It became painfully apparent to me this week that I’ve been spending too much time exercising my writing muscles and not enough with the rest. I started playing softball and found that I have no stamina and I was practically crippled from throwing a ball and swinging a bat. That’s the first time that’s happened to me.
I’m not sure what I expected. When I got laid off in October of last year I become a bigger computer potato than I was before. When I went back to work I didn’t restart my daily walks and I certainly wasn’t doing that at home. For that I have only myself to blame.
Now that I really stop and think about it, when I was out of work I was depressed. No real surprise there. After all your job defines you to some extent. But I have to wonder, how much better would I have felt if I had been more active.
More recently I have felt tired in the early afternoon. Also, lethargic and unmotivated. I’ve been able to work through it but how much of that is because I need exercise?
The only way to know for certain is if I start getting back into shape (and yes, I know round is a shape. It’s just not the one I want to be). The unfortunate truth is I know of few ways to effectively write and exercise at the same time. That means I have to make exercise a priority and as much as I hate to take time away from writing and podcasting, it will be worth it in the long run.
How about you? Have you been in the same boat? Have you started an exercise program only to find that not only do you have more energy but you are able to get more writing done?
I’d love to hear what you have done that works.
Personal Update
The only thing note-worthy to report is I was part of a panel discussion on “The Writing Show” with PaulaB. The episode is set to drop sometime in June. Nothing new to report on the writing front I’m sorry to say.
