Re: creative burnout.

I spoke about this with another artist recently and figured I'd share it here in case it benefits anyone else.

For a lot of people, myself included creative burnout is not necessarily the result of a very busy schedule. It's not that you "worked too hard".

It's entirely possible to burn out without having worked yourself to the bone. It's not about the hours you put in, it's about mental strain. It's about the amount of frustration you deal with and how it affects your ability to get rest - not in pure time, but in your head.

Too much of your work being unfulfilling, being creatively challenging, being entirely outside of your comfort zone, beating yourself up when things aren't working, when you're "unproductive", feeling constant guilt when you should be resting.

All that can lead to burnout.

Frustration is part of the creative process; it's normal and unavoidable. There will be challenges. There will be unfulfilling work. You will struggle. You will have "off days".

But frustration drains us. It squeezes energy out of our brains like squeezing water from a sponge.

Naturally there's an end to how much you can squeeze out. And again, it's not so much about the literal amount of time you spend working. Anyone can do a fun, fulfilling, easy job for hours on end and be totally fine. It's about how much of that time you spend being frustrated.

So how do we avoid this?

By ensuring not all of our work frustrates us. Studies are hard, balance them with fun and easy tasks. Don't do multiple jobs or projects that you know will be difficult or unfulfilling to you. Be kind to yourself when you're having an off day.

PLAN YOUR BREAKS and then ACTUALLY LET YOURSELF HAVE THEM. There's a huge difference, mentally, between having a bad day and deciding to let it go to waste (while still good sometimes), and having actually planned for a day where you will not have to do any frustrating tasks.

I've also found that getting a proper break is not necessarily doing nothing at all. It's about doing something that's fun, easy and/or fulfilling. Something that makes you feel good and that gives you energy.

You have to refill that sponge, not just put it away for a bit.

What that is is different for everyone. You might have a personal project. It could be cleaning up your living space. It could be getting exercise. Could be reading a book, chatting with friends, some other recreational activity. A combination of or all of the above.

TL;DR: I've found that to avoid creative burnout you have to actively manage the amount of frustration you deal with in your work. Where possible, balance it out with things that bring you joy and let yourself indulge in that unapologetically because your brain NEEDS it.