A content writer’s work is never done — or so it seems. Content needs to be regularly written, updated, and optimized to be effective and maintain viewers and traffic. It can feel like you are constantly having to write without ever catching a break.
Not only that, but you have to write unique, and even clever content, which means your brain always needs to be working at full power to write the best stuff. Unfortunately, this can easily lead to things like burnout, mental fatigue, and writer’s block.
Managing Mental Fatigue as a Content Writer
Mental fatigue can affect anyone in any industry, but content writers are more familiar with it in the form of writer’s block. When you have writer’s block, it’s literally like hitting a wall, and you are no longer able to produce new material. It’s like your brain just shuts down and goes on vacation.
As a content writer, this can be incredibly frustrating to experience. It essentially paralyzes you and your ability to do your work. Unfortunately, the more you try to push through writer’s block without giving yourself a break, the worse it can become.
One of the primary conditions that stem from writer’s block is brain fog, which is a condition that causes you to feel mentally fuzzy, making it difficult to focus or concentrate. Some people with brain fog can even experience lapses in memory, confusion, and trouble making decisions. Your ability to multitask and process information can also be affected.
Causes of Writer’s Block
Of course, it’s not always the nature of content work itself that contributes to mental fatigue in writers. Often, writer’s block can develop because of a combination of things in your life, including your personal lifestyle, behaviors, and habits, in addition to your job.
Poor eating habits, for example, can result in a lack of the nutrients you need to support the brain and other bodily functions. A lack of sleep can also make it harder for your body to work properly. Overuse of substances, like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine is another reason you might start experiencing mental fatigue. If you aren’t getting enough exercise, this can contribute to your writer’s block as well.
There are also life stressors, like family, money, and other demands that can cause you to break down and struggle to find the inspiration to write. Even dealing with other health issues can contribute to the mental blocks you are experiencing, such as hormonal conditions.
Tips for Getting Rid of Brain Fog
When you start experiencing mental fatigue and brain fog as a writer, it’s best if you can take some time off to give yourself a break. Giving yourself time to relax and recharge can help. However, it’s understandable if you aren’t necessarily in a position to take time off work. Luckily, other things can help, including:
- Changing sleep habits to get a better night’s rest
- Eating more nutritious meals
- Getting at least 20–30 minutes of exercise a day
- Cutting back on addictive substances (nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, etc.)
- Trying meditation and yoga
- Taking supplements to boost brain function (Vitamin D, B-complex, Omega-3s).
Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about your mental fatigue. It’s not something that you should simply brush off. It is a real condition that can seriously affect your life and your work as a writer. Your doctor might be able to suggest other treatment options or give you a referral to a specialist who can help.
Smart Technology: Another Way to Beat Writer’s Block and Brain Fog
In some cases, your development of writer’s block and mental fatigue could be because you are simply trying to do too much. If your workload as a writer is burning you out, then you might need to consider other options.
Certain automated workflow technologies, for example, can help significantly lighten your workload and enable you to work smarter and more efficiently. These kinds of tools can help with several things, such as content planning, document creation and management, email automation, task tracking, and performance data analysis. By using digital tools to help with these things, you can streamline your process, saving yourself time so you can have more mental bandwidth.
There are also AI content creation tools to consider. With the release of ChatGPT, content has become a whole new ballgame. While it’s important to be mindful of not abusing AI, you can certainly use it to enhance your capabilities as a writer in a way that keeps you from getting burnt out and experiencing writer’s block.
If you’re feeling stuck, AI tools can help you brainstorm some ideas for creative content copy or generate a list of blog ideas. You can even use ChatGPT to generate an article outline for you and you can then use that outline to write the content yourself.
AI Content Tools You Can Use for Writing Content
Demo: Writer AI integrated within DivvyHQ
Though ChatGPT is one of the most popular AI software available today, there are several other AI tools you can use to help write content. This includes:
- Writer: A robust AI platform for content generation, spelling and grammar suggestions, and style guide management.
- Jasper: An AI platform that is designed for bloggers
- Writesonic: An AI writer tool that can generate articles, newsletters, social media copy, and more.
- Grammarly: An AI-powered editing tool
- Frase: An AI tool that helps you write SEO content
- Anyword: A software that can analyze all other content on a website to help you generate new copy that aligns with the same tone and style
- CopyAI: AI content writing tool that helps generate ideas for blog posts and articles
- NeuralText: Helps automate the writing process
- Peppercontent: Offers tips for creating more optimized content and how it fares regarding readability
These are just a few of the many options out there that can help you work more efficiently as a writer to help combat mental fatigue. It’s all about finding the tool that works best for you and your needs as a writer.
Conclusion
The first step in beating writer’s block and mental fatigue is acknowledging that you have it. Otherwise, you could push yourself past your breaking point, and eventually, your mind and body will automatically shut down for you, forcing you to take a break.
So instead of waiting until that happens, you can start making changes that can help you overcome the fatigue and brain fog you are experiencing. This can include making changes in your personal life, but it can also include adopting new tools into your workflow, like AI, that can help with some of your tasks and free up your mental bandwidth.
For more great tips, tricks, and how-to’s, subscribe to the DivvyHQ blog today!