Tools

How to identify and overcome creative burnout: experience and useful links

Even the most successful authors may have a writer's block, talented artists may not finish their painting and talented musicians may play the same old tunes. Creative burnout can happen to all of us, even to those who consider themselves to be truly creative people.

Burnout can lead to tiredness, irritability and reduces ability to work.

But writer Nathalie Sejean says: “A creative burnout is not a fatality, it’s an injury”.

What are the symptoms of burnout?

You're doubting yourself

One of the signs is that you are constantly disappointed in yourself. For example, you may feel insecure or worry about what other people think about your work.

You're being a perfectionist

Psychotherapist Matt Lundquist explains that being hard on yourself, moralizing, and dissatisfaction with your work can obstruct the creative process. Such tendencies of perfectionism are not only detrimental to your creativity, but also harmful to your overall mental health.

You have a similar situation in other spheres of life

Working with artists and other creative professionals, Landquist discovered that their professional life reflects what is happening in other spheres of their lives, and vice versa.

You feel angriness

Another sign burnout are feelings of irritability and anger. However, some studies have shown that anger can help the creative process and support creative thinking, but only if you know how to use these feelings to work in favor of your imagination.

What to do?

We have prepared useful tips on how to overcome creative burnout.

Increase physical activity

It sounds usual, but sleep, exercise and proper nutrition have a miraculous effect on your mood and well-being.

Restructure your work habits

Robert Taibe, a clinical social worker and author of several books on mental health, says that it’s important to determine the specifics of your work and how it can affect your happiness.

The expert claims that it is useful to imagine the ideal workspace, and then take small but realistic steps to get closer to it.

Plan your life outside the office

Socializing with friends is a great way to relieve stress after a busy day.

Or read a good book and do some cooking.

Also, Pavlo Bilodid,co-founder of the International Association "Culture and Creativity", who experienced creative burnout, gives a piece of advice:

Find time and completely change the environment. It can be a trip, an extreme sport, nature, etc. Or it could even be “two minutes of silence” per day.
To analyze why did this happen, how you can avoid it and how to prevent it in the future. It is important to work consciously with such emotional states.
Find new sources for inspiration. If you used to listen to music for inspiration, then you should try other types of “energizing”: visual, taste, body, intellectual. Try something that will give the maximum quantity and quality of a new experience.