We all have times when we’re so busy with work that we can barely breathe. Last week was one of those weeks for me. Sure, I love what I do, working (playing or cavorting even!) with words in two different languages. However, all that working didn’t allow me much extra time for producing my own language in the written sense. And I missed it quite a bit.

Freelancers and full-time employees alike have times like this. What do you do for a quick mind break? As editors, translators, transcreators, what do you do? Can you pick up a book or a magazine to read? I tend to notice the mistakes and cannot turn of completely what I do with my day job (though I do read quite a bit for research for work). If you do read, what is your leisure reading of choice? Do you go with something completely different than your daily work?

I tend to do work with my hands and cook, bake, sew, or play with one of my pets for a quick break. I need that time to allow all the information gathered throughout the day to percolate. Lately, I’m trying my hand at gardening on our patio. It’s a wonderful way to cleanse the thoughts and concentrate on something completely different but doesn’t take a large amount of time away from business.