Health Tips for Writers: 7 Ways to Reduce Tension and Fatigue While Writing

People who think that writing is not manual work have not done it. It’s true that you don’t use your legs or cardiovascular system the way you would in some occupations, but the strain on your eyes, neck, back, and wrists more than makes up for it. Headaches, chronic fatigue, and carpal tunnel pain are just a few of the physical occupational hazards that writers and other workers who write a lot face. As a professional freelance writer, I have become more familiar with these writing-related ailments than I would like to be. To help others in a similar situation, here are seven ways I have found to help reduce stress and fatigue when writing.

1. Create a comfortable workspace

First, create a comfortable workspace. Your workspace includes your desk, your screen, your keyboard, and other input devices like a mouse or digital pen, and your chair. Discomfort, tension, fatigue, and pain can result from placing any of these in awkward positions.

Position everything so that you can sit upright with the screen at eye level, your hands are comfortably positioned, your back and hips are comfortably supported, and your feet are comfortably on the floor. Adjust the height, lateral position and distance of items in your workspace to achieve this.

Avoid positioning the screen so that you have to tilt your head or turn your neck to view it. Keep your keyboard and other input devices at a height where you can comfortably place your hands on them instead of flexing your wrists and fingers upward when typing or clicking. Keep your input devices at a distance where you don’t have to extend your elbows too far to use them. Adjust the height and position of your chair to comply with these principles.

2. Sit comfortably

Creating a comfortable workspace is one step to sitting comfortably, which is another key to avoiding fatigue and tension when typing. Good posture will also help you sit comfortably. Following some important posture principles will provide you with solid structural support, minimizing stress and maximizing comfort.

When you sit down to write, keep your head up so that the center of the screen’s viewing area is at eye level. Keep your neck and spine straight by adjusting your shoulders so they line up vertically over your hips. Let your feet rest on the floor or a support surface.

Avoid posture problems by controlling the positions of your head, neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. Don’t lean forward with your neck or trunk. Don’t let your head fall off. Don’t hunch your shoulders. Don’t push your hips in front of your upper body. Don’t let your feet dangle behind you or stretch them out in front of your body.

3. Heating

Warming up before writing will help you avoid fatigue and stress from repetitive motions. This is especially important if you tend to experience stiffness in your wrist when writing, but it is generally good practice to prevent stiffness and increase energy.

Take a few minutes to warm your eyes, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, and fingers. Take at least 10 to 30 seconds for each of these body parts, moving in different directions to stretch your muscles and stimulate circulation.

Here is a quick warm-up routine with chair exercises that you can adapt to your needs:

• Open your mouth and eyes as if you were going to yawn, then close them gently, clicking between your teeth slightly. Repeat 10 to 30 times.
• Loosen your neck and shoulders by turning your arms in circles, stretching your arms up and out in front of you as if grabbing a large ball or a pair of paddles, then pulling your arms down and back behind you to complete. the circle. Repeat 10 to 30 times. (If you are in an environment or physical condition that does not allow you to make large circles like this, you can make smaller circles by putting your hands on your hips, with the back of your wrists at your sides as if you were making a pair of wings of bird and just shaking his shoulders.)
• Push your hands in front of you as you flex your wrists back and extend your elbows, as if pushing something, and then slowly squeeze your fingers as you pull back, imagining you are digging your fingers into something warm and soft. Repeat 10 to 30 times.

I found that warming up like this before writing makes a big difference in whether or not I feel stiff.

4. Work in short bursts

Sitting and typing too long at the same time will strain your eyes and body, leading to fatigue and reducing productivity. You will have more energy and write more if you work in short bursts instead of writing marathons nonstop. For peak performance, 30 to 45 minutes is the time to take before taking a short break.

5. Pause to blink and yawn

Whether you’re typing or taking a break, you should periodically pause to blink and yawn. Staring at a screen and concentrating too long strains the eye muscles and can trigger headaches and tension in the jaw and neck. You can alleviate this by remembering to periodically pause to blink and yawn.

6. Stop to stretch

During breaks, doing a short stretching routine will help you loosen stiffness and replenish your energy. Simply walking and moving your arms will help. You can also repeat your warm-up routine.

7. Use alternative input devices

A final way to reduce typing fatigue and pain is to use alternative input devices to reduce typing stress. I prefer to compose my sketches with a pen in a notebook before sitting in front of a computer. Other ways to avoid typing is to use a digital smartpen, which can convert your typed words into digital text while recording your voice, or text-to-speech software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which will record your voice and translate it into text. You can even record yourself and then hire a transcriptionist to write it.

Here are some of the most important strategies you can use to reduce the physical stress and strain that writing comes with. Adopting these tips will make writing a more comfortable experience and will give you more energy to get more done.