Great post! I think about breaks/distractions/the work of writing a lot and recall reading once that Zadie Smith recommended not writing on a computer with internet connection… hard to do if you only have one at home! But a worthwhile idea. The internet is not a break is so very true… it ends with me feeling often more drained then revived. I find walking works best… and then also not getting sucked into too many chores as an avoidance tactic!
Yeah, it's so easy to slip into defaults of scrolling/checking. Turning the Wifi off can be an option—you can always turn it back on, but having it off for an hour or two helps you catch yourself if you click away from what you're working on. A quick physical task can be fine, but chores are endless, especially when you're working at home. And cascading! Like, "now that I started this, I remember that I also have this other thing to do." Or, "before I can even start this, I need to finish this." WEEP!
I love this! When able to work remote, I find it helpful to punctuate each intensive session of work (creative or “day job” office operations, doesn’t matter) with a quick ten minute stroll to the tiny stream in the lot next to my housing complex.
Such a blessing to be near running water. Each walk of the pine needle-studded path to its bank restores me. We have a golden hawk, ducks, deer (everywhere, eating everything), a resident fox, geese, and more. The daily jaunt enables me to watch the slow progression of life as fawns grow into teenagers with growing horns, leaves bud, bloom and fall, and each season follows.
From 1985 to 2020, I worked in DC office buildings. For the last 9 years, my open-cubicle computer station faced a large column (useful for discouraging chit chat). During an intensive deadline, I would if at all doable take ten minutes to walk and look for natural life, and once saw THIS (below). First of its kind that spring!
This is so good and true. This stupid phone has ruined more of my intentional writing time than anything else. I have to turn it off. I find setting a timer and getting up Avery half hour or so to go outside, start some laundry or walk the dog helps me feel refreshed.
Thanks for this wonderful piece, Lydia. I can’t help but mention an alternate universe remedy that blends beautifully with the creative.
A brilliant IT director at a New York Hospital once told me that when he was working on a long-term, tedious technical assignment like a research paper, or studying for a math final, he’d need periodic breaks to get through. For those breaks, he would read great literature - classic, romantic, anything but technical. It would literally lubricate the workings of his entire mind, making him refreshed, re-energized and more productive when he went back to his technical work.
Well, I’m not brilliant, and not doing pressured thinking as I have in my technology oriented past, but I have enjoyed taking his advice!
Great post! I think about breaks/distractions/the work of writing a lot and recall reading once that Zadie Smith recommended not writing on a computer with internet connection… hard to do if you only have one at home! But a worthwhile idea. The internet is not a break is so very true… it ends with me feeling often more drained then revived. I find walking works best… and then also not getting sucked into too many chores as an avoidance tactic!
Yeah, it's so easy to slip into defaults of scrolling/checking. Turning the Wifi off can be an option—you can always turn it back on, but having it off for an hour or two helps you catch yourself if you click away from what you're working on. A quick physical task can be fine, but chores are endless, especially when you're working at home. And cascading! Like, "now that I started this, I remember that I also have this other thing to do." Or, "before I can even start this, I need to finish this." WEEP!
I love this! When able to work remote, I find it helpful to punctuate each intensive session of work (creative or “day job” office operations, doesn’t matter) with a quick ten minute stroll to the tiny stream in the lot next to my housing complex.
Such a blessing to be near running water. Each walk of the pine needle-studded path to its bank restores me. We have a golden hawk, ducks, deer (everywhere, eating everything), a resident fox, geese, and more. The daily jaunt enables me to watch the slow progression of life as fawns grow into teenagers with growing horns, leaves bud, bloom and fall, and each season follows.
From 1985 to 2020, I worked in DC office buildings. For the last 9 years, my open-cubicle computer station faced a large column (useful for discouraging chit chat). During an intensive deadline, I would if at all doable take ten minutes to walk and look for natural life, and once saw THIS (below). First of its kind that spring!
https://x.com/MamurphyMaureen/status/1111069077521526789
I love that visiting the same space and watching those subtle changes day to day. A way of connecting with a different time-scale.
Yes. The Type A part of me just returned and fixed some typos and grammatical errors in that comment. : )
Lots of good advice here…and particularly hard to follow when writing is going well.
For real!
Oh thanks so much for this.. I needed it so much :)
This is so good and true. This stupid phone has ruined more of my intentional writing time than anything else. I have to turn it off. I find setting a timer and getting up Avery half hour or so to go outside, start some laundry or walk the dog helps me feel refreshed.
Mmm, walking a dog or petting a cat seem like great ways to take a break.
love this
i am already the Vice President of staring out the window and i smoke...had those covered at least 😉
Vermont that area of the world is special 🙏
Nice!
Yeah, Vermont is definitely special. I'm really hoping to swim in a pond.
This was important reading for me today.
So glad to hear. Thanks for reading and for letting me know!
Thanks for this wonderful piece, Lydia. I can’t help but mention an alternate universe remedy that blends beautifully with the creative.
A brilliant IT director at a New York Hospital once told me that when he was working on a long-term, tedious technical assignment like a research paper, or studying for a math final, he’d need periodic breaks to get through. For those breaks, he would read great literature - classic, romantic, anything but technical. It would literally lubricate the workings of his entire mind, making him refreshed, re-energized and more productive when he went back to his technical work.
Well, I’m not brilliant, and not doing pressured thinking as I have in my technology oriented past, but I have enjoyed taking his advice!