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Constantly "On"

I've been spending more time writing during lockdown since I've been off work; however, I'm finding it difficult to turn my mind off from my writing and my ideas.  Sometimes I go to bed still thinking about my story and then wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it.  I don't always turn my laptop off at a decent time and I know it's affecting my sleep.  I'm finding it difficult to relax and feel shattered because of it.  Has anyone got any solutions to this problem?  Or is it a common one among writers?  

Comments

  • I do jigsaws. I usually do a few minutes - often longer - before bed. I don't usually have a problem with sleeping and that hasn't been affected by the lockdown. However, I do recognise that it's ever-present and I've found that jigsaws take my full attention and I don't keep checking my laptop - which is never a bad thing. I've just finished #6. :)
  • edited June 2020
    Hello.  I think if you make sure you put plenty of variety into your day that will help.  Doing other activities may help you relax?

    You can then be thinking about writing when you're doing other things rather than when you should be sleeping.   For example, I'm forever popping in and out of the garden, doing small tasks for 15 mins or half an hour, then leaving the lap top on so when I come in I can immediately note anything down that I need to.  

    I don't have trouble sleeping at all.  


  • I turn my PC off about 20-30 minutes before I go to bed. Have supper, read, anything that is allows my mind to switch gear.
  • I do cryptic crosswords, which seem to banish other word-related stuff from my mind.

    Or you could get drunk, but crosswords are better for your liver!
  • Thanks for all your advice.  I definitely know I need more chill out time.  I do find sitting at my laptop hurts my back and I know I need to read before I go to sleep or I will be laid there wide awake.  
  • Take a paracetamol - just one usually works for me.
  • Lizy said:
    Take a paracetamol - just one usually works for me.
    Change the way you are sitting, get up and move around every 20 mins, sit at different heights, with cushions behind you, get a stand and a wireless keyboard, etc. etc! Paracetamol should never be taken as a remedy for sitting in the same position for too long, it's nasty stuff. It can cause long term effects if used for long periods.
  • I meant last thing, Liz, to ease the aches and help me sleep.
  • Yes - but maybe you won't ache if you do the above? Or is it just what happens when you get older?
  • it's not just sitting that makes me ache. Gardening, housework, standing too long cooking, walking too far. So yes, it's probably because I'm old.
  • Darn. I've been hoping my fingers would go away.. they've been waking up stiff, sometimes even stuck in position.
  • I do get up every 30 minutes, or at least set a timer to remind me to.  I'm looking into getting a better chair to use when writing.  Currently, I'm using a dining room chair at our dining room table.  My partner is the only one that uses our office chair as he suffers from more ailments than I do.  Can anyone suggest a good office chair to invest in?  
  • You really do have to go to the shop and try them for yourself.
  • If your budget would run to it, you can't beat a real Eames chair.
  • I have one of these, the tall one: https://www.backinaction.co.uk/rh-logic-220

    It has kept me free of all back, shoulder and arm problems for years, I love it. It is pricey. It works by keeping you moving. 
  • Wow! Clicked on that link and the first thing to hit me was £1238!  
  • Me too! Clearly Liz is much wealthier than she lets on. :)
  • LizLiz
    edited June 2020
    Yes... but you never need to buy anther. Actually, OH bought it for me when his mum died. It's practically all she left. i had been suffering from a series of frozen shoulders which is painful and debilitating and i'd had 3 in a row. But I have had none since. so definitely worth it. If you are sitting in something nearly all day it needs to be a good make and not harmful and many, many chairs are simply not designed well. 
  • I've been writing for eight hours today as part of my day job. Now I'm about to start writing my daily word count for my ongoing novel – another two hours at least. Paradoxically, it's the novel that's going to calm me down. That said, I did feel quite drained after finishing my last novel. Writing one thing daily for months on end (in addition to working) can require a lot of mental energy. It's important for me to do exercise: swimming, cycling, walking.
  • I often wake up in the middle of the night with ideas/fixes for my current m/s - my best ideas come then so I don't want to switch it off - usually tap the idea into my phone notes pages and go back to sleep - if I don;t do that my brain won't let me go back to sleep - weird...
  • Datco2019 said:
    I often wake up in the middle of the night with ideas/fixes for my current m/s - my best ideas come then so I don't want to switch it off - usually tap the idea into my phone notes pages and go back to sleep - if I don;t do that my brain won't let me go back to sleep - weird...
    I've tried different methods when this happens to me:
    - scribble on a notepad in the dark (takes deciphering bad hand-writing to a whole new level in the morning),
    - get up and go to bathroom with notepad (I once wrote a whole story in the loo in Thailand at 2am),
    - convince myself I'll remember in the morning by repeating the idea over and over again (I never do),
    - convince myself it's a rubbish idea and go back to sleep. :)

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