Are you taking a day of rest?

Ever hit the wall?

You know what I mean. You're writing, writing, writing... and then comes a day when you can't even imagine powering up the laptop - much less writing a single word.

When that happens and you're on assignment... that's hitting the wall.

When that happens and it's your day of rest, you've done a good thing for yourself.

Look, we're not digging ditches, harvesting crops, or operating heavy equipment - in fact, it's easy to get completely flabby just sitting and typing. So why do we need a day of rest?

First of all, it's how we were designed. Want proof? Talk to my hubby! (He's in the middle of writing a book that answers questions like this.) OK, so you don't know him - and I'll have to fill in! For those who've read the Bible, you know God commanded a day of rest for people. Is He a big meanie in the sky, wanting you to be bored out of your mind for a day? Or, like we all felt about our fourth or fifth grade teacher - assigning random, pointless duties we had to fulfill? No way! In fact, as a general rule, we can look at stuff like this in the Bible from a different perspective: God wanting us to relate with him, looking out for us, and setting us up for a win.

I'm not the theologian in the family, but I'll give you a practical example:

Know how when you've got something that's stumping you? Really perplexing? What happens when you "sleep on it"? Usually, you wake up with a solution or two. What happened? You disengaged. You rested, and had your mind refreshed and renewed.

A day off - REGULARLY scheduled - will do wonders for you. And not just for your creative thinking. Also, just in making you feel like a human being again, rather than a copy-producing machine. Time off allows you to dream, to rest, to take notice of what's around you, to relate to the people you love (without 'billable hours' on your mind), to pay attention to the wonderful gifts you've been given.

Here's a great little article about this same question - Can a writer write seven days a week?
Freelance Writers work seven Days a Week | Freelance Writing