The Importance of Taking Breaks

Writing is hard work. It may not look like writers expend much energy, but we are. Writing saps our mental, emotional, and spiritual energy reserves. If you’ve ever felt drained after a writing session you know what I mean.

In order to be effective in our writing career, we need to intentional about taking breaks to restore our creative energy. We need time to rest, refuel, and find new inspiration. Here are some ideas:

Five types of breaks to boost writing success

Give your project a rest

Sometimes the best thing we can do with a writing project is set it aside for a time. When we get deep into a story we lose the ability to look at it objectively, plus we tend to get stuck on certain details, scenes, or sentences. When we set the project aside and work on a different piece of writing for a time, we allow our brains to do a reset.

Taking a break between one draft and the next enables our conscious and unconscious brains to return to the project with clearer thinking. We can more easily spot problems and think up more creative solutions for solving them. If you feel stuck with a piece of writing, try locking it in a drawer (real or virtual) for at least a week, or perhaps a few months.

Take short breaks to enhance efficiency

When we’re in the middle of a busy day, taking a break may feel highly unproductive, but productivity experts have shown that taking short breaks actually enhances our ability to think and perform. They suggest stopping every two hours or so to take a short break.

All breaks are not created equally, however. To make the most of short breaks, walk away from your desk, turn your brain to a completely unrelated subject, and connect with either nature or other humans. Limit the break to about fifteen minutes. Above all, resist the temptation to check social media or email! Those activities are not restorative.

Refill your empty tank

When we push ourselves to keep going after our inner energy tank is on empty, our creativity suffers. If we want to do our best work, we must be intentional about taking refueling breaks. What refreshes and restores your heart and soul? Taking a walk along the seashore? Paining a picture? Gardening? Reading? Talking with a friend over coffee? Do yourself and your future readers a favor by making a point to refuel yourself regularly by spending time in activities that restore your body and psyche.

Seek out inspiration

Along with refueling our inner energy tank, we occasionally need to resupply our stock of inspiration. Now and then we need to take a break from writing to seek other kinds of experiences that will fill our store of ideas and spark creativity. The more varied the activities, the better. Vacations, nature walks, art classes, dancing lessons, or a visit to an art museum are all great ways to refill our cache of inspiration. So is reading a book outside our preferred genres or watching a TED talk on something we know nothing about. It may feel like wasted time, but all positive input is fodder for out subconscious. What new things can you learn or experience this week?

Meditate and pray

Our words reflect the state of our spirit. If we hope to communicate truth and hope to our readers we need to remain connected to our Lord. He is the one who gifted us with imagination and called us to write. He is the one who can inspire, guide, and clarify our thoughts. He is the one who enables us to write with efficiency and purpose. Taking spiritual breaks to pray and meditate will help us stay true to our calling and enable us to communicate the truths in our hearts.

I hope these tips help you avoid burnout and enhance your creative output.

Happy writing!

Award-winning writer Lisa E. Betz believes that everyone has a unique story to tell the world. She loves inspiring fellow writers to be more intentional about developing their craft and courageous in sharing their words. Lisa shares her words through speaking, leading Bible studies, writing historical mysteries, and blogging about living intentionally.

You can find her on Facebook LisaEBetzWriter Twitter @LisaEBetz and Pinterest Lisa E Betz Intentional Living.