I've seen quite a few people posting today about needing to switch off, feeling burnt out, getting to that point where they just can't think of anything new. I've been feeling the same. I'm exhausted, but at the same time it feels like I've done so little this year (I haven't).

Maybe it's just that we're all seeing that the winter switch off is about to happen and we just want those emails to stop coming in. Maybe it's that once one person recognises that people then others stop and recognise is it as well. It just makes me think of how much pressure is

put upon us as creatives to constantly produce - to come up with ideas before there's any sort of payment or investment in place, to be spokespeople for our art forms/industry, to constantly engage with all the new things coming out and still find time to do our own work,

and also fit in trying to have a normal life in between all of that. I talk about this in terms of creatives but I know a lot of industries are the same. Academics have it shockingly bad, they work themselves to the ground and even then have to work for free or very little in

order to build a reputation for themselves. It all just makes me think, how the hell did we allow ourselves to get into a situation where so many industries expect us to kill ourselves making work before they start put us through the hoop jumping that is being seen as someone

that deserves investment. Now, I know that the answer to this is that many of these industries have been created by people with money, who can just do what they want and not worry about having a life and paying bills. That's a simple way of putting something complex.

I'm not one for dwelling on problems, I like to find the solution. I want to find a solution. How do we stop burn out? How do we keep those that come from underprivileged and underrepresented backgrounds from burning out, especially now when those are the voices we need?

I tried to create a routine for myself to see if this would combat burnout, it does, but then your routine goes out the window when you're doing ten different things to survive, or you've got that last minute opportunity with a super tight deadline.

I love the idea of self-care and taking time for yourself, but how do you do that if you (like many creative I know) fit your work around parenting and caring responsibilities? I have friends that look forward to nap time because that's when they'll have a window of time to work.

Friends are a life-force, but how do we keep each other going when we struggle to keep ourselves going? It's exhausting.

I genuinely struggle to find time to read a book because I'm so tired and then I get really upset because I was the kid that read a book a day.

How do we create new art if we're too exhausted creating to explore our world & take time out? It feels like such a privilege to be able to do that.

I'm asking a lot of questions that have bigger answers & I'm sure I have some of those answers. The industry needs to do better.

I just think there's got to be a way to feel like you can keep going, at a normal human pace, without feeling burnout so intensely and without feeling like you can't have a normal life.

Anyway, I'm ill and probably rambling. Going back to my script edits now!

Please excuse my typos. I see a few, I'm sure you can make sense of it!