When I was younger and thinking about my path to a creative life, I used to worry about being stuck at home. If I was working on novels and desk work all day, I reasoned, I’d be tied to my desk at home, which meant I’d be cooped up never seeing anyone. That sounded pretty lonely. And depressing.
Part of this fear, I think, stemmed from a rough patch I went through after college where I wasn’t working regularly. During that year I spent a lot of time at home, sleeping late, taking care of my mother’s hyper-energetic dogs, and in general not doing much of anything because I didn’t have a work routine or good work habits yet.
After I entered the Day Job world, though, I realized that Day Jobs provided a way to get out of my house, accomplish set goals, and in general provide structure to my life.
I stayed in this mindset for a long time, easing out of it only when I had my first work-from-home job, and later in Japan during COVID-19 restrictions, when I also spent a lot of time at home.
Now that I structure my own writing and editing life, though, I have almost the opposite problem: I’m so comfortable with my at-home working routine that I get sucked into it, doing so much at my desk and around the apartment that before I know it, three days have passed and I haven’t gone anywhere.
I don’t like staying cooped up in the house for a few reasons. Going too long without a change of scenery can make me stir-crazy, so I find myself retreating more and more into both work and my own thoughts in a way that’s REALLY not productive and makes it more difficult to sleep. I also correlate not going outside with not getting enough exercise, since most of the exercise I do involves walking (which, of course, takes place outside).
Finally, I’ve realized that while I’m an introvert in the sense that I need to be alone in my own space to recharge, I genuinely like being around people and enjoying social situations, even if it’s just chatting with a clerk at the hardware store—and these interactions almost always take place outside my house.
Get Out the House Every Day: A June Challenge
Getting all of these benefits is important to me, and I realized that for the past several months, I’ve developed the bad habit of not leaving my apartment often enough, sometimes for several days at a time. This, I resolved, absolutely had to stop.
The month of June, though, has gotten off to a great start on the going-outside front: not only did I attend a writer’s conference on June 3rd, but I had a meeting to attend on the 1st, and I met one of my writer friends in Boston on the 2nd (great seeing you, Elaina!!). I was able to leave the house for various reasons over the next few days as well, which made me realize something important:
June has to be the month where I leave the house every single day.
A few challenges might prevent me from doing this (namely, being busy and having to do repair work here at home), but I’ve got a few plans to make sure I don’t fall back into an at-home slump:
Schedule Errands for Different Days
For a long time now I’ve been consolidating my errands to save both time and gas: I’ll keep of list of things I have to buy or do around town or in a bigger city, then try to do all of them in one afternoon. I like the time this saves me overall, but it can sometimes leave me scrambling to do too much at once, especially if I have someplace to be after the errands are finished and have to time them all out.
To avoid this time-crunch and get me out of the house more, I want to try splitting up errands between different days, especially if they’re in-town errands that don’t take much time or gas. An unexpected perk of this is that it also allows me to take fewer, smaller trips to the grocery store, which is useful in case I forget something and need to go back a few days later.
Working at the Coffee Shop
I discovered the magic of working in public places when I was in Japan, and now that I’m back in New Hampshire, I keep it up by doing work at a local coffee shop near my apartment some days. It’s generally not too crowded there (especially in the afternoons!), and sometimes I bump into people I know and have interesting conversations. Even just having background noise or listening to the baristas banter provides a nice change of pace, so going there has become an invaluable part of my workweek.
Realistically, though, I don’t like to spend too much on lattes or drink too many sugary drinks, so I try to limit my coffee shop days to once per week, or two at the absolute most.
Social Activities
This is an obvious one, but it bears mentioning: in the evening, if I’m meeting friends, family, or even just attending an interesting event by myself, it provides the same refreshing effect as getting out during the workday. It can also provide some solid stimulation and social time that can REALLY boost my morale and way of thinking, which is a nice benefit.
The downside, though, is that too much socializing can really wear me down and lead to extreme burnout, so balancing between too much and too little is really key for me.
Plain Old Walks
That’s right—as part of my get outside every day plan, if all else fails and I don’t have anywhere else to go, a quick walk outside is almost always enough to refresh me and provide the benefits of sunlight, exercise, and a change of pace.
Walks are great because they’re free, don’t require any special plans, and can be done at any time of the day (or night, since I live in a safe neighborhood). Rain and snow could be an issue here, though, especially if they’re strong, so for days when walking’s part of my plan, I’ll have to keep an eye on the weather.
Final Thoughts: Refreshing Your Mind is Important
Writing this post has reminded me of the old whiteboard system I used in my apartment in Japan, where I tracked my progress in my creative and Day Job work with other life factors like exercise, cultural stimulation, and my social life. I know I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about work, but those other life factors are important too, and if one or more of them falls out of balance, it can drastically affect the rest.
For me, going outside every day is a big part of that balance, so I want to use the month of June to solidify this routine and see what benefits it brings. Wish me luck!