Sabbath

The idea of a sabbath is that you set aside a day of rest each week. That’s what I do with writing.

Early in my business career I learned how necessary this was. I worked for a software company where part of the year we had extremely tight deadlines. This involved long days of 15+ hours, seven days a week. I rarely get sick and when I do it’s usually because I’ve compromised my immune system with lack of sleep and overwork. As you might guess, I started getting sick on a regular basis during those times of high workload.

I decided I needed to give myself a day off every week. It was exactly what I needed and the frequent illness stopped. My mind was also more productive when working since I gave it a regular day of rest. It was a lesson in learning limits and the value of resting and relaxing.

Fast forward to today. Now that I’ve established a routine for writing, I’ve incorporated the same thought process into my schedule. Every week I take that sabbath and refrain from writing. That’s why you probably won’t see posts from me here on a Sunday since that’s my weekly day of rest.

The day off is a reset, a chance for my mind to wander. I won’t say that I don’t think about writing or the stories I’m working on, but I let those thoughts fly around the inside of my head without landing them. I’m sure there are authors who write seven days a week and have found that works for them. Me? I learned the lesson a long time ago that I need that day of rest, both physically and mentally.