Things for writers to do when stressed out

We all have days when we are extremely overburdened with work and so stressed out thinking of ideas and combining words into sentences for our writing projects, not to mention dealing with difficult clients, that sometimes we really need to get away from it all. And we are not even talking about getting rid of writers block.

What I usually do in situations like this is to:

1. Surf the internet - reading up and catching up on our industry is a good way to de-stress and at the same time learn new things.

2. Online shopping - as long as you practice some self-control, I guess it is a good way to 'pamper' yourself with some stuffs that you have always wanted. That's what I call shopping therapy!

3. Be young again - what's more mind-numbing than some fun video games? The Nintendo Wii of course! Getting into some action-packed game could be a great stress reliever, just don't overdo it and forget everything. The great part about this is that you can download a variety of games with just a click of the mouse and yes, the games are pretty affordable too so it won't burn a hole in your pocket at all.

4. Read a book - as writers, it is always a good excuse to pick up a book and spend hours lost in it because we are actually 'working' by reading. It is all in a day's 'research', doncha think so?

5. Go for a massage and spa treatment - that is the ultimate pampering solution to de-stress and get all those tension and knotts in your shoulders to dissolve and go away.

6. Do a spot of yoga - why not grab your yoga gear and head on to somewhere peaceful and quiet for a great yoga workout to relax the body, mind and soul? Yoga has been known to help you maintain your agility, reduce stress and yes, even help you lose weight.

7. Blog - I know it may sound weird to be blogging in order to get away from all your writing stress but we writers tend to feel better after getting it all out through words and what better way than to blog? When blogging, you do not need to worry about deadlines, clients' needs or anything like that. It is just purely therapeutic to let it all go!

So, there you are. The 7 things I do when stressed out. If all else fail, I guess, you will be in need of the ultimate de-stress solution of all time:

Go for a holiday!

Where to get inspiration to blog

I blog on a daily basis on my various blogs (although not as often as I'd like in this blog) and sometimes, I do go blank and don't know what to blog about. It is not because I am really out of ideas but more like I had 'forgotten' most of what I planned to blog earlier.

It happens a lot. This could be due to having to keep track with so many blogs and since I write in different styles in those blogs, sometimes, my writing styles sorta gets mixed up. And sometimes, I get so overwhelmed that I don't know what I wanted to blog about. Yep, bloggers also get writers block.

One thing about blogging, we have to be consistent. I noticed that ever since I lagged behind in this blog (four months to be exact!!), traffic has slowed to almost non-existent. That is really not good.

What good is a blog if no one wants to read it, right?

So, what do I do to get started?

Here are some tips on how I get about plunking out five to six blog posts each day:

1. Browse and read other blogs for ideas but DO NOT COPY because that's plagiarism.

2. Read the news for funny ideas you can blog about

3. Draw on your own recent experience which you think is great to share with your readers

4. Check out social networking sites like stumble upon, digg, etc for the current 'hot' topics

5. Get a writing buddy / blogging buddy to help out by exchanging some ideas

6. Worse comes to worse, take part in one of those memes which is fun and also a great way to meet tonnes of other bloggers (and add traffic to your site!)

Best of luck getting some inspiration to blog and happy blogging!

Time management to solve it all

When I started this blog, I planned to be very consistent with it by posting as regularly as I possibly could but somehow, it always ended up as a victim of neglect. Given my new resolution to become a consistent blogger (well, at the rate I am going, I doubt that I can even dream of becoming a ProBlogger!), I am thoroughly ashamed of myself for the neglect I subject this blog to!

What can I say? I have been spending way too much time on my other blog, my website and my freelance work that this poor writing blog got chucked aside as the fourth priority. I have also neglected my other writing places such as Hubpages, Helium and Shvoong.It is not because I have writers block or anything. Even if I have that, we all know, I have my very own tips to get rid of writers block. Nowadays with even more work at my day job (and more stress too), I could sadly say I have very little time to indulge in my private pet project: fiction writing. All these are on top of time for my family.

So, what do I do? How do I ever do so many things in so little time? Well, time management is the key. I know, I have posted an entry of my hopeless attempt in time management before but I have since come up with a system to try to get everything done in times when my plate is too full to handle.

The steps I take:

1. Prioritize - Divide my tasks and assignments by priority. Example: set aside compulsory family time everyday, then write down a list of tasks and assignments I have to do. Write it by priority, the top being the most in want of attention. Sample:

1. Family time
2. House chores
3. Day job writing assignments
4. Two freelance articles due by Friday
5. Research for two more articles for next week
6. Search job boards to bid for more freelance work, place bid
7. Update blogs
8. Research for website and update of website
9. Learn up more about internet marketing, etc.
10. Research and write fiction projects

2. Divide the to-do list according to the available time each day - for example, I will be spending between 8am to 7pm on my day job (including commuting time). From 7pm onwards, I will have to divide the time to do the ten things in my list.

3. Keep to the timetable created from above and avoid all distractions - yep, that means no TV, no online chatting (unless it is for work), no hanging around gossip forums for hours and most importantly stay away from Facebook, Myspace and similar social networking sites (unless it is to keep in touch with your freelance clients). These are the worst time-waster ever!

4. Let your family in on it - ask your family members to cooperate by giving you peace and space to do your work without interruptions. They could also help out with some of the house chores.

5. Use pockets of available time wisely - you know when you have to wait for the computer to boot up or while waiting for a page to load, don't just sit there staring at the screen - use that time to do other things like organize your paperwork or write down new article ideas or even read books as part of your research.

6. Multi-tasking - the reason for high-tech computers is to make our life easier so use it to multi-task. Do your research and check your emails at the same time, just open more windows.

There it is. I have been applying it and though I am still a bit behind schedule on some things ( like this blog), at least I am getting there. The day will come when I will be able to do everything efficiently and even drop by at other blogs to read and leave comments (as I should have done for ages!) in a return favor to those who have dropped by here and left comments.