Rest, Writing, Habits
Learn all about writing tips, habit formation, and more!
This Week’s Overview
This week saw me writing multiple publications from opinion pieces, to a company blog post, to a sales email, and more! It was a learning curve for me and I grew heaps! This week also saw me reading the Atomic Habits by James Clear, implementing healthy habits, and researching natural health.
Take a Break
I got started on my work late due to my sister getting married this past weekend, and due to guests still being in town. needless to say I did not get an iota of work done on Monday. My typical response to being behind is to work, work, work until I have caught up.
This was the perfect opportunity to implement the strategy of taking breaks in work.
It has been shown that when people take a fifteen minuter break every ninety minutes, their productivity increases. You might think that taking these breaks would cause one to lose precious time, but the truth is by replenishing one’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energies one will actually gain more time.
So, instead of working straight through most of the day, I took breaks. I found that letting a project sit for a while can help me to come back to it with a fresh perspective. This was particularly effective if I was feeling frustrated or stuck.
Some ideas for taking breaks:
Physical: Do a few push ups, or take a quick walk/jog around the block. Nothing crazy. You do not need to break a sweat, just get your heart rate up a bit.
Emotional: You can call a friend, maybe write down a favorite memory that you have had, or look through old photos.
Mental: This can be paired very well with the physical one. Let your mind wander. Think about anything that you want - except your work. Maybe read something on philosophy or something that will uplift your mind. (Pro tip: I recommend not doing this on a screen.)
Spiritual: Take some time to pray, meditate, or reflect. This can look different for different people, so find what works for you.
If you want to learn more about the importance of taking breaks I would highly recommend this video. (9 min)
Practice Makes Perfect
Writing is something that has intimidated me in the past. Whenever I would sit down to write a paper, I felt like I was staring at a brick wall. you can imagine how I felt when I realized that I had multiple writing assignment this week (three of which were over 1,000 words). Even though it was intimidating, I began.
I was pleasantly surprised, as the week went on, to find myself getting more and more comfortable with writing. It was encouraging. By the end of the week, if I were asked to write a blog or article, I felt that I could confidently say “Yes!”
Here are a few tips that I have used to improve my writing:
Keep it short. If you keep the majority of your sentences short it will be easier for readers to comprehend what you are saying, and you will retain their attention for longer. Particularly online.
Vary your sentence length to maintain interest. Keeping sentence length the same is boring. No one wants to read boring sentences. Your reader will quickly become very bored. Vary sentence length for depth. It’s interesting. If you vary the length of your sentences, it will not seem like one homogenous blob. It will feel alive. (See what I did there?)
Cut out filler words. If you want to get a point across, do not go around telling everyone that something is “very interesting,” or “very cool.” Just tell them that it is “interesting,” or “cool.” They will understand.
These are just a few of the writing tips that I learned this week. Hope they were helpful!
Notes On Habits
Habits make or break you. They can be a rewarding or destructive force in our life. They are arduous to stop or create. Fortunately, there are proven ways to increase your chance of success. Below are a few tips from James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits.
- Be specific
If you simply say, “I want to eat healthier,” that might not get you far. If you say “Tomorrow at 8am, in my dining room, I will have 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast,” you are being precise, and you eliminate room for error.
You need to specify 1) what you are going to be doing, 2) where you are going to be doing it, and 3) when you are going to be doing it.
- Habit Stacking
Another technique is habit stacking. Habit stacking is when you take a habit and then say that you will do X other habit right after.
For example; “After I brush my teeth in the morning, I will say 3 things that I am grateful for.” Do you see? By saying that you are going to do X habit right after Y habit, the time, place, etc. is already implied!
You don’t’ have to stop there though. You can stack multiple habits on top of each other. The sky is the limit!
Conclusion
Whatever you may be trying to change, implement, or get rid of in your life, do not be afraid to do it! Do not be hard on yourself, and make sure you try to change little bits at a time. Take breaks. Learn from your mistakes. Do not give up!
If you found something particularly helpful today, have suggestions on my writing, or just have something you want to say, please leave a comment! Thank you for reading!