Boredom and Loneliness
It's pretty easy to see how a person sitting in a home office typing day after day all by herself might succumb to feelings of boredom and loneliness. In fact, so many writers complain of these feelings that there is an industry phrase related directly to the phenomenon: writer's block. It's the temporary inability to write, usually caused by lack of imagination or creativity — two things very easily ground down by boredom and loneliness.
When you find yourself experiencing these feelings, remember that you are far from being alone. Boredom and loneliness afflict most magazine writers at some point, sometimes several times a year, a month, or even a week. You need to recognize that there are reasons for this suffering, and that you can get through them just like every other writer does every day, all over the world.
Procrastination: The Brakes of the Soul
A wise person once said that procrastination is the brakes of the soul. All of us can become so bogged down in our work that we forget to take a break, take a walk, or simply enjoy life for a few minutes. Americans are particularly adept at working themselves into regular tizzies, and writers — with nothing to stop their working at home except for power outages — fall squarely into this trap all the time.
So if you feel yourself becoming bored and lonely, consider the idea that perhaps it's just your soul's way of trying to get you to procrastinate a little, to maybe go read a book or visit with a friend down the street. If you try to keep yourself running on the productivity treadmill nonstop, your soul may simply have no other way of getting your attention than by making you feel bored and lonely.
What Is Your Soul Telling You?
This is the time to ask yourself
You're writing too much about a topic that you don't like
You're writing too much in general every day
You're writing too often — say, seven days a week
You're not leaving your office for frequent breaks
You're not leaving your house for daily walks or other exercise
If you find that one of these descriptions fits you, then you'll know how to take action to help alleviate your feelings of loneliness and boredom. Perhaps you need to try sending query letters to magazines on new subjects, or maybe you just need to get up out of your chair and take your dog for a walk in the park (ideally, in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon). Shake up your routine, and your writer's block should soon subside, leaving you feeling productive again.
