How to Power through Creative Burnout
If you’re dreading starting work, you feel tired and stressed all the time, you might be experiencing what we call Creative Burnout…you know, that warm fuzzy feeling that you’ve absolutely drained all of your creativity and there is nothing left.
Maybe it’s the moon! Maybe Mercury is in retrograde. Maybe it’s just an off week. Surely you can power through this, you just need some glitter glue and an inspiration board--imagination can strike at any time! But what if it doesn’t…is this the end?!
Like calluses or sores, creator burnout is the result of cumulative weeks and months of stress, so it's harder to spot than the classic symptoms like a rapidly onset cold or a scratchy throat. You might think you're doing fine, when it suddenly dawns on you that you're barely able to get out of bed to meet the demands of your audience.
Burnout can be loud, like the sudden urge to chop all of your hair off and dye it pink to change up your aesthetic…or it can be quiet, like a slow crawl towards finishing your favorite Netflix series and realizing you’ve spent the better part of the last four days clicking “I’m still watching” and wiping off your ice cream spoon in between alternating flavors.
When we feel stressed, our body uses the fight-freeze-or-flight response to escape from it. It elevates our heart rate and blood pressure and shuts down our digestive and other bodily functions. This takes up so much energy that we are not able to think creatively. Our brains feel trapped, or hushed. Everyone experiences this, and truth be told…there is nothing worse.
As creators ourselves, we know all too well how taxing it can be on your mental health when you just can’t seem to swing the needle in either direction.
Unfortunately for us…but fortunately for you…we’ve been down this road before and have picked up some tricks to evade the looming dread of burnout.
Here are our favorite ways to pull ourselves out of the rut and get our creative juices flowing:
Before anything else, it’s crucial to remember to give yourself grace and patience. Remember that this is not permanent, you’ll get through it!
One of the most important parts of the journey against burnout is making sure to set proper boundaries. These boundaries help you find and maintain a balance between what is work and what isn’t. Take time to reflect on your values and goals to ensure you're aligning with what's most important to you. By creating space for separate activities you are prioritizing yourself and what you truly care about at your core. More often than not, these small walls will help you breathe new life into your projects and shield them from unwanted stressors.
Another handy tip is to remember that there is no magic elixir to shake off burnout. If you sit and wait for creative genius to strike, you’re going to have varied levels of success. For me, I’ve found that a change of scenery, even temporary, can be enough to kickstart my gears. If I can’t find a new physical space for inventiveness, sometimes I like to spend time with new faces or old ones who I haven’t seen in a while.
One of my favorite spots to go for a mind refresher or just some good old relaxation is an art museum or a gallery! Spaces like these can be helpful through exposing yourself to new ideas and perspectives. A similar idea is reading a book or watching a movie that can transport you to a new world and inspire imagination.
More tips from the team:
Subscribing to newsletters from similar creators or agencies in our space
Following new people on Instagram…or scrolling through the profiles of my favorite NBA teams:)
Workout classes
Scrolling through Pinterest
Finding new TikTok design videos
Taking an online workshop to learn new skills or gain a fresh perspective
Experimenting with different mediums and tools to try something new for me
Aside from the mental tax that burnout can take on us, here are a few other tricks to ensure your content can stay fresh through this journey:
Repurposing old content
Batching content ahead of time
Asking your audience what they want to see more of
Keep an open mind to ideas and strategies you’ve never tried before
Take breaks!
Delegate tasks in a planner
