What does food and fitness have to do with an organization for multi-published authors? According to Novelists, Inc., many writers need help with health and fitness, or at least that’s what they told me when they interviewed me for their blog. Among their questions was this:
What do you wish writers would do to take care of themselves?
In retrospect, I could probably write a whole essay on this topic, which makes my response seem somewhat meager:
Like many writers out there, I work from home, and it’s all too easy to spend the entire day just sitting in front of a computer, giving my fingers a workout but nothing much else. I encourage writers, and anyone else who works from home, to plan some moving-around time into the day. The easiest way is to go outside and take a walk. Research continues to show that exercise helps people be more productive, reduce stress and improve concentration. I could be stuck on a problem for hours, then I’ll go for a walk or a swim and by the time I’m done, the solution to the problem seems plain as day.
But maybe there’s a bigger story here. Not just about writers, but for anyone working from home. In a lifestyle that seems to have so many freedoms, why is it still so hard to move around, eat healthy food, and stay fit and healthy?
I’m only just figuring out the answer to this in my own life. I know it has something to do with an inherent desire to be idle and vague hesitance to leave my comfort zone.
So what can real people who work from home do to stay fit? It’s easy to say “take a walk”, but how do you actually get motivated to get up from the office chair, put on shoes, and go outside?
I don’t have the answers, alas. But I do have the answers to some other questions over on Novelists, Inc. Check out the interview, where I talk about writing, Writer’s Residence, websites, and my previous life as a wannabe mathematician.
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