Write. Walk. Repeat.

We write and write and forget the time. The main character of our new novel is in a seemingly hopeless situation right now. Just finish this chapter, then we can take a break.

Everyone who writes knows situations like this. It's a state we know as Flow. Everything seems to run by itself.

But being in Flow is not only good. As long as we are in this state, we forget everything else. We don't eat, we don't drink, and worst of all, we don't get up.

At some point, the Flow is over because we have done the job. We could now move on to the next project or just write the next chapter of the book. But now we are exhausted.

The brain has made us believe that we have inexhaustible energy in Flow, but that was an illusion.

Of course, we use as much energy in Flow as if we were not in this state. We only notice it afterward.

What about this work has exhausted us to such an extent that we can no longer continue working?

It was the missing breaks. Only if you keep filling up your batteries in between, you can work one shift after the other.

If the engine is not allowed to cool down in between, it will be more likely to be defective in the end than one that is repeatedly switched off in between.

So our body and mind need breaks. I think we now agree on that.

Good breaks and bad breaks

Yes, there are actually better and worse breaks.

Let's start with the worse ones. If you interrupt your work and only go from your desk to the couch to eat something and watch TV for half an hour, you are taking a bad break.

You give yourself energy without needing it and continue to sit around motionless. Besides, you've just swapped one screen for another.

Screen work is incredibly tiring for our eyes and brain.

Occupational safety experts, therefore, recommend taking ten minutes off the screen every hour.

The first thing that distinguishes a good break is that we do not stare at a screen during it.

If we eat without moving afterward, we get tired. The blood flows more into the intestines and stomach to help the body digest. For mental activity, there is then naturally less blood and, therefore, less oxygen available.

Also, our digestive tract is compressed while sitting, so that even more energy must be used to transport the food through the intestines. Besides, we don't breathe nearly as deeply when sitting as when walking, which further aggravates the lack of oxygen in the blood and thus in the brain.

This brings us to the essential difference between good and bad breaks - movement.

We should always move during a work break. This does not mean that we have to do push-ups or other strenuous exercises. It is quite sufficient if we walk at a reasonable pace.

Walking stimulates the metabolism, we take in more oxygen and relieve not only our digestive tract but also and above all our spine. Regular walking breaks during work can effectively prevent back and neck pain and thus help us to remain productive for longer throughout the day.

Conclusion

Active breaks are especially important for us authors who work predominantly mentally and sitting down.

An active break is one in which we are not sitting and not staring at screens.

The purest form of an active break is walking. While walking, we look into the distance and thus relieve our eyes.

Walking relieves our spine and counteracts back problems. Walking revitalizes the brain and improves the oxygen supply to the whole body.

All these advantages clearly show us how we, as authors, should organize our working day: Write. Walk. Repeat.