I had this realization (about stepping away from the keyboard) again recently, when an old thumb injury acted up, and I stayed mostly offline for a few days. I say mostly because I finally found the time to read an e-book series written by a friend, so I did have a screen in front of my face, but it's such a different experience when it's reading a novel. When I noticed how relaxed I was, and how many different writing ideas were popping into my head, I knew it was time to change things up...

While I don't have such an awesomesauce place to retreat to, hubby & I have talked about making it a point again to put down our screens at least a half hour before bed, having a cup of tea together, and just relaxing. We managed a couple of nights in the past two weeks (LOL!), but I'm already noticing a positive difference in our stress levels.

Oh, and cute doggy!