Get Up!

Disclaimer first—I do not consider myself a professional anything, so my suggestions and tips should be taken as just one more person on the internet sharing his personal opinion based on his own experiences.  These tips and ideas may work for you too, but they may not.  Just saying.  

Writing Tip #015

Make sure you get up. 

Yeah, you might be on a roll.  Maybe you’re so close to finishing up that chapter and finally reaching a turning point in your protagonist’s journey.  But guess what, if you’ve been sitting for an hour or more in front of your computer screen, it’s probably time to take a break.  It doesn’t need to be a big break.  Just take a few minutes.  Stand up.  Do a few stretches.  Walk around the room.  Take some deep breaths.  Maybe even step outside (if you’re not outside already) and take a quick walk around the yard.  A quick google search will reveal several five-minute exercise routines for people that spend a lot of time at their desks.  Five minutes.  That’s all it takes to get your blood circulating.  I've found that taking these short breaks at least every hour has increased my productivity.  Yeah, I know, this isn’t newly discovered information—like, who would have thought exercise might be good for you?  The thing is, sometimes we just forget.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in your work and be so excited about what you’re accomplishing that the idea of taking care of yourself completely slips your mind.  So, get up.  Take care of yourself.  Then get back to writing!