I just spent a week away in Bergamo, Italy, and I have to say, it was wonderful. Daily doses of sunshine (always desirable if you live in Ireland), great food and gorgeous scenery (think clear blue lakes surrounded by snow capped peaks and winding cobbled streets surrounded by ancient walls), as well as plenty of time to spend with my husband without worrying or thinking about anything other than just being.

View of the old town, Bergamo

Why am I telling you this? Not to make you green with envy, but to encourage you to take some time out.

Whether you’re a writer, a jeweller, a gardener or a teacher… Whatever your career/vocation, this is a call to arms.

Take some time to relax and recuperate. Right away, if possible.

Running the risk of sounding like a reformed smoker, hell bent on conforming everyone around me,  I think it’s so important to let the batteries recharge. And that means properly…

Try closing the laptop, shutting down Twitter (as well as Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn), and engage in the world immediately around you. Just be for a while. Be spontaneous. Even just for half an hour. See if it makes any difference to your energy, enthusiasm or mindset. It may not, but it’s worth a try.

In my experience, this relaxing malarkey isn’t something people are particularly skilled at these days. We seemed programmed to multi task and achieve, hell bent on keeping going against all odds and never giving up.

Dedication and determination are fantastic qualities – to a degree. Yet like anything, too much can be a bad thing.

As writers, we need to have a clear mind to create. Yes, the jumbled thoughts do contribute to creating characters, plot, dialogue etc – but only if we’re not worrying about other external factors such as money, chores, emails, the number of Twitter followers and the latest funny YouTube videos of ninja bunnies.

One way to achieve this is to shut down, away from it all, and just engage.

Holidays aren’t always a possibility, but you can take a walk, play with the dog, plant a few rose bushes, sketch your surroundings or try something new – take some time for yourself to let your brain recharge.

How do you relax and recharge? Any tips for others?