When you are writing on a major project, whether the great American novel, a research paper, or a blog post, you may find yourself stuck. This can be merely irritating, or disastrous. In any case, you may need to take a break in order to free your creativity. You may need to reconnect with your own wellsprings of creativity, with your material, and with the world. Here are some ideas to get back to your accustomed effectiveness in writing by ceasing and desisting rather than perseverating. You need to reconnect with yourself This can mean something very basic , such as food, drink, sleep, and exercise. Alternatively, it can mean something more intangible. Remember, you need to care for your body in order to continue to produce decent, credible work. This requires stopping for food at regular intervals – food of a sort that will support your brain’s intense activity. If you find that you cannot recall when you last ate, this is a pretty clear signal that it is time to do so again. Pick foods, if at all possible, that are nutritious. This may involve some planning, but it is well worth it to have items close to your work area that are rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Staying efficient requires stopping for hydration. Just because you are not exercising does not mean that your body is not using water to keep metabolic processes going. In fact, you may need more water! It is particularly important to avoid dry eyes and mouth, both of which can become troublesome health issues. Caring for your body requires quitting regularly for a few minutes or a few hours of exercise. Sitting is ‘the new smoking’, in terms of its deleterious effects on the body, and the only way to offset it is to slot some movement into your schedule. The break can be brief – there are innumerable exercises that can be done even in a seated position. However, you are going to benefit most from rising, moving about, and getting all the large muscle groups of the body involved in some vigorous activity. In addition, the gentle stretching involved in yoga moves (or equivalent) warrants a break in your writing. Practitioners of yoga assert that the increased circulation of blood and energy enhance intellectual prowess. Your brain will not work indefinitely without sleep. You have to stop writing to sleep – this is not negotiable. The loss in brain power from fatigue closely resembles the diminished capacity from being quite drunk. You would not get drunk to finish a paper, or a novel, would you? Alright, unless you are F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway, would you deliberately intoxicate yourself before trying to complete a challenging writing gig? Depriving yourself of sleep is just as dangerous. To prevent disaster, use one of the astonishingly sophisticated timing features on your phone, and give yourself a strictly limited period for snoozing. You may need to reconnect with other aspects of your self – for example, if you have a regular dental or skin hygiene routine, it is wise not to neglect it too long. Stop and take care of your self for a few minutes. Nails, teeth, skin, hair, feet, and other body parts all can make us miserable if not attended to, and a break to perform this sort