Things that help me relax
I have anxiety so I don’t often feel relaxed. I am working on improving my anxiety but there are a few things that I have found helpful when I am feeling tense:
1. Walks
Sometimes I feel like I can’t think straight, I cannot decide what needs to be done and when I should do it so I find that going for a walk, even just fifteen minutes actually does help to create mental clarity. By the time I come back from the walk, I have a plan or at least know what I am doing next.
2. Music
I have recently started listening to music again. I use Spotify and just put on a playlist or a particular song that I feel like listening to whilst I do other things. I find that after a while I can be singing along and feeling a bit better.
3. Drawing
I have always wanted to be a good artist but I did not really think that it was possible for me. I thought that I just didn't have the artistic talent. In the past, I have used different artistic forms, including sketching and sewing. I had thought about trying digital art in the past but I just thought that I wouldn't be any good at it. However, recently I began wanting to try digital art so I was fortunate enough to have some gift cards that I used to get a Wacom Intuos tablet. It comes with a pen that you use on the drawing tablet, as well as an art programme. You can also download free art software to use with it. It was actually a lot easier to use than I thought it would be and I have discovered that after I have done a drawing I feel so much calmer! I thought that I would get frustrated with any mistakes that I made and with the drawing not being what I envisioned but you can easily undo any errors and you can keep trying until the drawing looks how you want it to look. Although I don’t think that I am going to be a great artist any time soon, I am using this entirely as a hobby: something that I enjoy doing and that I want to keep practicing. I am currently only drawing fan art because I find it a lot easier to use a reference picture and because I love the characters that I am drawing.
4. Blogging
I love writing blog posts. Similarly to writing creatively, it allows me to pour my thoughts out. I can write about topics that I am interested in and I hope that I am reaching people and that my content helps them/ that they enjoy it. I love the community: everyone is so nice and they are passionate about the same topics or have shared similar experiences or give me advice when I need it. I feel amazing after posting a new blog post, as well as talking to people online. Blogging has become something that I am incredibly passionate about and that I wish to continue and work on regularly.
5. Reading
How could I not include reading on this list? It is so enjoyable and relaxing once my mind becomes completely immersed in the story and when I feel compelled to keep reading.
6. Video games
Some games make me feel really relaxed. For example, watching the environment in Skyrim. I think that it depends on the type of game that you play, some are for a challenge, others for enjoyment but that are not necessarily calming and then there are those that just make you feel calm as you stare at the beauty of the visuals, participate in the cute gameplay or fall in love with the characters.
1. Walks
Sometimes I feel like I can’t think straight, I cannot decide what needs to be done and when I should do it so I find that going for a walk, even just fifteen minutes actually does help to create mental clarity. By the time I come back from the walk, I have a plan or at least know what I am doing next.
2. Music
I have recently started listening to music again. I use Spotify and just put on a playlist or a particular song that I feel like listening to whilst I do other things. I find that after a while I can be singing along and feeling a bit better.
3. Drawing
I have always wanted to be a good artist but I did not really think that it was possible for me. I thought that I just didn't have the artistic talent. In the past, I have used different artistic forms, including sketching and sewing. I had thought about trying digital art in the past but I just thought that I wouldn't be any good at it. However, recently I began wanting to try digital art so I was fortunate enough to have some gift cards that I used to get a Wacom Intuos tablet. It comes with a pen that you use on the drawing tablet, as well as an art programme. You can also download free art software to use with it. It was actually a lot easier to use than I thought it would be and I have discovered that after I have done a drawing I feel so much calmer! I thought that I would get frustrated with any mistakes that I made and with the drawing not being what I envisioned but you can easily undo any errors and you can keep trying until the drawing looks how you want it to look. Although I don’t think that I am going to be a great artist any time soon, I am using this entirely as a hobby: something that I enjoy doing and that I want to keep practicing. I am currently only drawing fan art because I find it a lot easier to use a reference picture and because I love the characters that I am drawing.
4. Blogging
I love writing blog posts. Similarly to writing creatively, it allows me to pour my thoughts out. I can write about topics that I am interested in and I hope that I am reaching people and that my content helps them/ that they enjoy it. I love the community: everyone is so nice and they are passionate about the same topics or have shared similar experiences or give me advice when I need it. I feel amazing after posting a new blog post, as well as talking to people online. Blogging has become something that I am incredibly passionate about and that I wish to continue and work on regularly.
5. Reading
How could I not include reading on this list? It is so enjoyable and relaxing once my mind becomes completely immersed in the story and when I feel compelled to keep reading.
6. Video games
Some games make me feel really relaxed. For example, watching the environment in Skyrim. I think that it depends on the type of game that you play, some are for a challenge, others for enjoyment but that are not necessarily calming and then there are those that just make you feel calm as you stare at the beauty of the visuals, participate in the cute gameplay or fall in love with the characters.
Thank you for reading! What helps you to relax?
Writing Strategy
My last writing post was about getting back to writing my novel after taking a break. I said that I wanted to write when I wanted to write. I still do, if I start to feel stressed about the prospect of writing, I will change what I am doing. However, I would like to finish at least a first draft this year if possible so I am going to look at different strategies that I could use, here (inspired by my current read, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder):
One method of making writing progress is to create a word count deadline, either daily, weekly, monthly or bimonthly. I have tried daily/weekly and monthly only once when I participated in NaNoWriMo. Daily/ weekly caused too much stress. If I did not reach my word count (which was often), I would feel terrible and I would stress about trying to catch up or having to write a certain amount of words the next day. Monthly did not really work either: I wrote probably more than I would have normally but I was far off the 50,000 word count goal and lost steam after a while. Bimonthly is an option: I know of at least one author who uses this method. It would be less stressful than having a daily goal and it would be quite lenient, especially if I didn’t set it too high. However, the impending goal could be stressful. Then comes another problem, deciding on what the word count should be.
Strategy 2: Time
Another method to track writing progress is to set a time goal, for example, spending an hour a day writing. I have tried this before but I felt as though I could not relax doing anything else until I did my writing and when I did, I spent a lot of the time not actually writing.
Strategy 3: Scenes
I could make goals based on scenes, for example, I could say that I wanted to finish a certain scene in two days. However, each scene could differ in length and as I do not plan everything in detail, I would not know how long each scene would take me. I could just say that I will focus on a certain scene until I finish it. However, sometimes if I’m not very excited about a scene or if I have spent a lot of time on that scene then I can procrastinate writing about it. I don’t like skipping ahead to other scenes because I like my progress to be quite linear. However, perhaps it is something that I should consider.
So, here are three strategies. Which one would you choose? Or do you follow another? Let me know in the comments below. I am still figuring my one out.
Strategy 1: Counting Words
Strategy 2: Time
Another method to track writing progress is to set a time goal, for example, spending an hour a day writing. I have tried this before but I felt as though I could not relax doing anything else until I did my writing and when I did, I spent a lot of the time not actually writing.
Strategy 3: Scenes
I could make goals based on scenes, for example, I could say that I wanted to finish a certain scene in two days. However, each scene could differ in length and as I do not plan everything in detail, I would not know how long each scene would take me. I could just say that I will focus on a certain scene until I finish it. However, sometimes if I’m not very excited about a scene or if I have spent a lot of time on that scene then I can procrastinate writing about it. I don’t like skipping ahead to other scenes because I like my progress to be quite linear. However, perhaps it is something that I should consider.
So, here are three strategies. Which one would you choose? Or do you follow another? Let me know in the comments below. I am still figuring my one out.