The Best Solutions To cure your Creative Burnout!
Courtesy of Elīna Arāja
Introduction
If you're like me, you've been in a creative slump. You sit at your desk for hours on end without any inspiration or ideas coming to you. It's frustrating because there's so much more that you want to do but can't seem to get started. Or maybe it's just one project that keeps getting put off because it seems too difficult or overwhelming. Either way, I'm here to tell you how to avoid burning out creatively:
Set aside time for creative work.
You’re in the zone and you feel like you could keep working for hours, but then it hits you: time. Time is finite and if you don’t set aside some of it for creativity, chances are good that your work will suffer as a result.
The key to avoiding burnout is setting aside time for creative work every day—even if just five minutes here, ten minutes there. It sounds simple enough (and it should be!), but making sure your schedule doesn't get in the way can be difficult at times because we're all such busy people trying to balance our lives between work and home life responsibilities (or kids), so finding this perfect balance can be tough sometimes. But there are ways around this! Here's how I've managed my own creative workflow over the years:
Spend time on something you love.
I know what you're thinking: "How do I find time for all my hobbies and interests?" Well, that's the first step. But it's not as simple as just saying "I'm going to spend more time doing X." You have to make a conscious effort to carve out some space in your schedule for those activities and then stick with them. You'll be surprised by how much fun you can have when you start using up blocks of time that were previously devoted exclusively to work!
Make sure you have enough time to get through the rest of your day.
You know you need a break. And you know how to take one, even if it seems like everything is going wrong and nothing makes sense anymore. But sometimes taking that break can be hard when everything else seems so urgent and demanding—especially if your work requires intense focus on the task at hand.
The trick is to make sure that every part of your day has enough time left over for breaks—even if those breaks are only 10 minutes long! That way when it comes time for another meeting or appointment, there’s still enough mental energy left in the tank so that things don't get too overwhelming again.
Make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating healthy meals.
If you want to be more creative, it's important that you get enough sleep and eat healthy meals.
Sleep: The act of sleeping is important for your body's natural processes, including the production of hormones that help regulate emotions and make sure everything works as it should. But what about when we're not sleeping? We have been conditioned by society to believe that not sleeping makes us more productive—but this isn't necessarily true! In fact, most people who work long hours find themselves experiencing serious problems related to fatigue—and these issues can be even worse if they don't get enough rest each night (or weekend).
Healthy Meals: Eating good food helps your body function optimally so it can better handle whatever challenges come its way when trying new things creatively—like writing a novel! There are some common problems associated with eating unhealthy foods: lack of nutrients like vitamins A & C; high levels of fat content; additives such as MSG or artificial sweeteners added during processing which may cause headaches later on down the line due to inflammation caused by overexposure over time."
Keep up with creative projects that don't require intense focus.
You need to keep up with your creative projects. But, you also need to make sure you have other creative projects that don't require intense focus.
You'll find the time for those more relaxed ones if you make sure you have time:
Make sure it's not just a few hours in the morning, or late at night. It should be throughout the week and not just on weekends or holidays—unless those are your only opportunities for relaxation! Try setting aside a specific block of time each day as a "creative break" so that when it arrives, everything else can wait until then (and if possible include lunch time). That way if something comes up later in life that requires more attention than what was originally planned during this period then there won't be any pressure from outside forces about making changes based on them being needed immediately instead of being able simply going along with them without thinking about how long things might take due how much work goes into preparing oneself mentally ahead of time before actually starting out using tools specifically designed by manufacturers specifically tailored toward certain tasks that require extreme amounts skill level maintenance over others less demanding although still requiring very similar amount skill necessary maintenance too."
Be willing to take breaks during your creative projects.
Be willing to take breaks during your creative projects.
You can't take a break from the process of creating, but you can definitely take a break from working on it. It's important not to get stuck in the weeds and forget why you started in the first place. If you're spending too much time focusing on one aspect of your project, it's easy for that part of the work to eclipse everything else around it—especially if there are other parts of your life that need attention as well! Take some time away from what's going on with your creative project so that when you return (and hopefully with fresh eyes), everything will look different than before!
Find a community of people who care about what you do.
Once you've got the basics down, it's time to get creative. The next step is finding a community of people who care about what you do.
If you're feeling really ambitious, try creating one yourself! This can be as simple as posting on social media or starting up an email list (if your niche doesn't have one). It might take some trial and error before finding success, but once you do—and I mean once—it'll be worth all the effort in the world.
Keep yourself hydrated when working on a project that requires intense focus.
When you're working on a project that requires intense focus, it's important to keep yourself hydrated. If your mind is racing and your stomach is growling, drink water or coffee. If there's no food in sight, grab a glass of juice or sports drink to help quench your thirst! There are so many different options out there—from coconut water and fruit juices to ice cream and chocolate milk—that there will always be something delicious for every mood.
Plan your day, but don't plan your week or month.
Planning your week or month is a bad idea. You need to be able to adapt to changes in your life and projects, and you also need a flexible mind—not one that wants everything done on its own schedule.
If you get tired of one project, switch it out for something else—but only if the new thing doesn't require any additional time investment (for example, if it's a few hours of work).
Give your body regular exercise throughout the day, so that it continues to function normally if you need to stop what you're doing to recharge or change focus on a project.
Courtesy of Pixabay
Give your body regular exercise throughout the day, so that it continues to function normally if you need to stop what you're doing to recharge or change focus on a project.
Exercise can help you focus: Research shows that regular exercise can improve mood and enhance cognitive performance by helping people stay alert and focused during stressful situations.
Exercise can help you relax: A 2014 study found that people who exercised regularly were less likely than non-exercisers to experience anxiety symptoms during stressful situations; another 2015 study found that high levels of daily physical activity reduced depressive symptoms among women with postpartum depression after only six months! (Plus, it's good for your heart.)
Exercise can help you sleep better: According to one review article published in Psychology Today , "Airing out toxins in the form of sweat helps relieve tension even when we don't see any visible evidence." In other words—it's not just what happens while working out physically but also mentally!
If you want to keep working on your creativity, make sure you have many options for relaxing and recharging between intense segments of work.
If you want to keep working on your creativity, make sure you have many options for relaxing and recharging between intense segments of work.
Make sure you have enough time to get through the rest of your day. You should also set aside some time each week or month just for fun—whether it's reading a book or playing computer games or finding creative ways to spend quality time with friends and family members who aren't involved in your creative projects (or if they do get involved).
Get plenty of sleep every night, even if it's only 8 hours! Your body needs this much rest so that it can efficiently process information throughout the day while thinking creatively at night when there are no distractions around us like phones ringing off the hook downstairs (or maybe even upstairs).
Eat healthy meals regularly throughout all seven days of each week instead of turning into a bowl full of munchies after dinner one evening when inspiration hits halfway through cooking dinner because we're hungry again but haven't eaten anything since breakfast ten hours earlier…
Conclusion
Creative work is hard, and it takes time. But if you're willing to make a little extra effort, it can be rewarding in ways that you never expected. The key is to take breaks so your body can get used to the new routine and your brain doesn't feel like it's going through overload when you start working again on another project.
