This post could just as easily carry the title ‘The importance of food’, but we’ll stick with ‘sugar’, as it’s sugar levels I’m referring to.
I think this affects everyone, whether freelancers or permanent employees, but I’ll look at it from a copywriter’s perspective. In a nutshell, I’ve come to realise just how bloody important it is to not let your sugar levels drop to the point where you lose focus, A.K.A ‘being hungry’.
With a chunky brief – a 15-page market report, as opposed to ‘can you just edit my homepage?’ – it can take a day or two to get right into it, particularly if a lot of research is required.
Once the actual writing has started, it can take a little while to settle into the tone of voice the client has asked you to create. After that, you’ll often have times when you’re in full flow, writing paragraph after paragraph, or creating concept after concept.
The last thing you want is for something to break your concentration.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens if you get carried away, forget to eat, and your sugar levels drop: your concentration also drops. But it doesn’t just stop you for a minute or two; it completely breaks the pattern of your writing – of you being in that paragraph, on that page, in that chosen tone of voice.
I find this incredibly frustrating, as it can take me around 20 minutes to get back in the groove again.
The only way round this is to keep snacking… but make sure it’s good snacking. A surefire way to get fat – particularly if your job involves sitting at a laptop all day – is to have Snickers, bags of Minstrels, and flapjacks/cereal bars in your cupboards, or next to you.
Don’t get me wrong, I eat fatty, sugary stuff, but I also eat – throughout the day – bananas, tinned tuna, those salad pots you can get at supermarkets, pumpkin seeds, leftover chicken from the weekend etc.
The point is, I’m keeping my sugar levels up, but not eating crap all day.
I end up stuffing some kind of food in my gob every three hours or so, which keeps me perked up and stops my concentration from breaking. It’s the only way I can do a 12 – 14 hour day when I’ve got a big brief on the go.
This post appears to have strayed into health and fitness territory, rather than having anything to do with marketing.
Oh well – enjoy. I’m off to eat again.