This the 9th and final installment of the healthy habits for writers series.

Relaxation is not a luxury but a requirement to have your best life. All the money in the world does not make a happy full life if you don’t have your best health. School administrators, employers, physicians, clergy, people from all walks of life espouse the importance of relaxation.

Watching television, unplugging from the internet, turning off the phones are good things to do from time to time. But, it takes a little more effort to really get relaxed. Focused relaxations are very powerful in positively influencing your life. There are lots of things you can do. There are many ways you can relax and variations on most of them. I’m sharing with you seven that I’ve used.

7 Relaxation Activities

1. Meditate:It can calm thoughts that overwhelm and cause anxiety and stress. It improves breathing, making your breathings slower and deeper. Proper meditation is simple and works by bringing you fully into your present, not in the future (planning) or the past (worrying about what’s already passed).
2. Breathe deeply: Inhale deeply through your nose and exhale fully through your mouth. This increases your oxygen intake, which is important, as most of us are shallow breathers. It helps to improve clarity of thoughts and increase energy levels.
3. Stretch: Stretching increases flexibility, and it helps to relieve muscle tension that can build up throughout your workday. Increases blood flow and oxygen to your organs.
4. Write: Journal writing is way of getting your thoughts on paper that can clog up your focus and creativity. In a personal journal, you write whatever comes to mind. It’s only for you, so you don’t have to be guarded or sensor your content. It can help you think things through, discover elusive solutions to problems, and reduce worrying.
5. Listen to Music: Listening to music alone or in conjunction with other practices can be very relaxing. Soothing tones and melodies can encourage deep breathing and relaxation of tense muscles.
6. Guided Imagery: Imagine a place, real or made up, that makes you feel calm or peaceful. Using multiple sensory images helps to keep your focus. My place is an imagined spot in nature.
7. Progressive Muscle Relaxation: A process of tensing and relaxing specific muscle groups. It increases your awareness of tension and the feeling of tension release in each muscle group.

What Relaxation gets You

Relaxation can refresh and rejuvenate you. The benefits of relaxing, taking time out, can put you back in balance both physically and mentally.

• Improves resistance to illness
• Improves clarity and focus
• Increases energy levels
• Improves self-control in difficult situations
• Improves your attitude which can improve personal and professional relationships

What relaxation activities work for you? How have you benefited from relaxing? There are many options out there. Do your research, talk to people, and find what works for you. You, your family, and your work will be all the better for it.

Related articles:

• Journal Writing to Relieve Stress
• Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief
• Benefits of Different Types of Meditation Techniques
• 5 benefits of keeping a personal journal
• Relaxation Practices at Loyola University Maryland

When was the last time you went to bed on time? When was the last time you just rested? Not slept but relaxed and breathed and spent time just being content. When you think about it, it’s not as often as you might like, right? This post is for those of us who have trouble remembering to just breathe.

It’s especially difficult to turn things off when you like your work.

Just because you’re not working doesn’t mean you’re resting. There are thoughts that eat up your play time. What keeps me from relaxing are two very closely related things:  a healthy work ethic and respect for competition.

The Competition is Steep

Your work speaks for you. And what your work needs to say is that you are the best person for the job. You understand, too, that you have to have an audience, an employer.

That’s why you work on refining and improving your skills. Doing what someone else does is the way of the world. Putting your unique brand on your work will get you the attention and success you desire.

No one will hire you if you don’t put your virtual sign before as many eyes as you can. The pressure to get yourself seen is greatest when you’re new at what you’re doing. So your administrative work is center stage.

Here’s the place to get creative, to figure out how to get people’s attention. Among other things, you work out your strategies for your:

• website
• press releases
• emails
• newsletters
• social media

It may be different for you but this is what consumes much of my relaxing time. To be sure, these are very important goals if you want to remain employed, or keep the work coming in. And they can take up all your time if you let them. But that’s not the healthiest way to be.

The Key is to STOP!

Efficiency is how you save yourself. You learn things that are already in place to help you. You don’t have to make an organizer when you can find one that fits you, or one you can customize.

Learn how much sleep is optimal for you and your best hours for sleep. It may be that you work best on seven hours of sleep. Maybe you need nine. It may be that sleeping 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. works better for you than 12:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. (I’m a 10-6 person.)

You need More Than Sleep

And being rested doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping, although I’m a firm believer in naps. You need to relax. Do something that you enjoy, separate from work. It may relax you to exercise, bowl, read. I suggest always making time to be quiet and awake. Meditation does a lot for me, conventional and not. Sometimes I’m cleaning up, and instead of being on the phone while I do it, I will focus on the quiet and my breathing and movements. It’s important to engage in non-work activities that rejuvenate you spiritually, creatively, and foster a sense of peace and contentment.

Some assignments can run longer than others. And that’s fine. You don’t always have to cut your work short to save yourself. The key is to stop when your work is done, and just breathe.

Capture New Ideas

The constant flow of ideas kept me returning to the computer, or taking notes between work, tasks, errands, from pre-dawn to way past dusk sometimes. You need to track your ideas, just not around the clock, to the exclusion of a good night’s sleep. After a point, I just hope that the ideas will be there when I wake.

