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Oh Brush Your Teeth for Pete’s Sake

10 Jun

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I work from home. I get up in the morning, put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and then trudge downstairs in search of coffee. I then sit down at my desk and work for the better part of the day. This goes on every day….. and I have to stop it.

Now you might be asking why do you have to stop; this sounds like a great way to work? And it is, except it is also creating some very bad habits for me as a human. I tend to let the day pass without a shower some days, I eat at my desk, I hardly ever go out and have any contact with other humans…it is setting me up to be a non-social, overweight mushroom.

Writing is often a lonely craft as it is but if we don’t force ourselves to take care in the same way that we would if we work outside the home, we can do some damage. I know a guy who works the same way I do. He gets up, doesn’t shower or brush his teeth, heads to his desk and writes for 5 hours. After he is done writing he heads for the microwave for dinner and then parks his rather large behind in front of the television falling asleep at some point. His wife left him three months ago.

My writing friend, we’ll call him Ted, let his life slip through his fingers because he stopped caring about his appearance, going outside, developing or even maintaining any type of a relationship. Ted failed himself. I watched Ted go through all of this and realized that I didn’t want the same for myself. So…I get up and get dressed as though I have an office. (which I do, it’s just at home) I knock off in plenty of time to go out and do any number of errands AND I spend time with my family every evening. It’s easy to let is all go for the sake of the craft but if you do, trust me, the craft will suffer too. A lazy life leads to a lazy writer which leads to lazy writing….and no book sales.

So make sure that while you are working from home, you are still among the living. Ted would tell you that his life is now a very lonely place….do yourself a favor and don’t pull a “Ted”. And for Pete’s sake…brush your teeth….

© The Writer’s Advice, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

 

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