Five things you might not think would help your writing session

Over these past few years I've had to come up with a pretty solid routine to helping me through a long writing session when I really need it. A lot of these things took me a while to embrace or even think of, but once they were done I realized my productivity had increased and my writing became a lot less distracted.

So here's some odd things you can try to help your writing along.

1. Stretching

I'm serious. It doesn't matter if you're writing by hand or typing, small muscles in your hand, wrist, and forearms are quick firing and tweaking your fingers and hand around at lightning speeds. If you're writing for a long time, this is a big strain for such small motions. A lot of people who work with computers and extensive handwriting all day sometimes come up with things such as tendinitis, carpel tunnel, strained muscles, and more. None of these things are fun.

So before you type, shake your hands out to loosen them, give them a quick rub-down to warm them up, and then give your forearms a stretch like so:



This stretch is great. I use it before writing, but more importantly it is the BIG stretch I use before, during, and after drumming. It it golden. Do it before you write and as soon as you feel heat in your forearms later on. After this, do the top one again except move the pulling hand to the top part of your fingers and give them a gentle hyperextension to help the tendons a bit. It's a good idea to stretch your shoulders as well as such:



Because your nerves are all connected up your arms and into your spine, having fully stretched arms will help them relax and make it through the session.

And then, there's the thing you wouldn't think of, and that's the neck. Your neck is always tense. You notice it when you sit around for a long time, you notice it when you read, when you sit at a table for a while, when you stand for too long. It's because when you're tense, the first things to tighten up are your shoulders and your jaw. Try this when you're stressed: force your shoulders and jaw to relax. You'll be surprised how much they slump. Well, guess which two body parts have major muscles in the neck? Your tension settles hardcore in your neck, and stretching it out will help your back and shoulders and stop neck pain.

This one is GOLDEN.



And there you have it. Only takes like two minutes, take the time and give your body a friendly little boost. It deserves it.

2. Stand up when writing

Another one that wouldn't really think of. It sounds awful. It sounds unproductive, and the thought of standing up for an extended period of time when you COULD be sitting down is laughable in our society. But I'm serious about this.

There are a few reasons why standing will help you focus.

Firstly, when we as people stand, it's usually for a specific reason. Either we're going somewhere or have something to do. If we didn't, we'd be sitting down and just chilling. Think about it. So when you stand up to write, psychologically you are more focused on the task at hand. You are not nearly as comfortable and so it's not as easy to get side tracked and forget what you're supposed to be doing, even for a little bit.

It also help you stay more alert. Blood flow increases, which also increases your health and overall oxygen intake. Sitting creates pressure points and kinks and it interrupts your blood flow. Hence why you get stiffness and pain and limbs that fall asleep when you sit for a long time. When you stand, you naturally shift your balance, and as stiffness happens you (usually subconsciously) shift your weight, rotate your hips, lift/bend your legs, move on the spot, etc. Your muscles love you more and your lungs work more efficiently. Just because you're standing! And the happier your body is, the more productively you work.

There's a really cool medical article on blood flow and how it changes from sitting to standing and helps your health at this link: Click here! 

It's a difficult read if you haven't studied much anatomy, but you get the general idea anyways. 

Exercise. Writers rarely get enough of it because, let's face it, all we want to do is sit around all day and write and never see the light of day and we're loners and all that jazz. Also our brains are so fried by the time a writing session is done we feel exhausted anyways. However, standing is an easy way to get a least a teeny bit of exercise and get you a step closer to healthy. And again, a healthy body is a productive one. It will help your brain function at a higher level.


3. Ensuring you are well-fed and hydrated

This is a simple one. Don't eat a huge meal, you'll be too dozy to focus. Grab something easy on your stomach and just enough to tie you across the writing. I really don't recommend snacking while you write, simply because it distracts from what you're doing. Being fed gives you an energy boost and sustains you while you work, helping you focus better.

More important than food is water. Drink water as you go. A crazy percentage of North Americans regularly do not drink enough water, and you'd be surprised what dehydration will do to screw your writing session over. A medical article on symptoms of dehydration states that noticeable thirst is not the first thing you feel when you don't have enough water. You don't get thirsty until you REALLY need water. My tendon specialist keeps going on a rant about how dehydration is the second largest reason for mid-day fatigue, with the first being actual lack of sleep. It also causes a HUGE percentage of headaches. Here are the symptoms the article lists for dehydration: Fatigue, headaches (told you guys), dry mouth, dizziness (side note from me: causes head rushes when you stand up), weakness, increased heart rate, dry, flushed skin, muscle cramps and other pain. Now take a moment and think just how more productive you will be if you don't have to deal with any of the above. And you know how easy it is to fix it? Simple as drinking water.

4. Clean the room you work in

Regardless of your usual habits, we know when we look around that eventually, the mess is going to have to be cleaned up. It creates distractions and discords and even gives you an excuse to interrupt your work later if the room is messy. "I could work on this difficult passage... orrrrr I could put those dishes away..." Also, an orderly environment helps you relax psychologically. It doesn't need to be spotless, some people like organized chaos, but organize your chaos before you get your thing started.


5. Dress in your favourite/most comfortable everything.

Is anyone going to see you writing? No. Well maybe not. Sometimes my roommates see me doing it. If I'm in a place where my roommates see me, I wear yoga pants and a SUPER comfortable (yet a bit ratty) tank top. If it's cold I wear my super comfy slippers and a cardigan made of my favorite material. Sometimes, I wear a dress. It's a super comfy, super simple dress, and looks STUPID with my ratty hair and lack of dress-appropriate everything, but it's comfortable so I wear it. If I'm alone, as you all know, pants don't happen. I never wear socks because I hate socks. I certainly never wear shoes because I never wear shoes anyways. I always have my hair up in a pony tail to keep it out of my way.

The point is, comfortable dress makes for happy people, so dress like you work at home, because you do! If you don't want to get out of your PJs, DON'T.

Do you have a super fancy shirt that you love to wear because it's super comfortable but really only looks like it belongs in a show or at family functions?  Wear it. No one will judge you. If your roommates or family judge you, go on a rant about your artistic needs. No one wants to hear those rants and they'll back right off/never mention it again.


Try a couple of these out and let me know how they work out!


And once again with a Twitter plug. For more frequent updates/sporadic moments in my life, follow me on Twitter @ArtinEverySense AKA "The Artist." I'm almost back up to the biggest following on Twitter ever (I USED TO HAVE 8 PEOPLE!) just like how I have the biggest reader base here with 9 people daily. So yeah! Check it out!

Also, I like the odd comment on here but I wouldn't mind hearing some feedback from you guys, so comment away and let me know if there's something you'd like me to write on. Anything. Surprise me. You have to ask on Twitter or in the comments, though, because you don't get to have my e-mail.