progress and causes the writing process to become painful, boring, and tiring.

Picture yourself in the ambiance of nature, enjoying the feel of her feather-light strokes on your skin as you lay it all bare. Talking is a therapeutic process; you don’t know what your problem is until you begin to comb through all the possible stumps in your way.

Then and only then will you find the solution to your writer’s block. Usually, it is caused by the inability to figure out what or how a project should progress from Point A to Point B, so, we become stuck, agitated, and frustrated.

How To Cure Writer's Block With a Simple Cold Shower

Don’t rush your showers. See it as an act of intimacy, a time to make love with your mind and enjoy the feeling of letting go. If you’re weighed down and stressed, there’s a high tendency of experiencing writer’s block at all times.

Endnotes:

The best ideas will always come naturally and unexpectedly because they are not forced. It’s beautiful how you could tinker with an idea all day without making headway, but as soon as you fall asleep, you hit the gold mine. It’s simply because you’re attuned to nature and your mind is not boggled by unnecessary worries or realities.

I daresay that, a cold shower a day, keeps writer’s block away.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinEmail
Close