On Wednesday, I indulged my love of fitness and likened rest and recovery days to the writer’s schedule and flow. We dug into what a writing recovery day is, what it might look like for you, and why you should have them in your writing plan. Now, let’s talk about writer rest days. As previously mentioned, a rest day is a complete halt of all ‘workout’ activities. It’s a proper break for your brain and for your poor frantically typing/writing hands. After I explain the pretty obvious benefits of total rest, I’ll give you a few ideas of how to capitalize on your rest without actually working.

First and foremost, recovery isn’t rest, and we all need rest. If you are on the grind seven days a week, fifty-two weeks out of the year, you’re going to burn out. This is the case for pretty much anything except basic bodily functions – your lungs and heart can’t take days off; you’d die. But I promise you, you won’t die if you take a day off from writing.

True rest gives you energy to continue grinding. By forcing your brain to quit thinking about your project(s) for a day or two at a time, you’ll allow it to come back with a fresh perspective and a renewed desire to test out those new ideas and techniques. If you stare at something for too long and wear your brain out, you can no longer be objective, and you probably can’t be innovative, either.

So, while you’re forcing this rest upon yourself – or gratefully falling into it – what are some ways you can make the most of it? Get enough sleep. Take that hour or two or three that you would write and arrange your day to get to bed earlier or wake up a little later. Enough sleep works wonders for the body, and you will be amazed how refreshed you feel.

And while we’re on the physical aspects, drink more water and go for a walk. Let’s be honest. A lot of us are hunched over at a desk a lot of the time, and most people don’t drink enough water. Taking care of your body is paramount for your quality of life, but it will also make you more comfortable at your writing desk. Less pain/discomfort = better writing time.

Read something you enjoy and admire. If you’re a writer, you’re a reader. And at least for me, sometimes I get into a writing frenzy and don’t read as much as I would like to. Take that time to get cozy with a book. Approach it like a reader, not a writer, and don’t get tricked into over-analyzing or sneakily thinking about your own project in comparison. Just breathe and enjoy.

And last but not least, if you write on a computer, practice your typing skills. I know. This one technically does not give your hands a rest. But improving my typing speed had immediate benefits for my writing speed. When your hands can keep up with your brain, everything flows that much smoother, and you have less time to be nitpicky; you can just start cruising.

You, as a writer, need your rest days. And sometimes, those rest days are just sitting in front of the TV with a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Trust, those days are necessary too. But if you’re raring to go and can’t sit still, try some of these options and see how they serve you.