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So, let’s talk about burnout.
With any profession, creative or otherwise, there comes a point where we feel like we’ve been doing too much for too long. This prolonged effort, coupled with the mental drainage from the actual action tasks related to the work or job itself, leads to what we know as burnout.
Burnout can be best described as an ensemble of feeling mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted on top of irritability, tension and/or a lack of interest in the things that we once found a lot of joy in doing professionally. We may find that we have too much to check off our to-do list, so the overwhelming weight of it all is starting to cause cracks in our foundation.
What do those cracks look like, though?
The physical manifestation of burnout can mean different things for different people at different stages of their own burnout. But, some common denominators include:
Stress-related illnesses such as chronic fatigue, irritable bowels/stomach issues, headaches, body pains and an increased heart rate (some people experience this as generalized anxiety).
Consistent procrastination or otherwise avoiding your work or craft
Isolating from other people, especially those inclined to inquire about your projects
Being snappy or easily agitated in situations even unrelated to your craft.
There are also some self-reflective questions that you can ask yourself if you’re unsure of whether or not you’re experiencing burnout:
Is my fatigue consistent?
Do I look forward to my work or do I dread/avoid it?
How long is my to-do list currently? Does it feel overwhelming?
Do I feel capable?
Are there preventative measures to be taken at this point?*
*preventing burnout can be done! We talk about it further down 😊
Some of these questions require a little more self-reflection than a simple yes or no. It isn’t a bad idea to keep notes in your phone, or even a bedside journal, for the sake of tracking how you’re feeling in relation to your craft or profession.
If you went through the brief self-assessment and you’re already thinking “oh, no, it’s me. I AM the exhausted creative.”
Don’t fret! I’ve gathered some tips and well-to-dos for treating the problem at hand.
For starters, I need you to take a page out of the iamparisgiles handbook and assess your immediate needs.
I talk about this a lot throughout this blog, so if you’re a regular here you know where this is going…
Sleep hygiene, Nourishment (food), and water intake!
These are the essentials needed, in my opinion (not a doctor), to thrive as a human in this world. Take care of yourself across the board, but if nothing else, cater to these three things. Pre-burnout, post-burnout, mid-burnout, I don’t care. Assess: how much have you eaten? Was it junk? How is it impacting you cognitively? What about your water consumption? And you’re sleep? Take note of how much you got and what the quality of your sleep was. If you never fully fell asleep or you feel like you slept really poorly because of bad dreams or the thermostat being too high or whatever –
You NEED sleep to function at your fullest capabilities as a person.
Go take a nap and come back to finish this article.
RELATED POST: Sleep Hygiene While Working From Home
Okay, immediate needs assessed. Awesome. Check that off of your list!
Now that the super super important stuff is handled and you’ve put some caulk in those foundation cracks, you can work on regaining a steady balance while you stand on it.
Please note: Just because the cracks are repaired to a degree does NOT mean you can start doing jumping jacks right away! Baby steps, small victories.
Trucking through your projects for the sake of outrunning burnout is a terrible idea. You will do nothing but make it worse.
The importance of ‘Creative Connections.’
This is not a term or a coined phrase that I am responsible for. I cannot take credit for it, it’s all over the internet. I can, however, make you aware of it because I feel like it’s relevant and helpful.
What is a ‘Creative Connection?’
A creative connection occurs when you give your brain room to breathe, away from your craft, and because of that breathing room you were able to subconsciously secure a moment of ‘ah ha! Eureka!’
Because we aren’t forcing the mind to hyper-fixate on the topic at hand, the struggle and pain point, we’ve permitted enough space for it to flourish in a different and unexpected direction.
All of this is to say this, dear reader:
TAKE. A FREAKING. BREAK.
Give yourself a moment. Drink a coffee and DON’T check your emails.
Go hang out with a friend and if they ask about your project(s) just ask to discuss something else. There’s no shame in saying
“I need to take a mental break from my work for a bit, can we talk about XYZ, instead?”
Watch TikTok. Get on Pinterest. If Pinterest is full of recommendations that are related to your craft, I recommend you do something else. Those little blippets of “look at me” aren’t good for you when you should be in break mode.
Let’s say you’ve taken a break. You assessed your needs and you still feel stuck. You still don’t want to go back to your craft for a while.
That’s….okay..
Seriously. It takes time.
Give yourself the same patience that you would give someone close to you in the same situation. You are worthy of those courtesies. We are our biggest critics, don’t forget that. No one is going to hold you to the same standard that you hold yourself.
A huge contributing factor to combatting burnout is permitting yourself enough time to get past it. Don’t force your way through it, but feel it as a struggle and work through it as you need to. You will get through it eventually, but the path is yours to choose.
Preventing Burnout
Prevention boils down to tackling the problem before it becomes a problem, burnout being no exception.
Above anything else, analyze where your self-established standards are. If you have expectations that are way out of proportion and impossible to reach, you’re destined to burnout. Too much, too fast, you know how it goes.
SMART goals? SMART goals are great for preventing burnout.
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound.
This helps break your work down into more digestible pieces. When you break things down into manageable amounts you are less likely to drop the ball and discourage yourself. Setting too high of a standard or expectation will only set you up to let yourself down.
Outline your day, and your week, into bite-sized parts.
I recommend using a template to help organize the brain. I designed one if you need help. You can find it HERE
Prevention isn’t just time management and outlines, though. It also has a lot to do with those immediate needs we talked about.
Ensuring proper self-care is in place is a huge part of beating burnout before it becomes a weighty problem.
Eat well, and hydrate effectively. Move your body in between having your arms elbow-deep in your craft for a while. Sleep on a healthy regimen. Turn the work brain off and divide it from your home brain.
Nourish those other branches of wellness: your social health, your spiritual health, those matter too.
Make room in your life for more than just the work and the craft and projects.
Finding your balance is essential to keeping the burnout away.
I hope you found this article helpful, and I hope to see you here again soon.
Thanks so much for tuning in.