Sometimes you’re on the computer so much that the hours just slip by. Does anyone have the same problem? Especially when you’re working out of a home office, there is always a risk that not only hours will go by, but days as well.

Before your spouse wonders about the last time you took a shower, or your friends wonder if you’re ill or dead…you might want to emerge from the confines of your self-imposed incarceration and get some fresh air.

And no – “fresh air” doesn’t mean changing from your website to Twitter.

I mean actually GET OUT THERE and get some fresh air!

As a blogger, internet marketer, or business owner, reading articles all day might get you caught up on current worldwide events, but it makes you lose touch with your friends and family. It makes you lose touch with the immediate world around you.

There IS a world out there…right? LOL.

In fact, you should use little excursions and misadventures as ways to stimulate your bloggin’ mind. Try to spend a few hours outside of your office. Go to a friend’s house, or a coffee shop, or a bench at a park. Take a longer lunch break than usual. Go to the beach. Go to a mall and just observe people.

I think you’ll find your blog posts enriched by the real-life social interactions that you have, as well as those that you see around you.

Much like a couch potato, spending all day and night in front of the computer makes you an office potato. Don’t be an online hermit – get out there and get some sun, some fresh air…you’ll find that you might emerge creatively inspired. So many of you decided to start your own jobs to be your own bosses, right? You didn’t want the 9-to-5, the daily grind, the punching in of a time card. So take advantage of the fact that you SHOULD be able to dictate how and where you spend your hours.

You might not be able to make this a daily thing. That’s ok. Like any habit, start slow – one day a week, maybe, you take a long lunch at a park or the patio section of a restaurant. If you put yourself in an environment where you see other people’s interactions, fashion, conversations, and social relationships, I think that you’ll find new ideas to write about. You’ll see other perspectives, new angles, and new methods for marketing whatever you’re selling – whether it be a product or a service.

If you feel guilty because you’re playing hooky from your job, then make your “fresh air” time an exercise in “fresh perspective”. Make it a personal brainstorming field trip.

Oh – one last note: the outdoors is good for you! Sunlight and fresh air (even in polluted cities) is good for you, regardless of age. Besides, it relieves stress. According to a study by researchers at the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems Lab at the University of Washington, you should look out a window when you’re feeling stressed:

Ninety college students undergoing minor stress were shown a natural scene through a window, the same scene on a high-definition plasma screen TV, or a blank wall. Not surprisingly, the heart rate of people looking through the window dropped more quickly than the heart rates of those looking at the TV or the blank wall. And it continued to decrease the longer that they looked at the natural scene.

What’s really interesting about the study, which was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, was that there was no difference in the heart rates of students watching the plasma screen TV or the blank wall…hahaha!

So for the sake of better writing, marketing, and health – spend some time out of the cave. Besides, it’s free <wink>.

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