Keep a Tasks List

I have a list of tasks to keep me organized and on track. The order of execution depends on how the tasks are related and not the order I write them down, since I usually write them as they come to me. Some tasks are completed in the same day. Others are completed over a period of days. Whatever works for you, keep track of your assignments and administrative duties.

Stick to the Schedule You Make

I had to make myself stick to the schedule. At first, I was overly strict about sticking to the plan. Particularly, I needed to stop for the evening, to get the rest I knew I needed.

You’re thinking either that keeping a schedule is easy, or you’re thinking that sleep, rest and relaxation are highly over-rated. You would be wrong on both counts.

It’s not Easy

Following my schedule is hard because there’s always something I can continue, expand on, or something new I can do. Never mind what I know works best; there are times when I want to move on to other things because I’m all wound up. I think I’ll sleep after while. It’s a continual effort to turn my work brain off at the close of a day.

The Benefits of Scheduling

Taking the time to rest and relax can not only sustain you through work but also take your work to another level. It can improve your overall productivity. Some of the things I’ve experienced because I got proper rest include:

• Better, more efficient work performance
• More creative ideas and solutions
• Clearer thoughts, not fuzzy, that can be captured
• Possibly completing work in shorter times allowing for more free time
• More energy to be disciplined in work and play activities

The times when it’s a real struggle to let go of work, I ask myself if it’s critical to complete the next task right then. I take a deep breath remind myself of the good work experiences and successes I have when I am rested and relaxed.

Try it and see what you get from it. Develop a schedule that works for you. Odd work hours are not a problem as long as you have determined that those are your most productive times. Remember: the key is to STOP and breathe when you’re supposed to. If you’re so inclined, please share your experiences about over-work and relaxing.

When you have the opportunity to work and play, in the same life is tantamount to having your cake and eating it too. And guess what? You need to do that.

When you sit before your computer day in and day out, and the work is flowing, it’s sometimes quite easy to forget the importance of fitting in other activities. One really important activity is relaxing. The conscious choice to dismiss obligations for a time is exhilarating. Then when you actually spend the allotted time relaxing, you give your mind, spirit and body time to be restored.

It takes a measure of audacity to assert yourself and secure free time to relax. Balancing obligations of work, family, friends and other communities with rest and relaxation has several benefits:

• Improves your presence in social settings
• Revitalizes your ability to and attitude toward work
• Facilitates your ability to be receptive to new ideas
• Cultivates the audacity to pursue riskier endeavors

Balance is Important in All Walks of Life: 3 Examples

1. On The Late Show with David Letterman, actress Kate Winslet was being interviewed. She and David Letterman were chatting about the holidays and family gathering. The conversation quickly contorted into their agreed-upon commiseration over their eventual desire to “kill them all.” They were referring to experiencing family overload. At the same time, each acknowledged how much they looked forward to the season and the time together.




2. Timothy Ferris, entrepreneur, athlete, and author of The 4-Hour Workweek, is an advocate of freedom from the daily grind of 9 to 5 work. He doesn’t believe in the traditional deferred-life plan. Many of us including Timothy Ferris know that this happiness can’t be found in the 9 to 5, five day workweek.




3. Kirk Byron Jones is a family man, preacher, teacher and an author of several books including, Addicted to Hurry: Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down, and most recently Holy Play: The Joyful Adventure of Unleashing Your Divine Purpose. Kirk says, “No sitting, no soaring.” He warns us that we can be crushed by respecting only the work obligations that we have, and ignoring our need to relax.

The people in the above examples are very successful. They have learned that your best success is achieved through hard work and healthy playing. You can be more creative about getting work done when you have proper relaxation time. Time away from the work of getting things done can actually give you the answers that you need.

There have been many times when I’ve given up on an idea of how to work things out only to find that the answer was right before me. What happens is that I try to force the solution by laboring to concentrate on the answer until I become overly focused, which has a way of fostering tunnel vision and not letting in alternative ideas.

Having a Balance of Work and Relaxation Improves Enjoyment

Creative solutions thrive in relaxed, open environments. Lately I’m spending time with family and friends and pleasurable obligations. I went home to New Orleans, Louisiana for a visit over the New Year holiday. I worked on my blogs and website in the hotel when I wasn’t visiting or relaxing in the room.

My aunt needed a ride to the hospital and someone to stay with her. I was able to do both; and I played games, wrote and read to pass the time.

This weekend, I have company visiting me. We’re doing different things as they occur to us, and I have a couple hours here and there that I’m scheduled to put in some work.

It’s a lot more interesting for me as I learn to actually take time for different relaxing things. I don’t think about work and what will come next. Relaxation is time I allow myself to be in the moment and enjoy my family, friends and activities. As a result, I present a renewed self when I return to work.

Enjoyment is important, because really, isn’t that they ultimate reason that we make any effort? Not only do we get to have playtime, adults thrive when play time is allowed for. Treat it as a requirement to have some fun regularly and see what a difference it can make in your work life.

Plan it. Look forward to it. Execute your plan to play. Let me know how relaxation improves your endeavors.