Episode Details

Do you suffer from physical pain relating to your writing life? Are you struggling with back pain, weight gain related to sedentary working, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, neck pain, eye strain, stress, loneliness, digestive issues, or repetitive strain injury?

These are the most common issues reported by writers and if you struggle with any of them, you are not alone.

Let's face it: writing (and especially typing on a computer) is not a physically healthy activity, but if you want a long-term writing career, then you need to look after your body.

Awhile back, I featured author Joanna Penn on the podcast. Joanna has been through her own pain journey over the last six years. She used to get crippling migraines that sent her to a dark room, and back pain so bad that she couldn't sleep, as well as stress levels so high that she wasn't able to breathe normally.

Now, her back pain, migraines and repetitive strain injuries (including elbow pain) have almost gone completely, and she manages her writing life in a far healthier way than ever before.

I was planning on having her share her personal journey and insights with you in her new book "The Healthy Writer" once again on the podcast. However, due to some technical difficulties on her end, she was unable to join the call.

However, I was able to talk to her co-author for this book was Dr. Euan Lawson, who also shares his insights into how you can reduce pain, improve health and build a writing career for the long term. Euan Lawson is a British medical doctor and a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He's ex-British Army and enjoys fell running.

During my last podcast discussion with Joanna, you learned:

-How Joanna developed chronic repetitive motion injuries in her wrist, and why ergonomic keyboards and an ergonomic computer mouse weren't working for her...

-Why Joanna decided to go way above and beyond simply using a standing workstation or treadmill desk...

-How Joanna is simultaneously working on multiple books while also training for an ultramarathon...

-Whether you can really, truly be creative while standing or walking, and why it's a myth that you need to sit to write effectively...

-The exact tools, microphones and software that Joanna has found to work very well for dictation...

-A book that will teach you exactly how to dictate quickly and effectively...

-How to  "train" your computer to recognize your voice and accent...

-How to enhance productivity with ambient noise and focus apps...

-And much more!

Resources from the previous episode:

-Joanna Penn's Amazon book page

-The Productive Author's Guide to Dictation: Speak Your Way to Higher (and Healthier!) Word Counts -

Dictate Your Book: How To Write Your Book Faster, Better, and Smarter (Growth Hacking For Storytellers)

-Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone -Dragon Dictate software for dictating

-Scrivener software for writing/organizing books

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