Writers Can Reduce Stress by Following These 21 Tips

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Writers are often stalked by a predator called stress. It’s a nasty disorder that can cause headaches, back and body pain, nausea, depression, problems in relationships, and a host of other physical and mental ailments. Not a pleasant malady. 
The causes of stress are as many as how it manifests in our bodies. We get ourselves into an overwhelmed mode with edits, harsh critiques, rejections, writer’s block, looming deadlines, and self-imposed perfection. Who wants to deal with misery if there’s a solution?
These tips to reduce stress may also improve your physical and mental disposition.
21 Stress Reduction Tips for Writers
1. Remember why writing first excited you. Post it near your computer.
2. Accept you’re not perfect.
3. Determine rejections are redirections. Turndowns are of the manuscript, not the writer. 
4. Get outside and enjoy nature.
5. Take a walk.
6. Eat a healthy diet. We are what we eat.
7. Journal the emotions that coincide with your stress.
8. Understand stress is a normal reaction, and it does help us accomplish great things.
9. Take a nap. Sleep deprivation solves nothing.
10. Learn how to say no. This means in your professional and personal life.
11. Schedule relaxation times. Read or enjoy a hobby.
12. Delegate tasks. Writer, no one expects us to be workhorses. 
13. Consider a social media break.
14. Breathe in and out to calm yourself.
15. Determine when you write best: morning, afternoon, or evening.
16. List your priority of projects.
17. Pray. God gave you the gift of writing, and He will help you through the downtimes.
18. Practice laughing, a huge belly laugh.
19. Plan a getaway or retreat.
20. Try writing in a different spot.
21. Listen to soothing music.
We are fortunate to have the finest career on the planet. We create worlds out of words, love from a single smile, happiness from a touch, and friendships from unlikely people. A strong writer refuses to allow stress to destroy the art of communicating through the written world
What would you add to this list? Leave your stress-reduction tips in the comments section below!
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DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. 
She is the former director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Retreat, and Mountainside Novelist Retreat with social media specialist Edie Melson. Connect here: DIANNMILLS.COM