Incorporating Self-Care Into Your Writing Routine

If you feel like everyone around you is committed to being busy and doing more, you're not alone. It’s almost like a badge of honor to be spread too thin. This is especially true if you're in a creative field.

- PAULA RIZZO

Why is this so common among writers? Well, you might feel excited by all the projects and ideas you have, so you commit to too many things. You might also feel external pressure, like you need to say “yes” too often because you don’t want opportunities to pass you by or your social media feed will look like you're not doing enough.

Whatever the cause, it's common for writers to get caught in the cycle of overwork and over-commitment. I know, because it happened to me.

A year after my first book, Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More Productive, Highly Successful and Less Stressed, was published, my appendix burst. That’s a very dramatic and dangerous way for your body to tell you to slow down and reprioritize. I was too busy to listen to the signs my body was sending me. I thought I didn’t have time to go to the emergency room, and so instead, I just pushed through it. When I finally got to the ER, my appendix had ruptured, and I needed emergency surgery. That was followed by another procedure to pull toxins out of my body. In total, I spent eight days in the hospital, six weeks out of work, and more than a year recovering.

At the time, I was still keeping the momentum going after my book launch. That meant I was saying yes to every networking event, every media inquiry, and every speaking engagement. Plus, at the time I was working full-time as a senior health producer at Fox News Channel in New York City. I was juggling all my responsibilities at work, my side hustle, plus all that goes into being a wife, daughter, and friend too.

I needed to get back on track—but in a different way. I couldn't go back to the way I'd been doing things. I had no choice but to embrace a new mantra: Rest is the new hustle.

That's what I had in mind when I was writing my second book,