Creative burnout recovery- my spring break

B U R N O U T

How I recovered from creative burnout

I just completed my last Spring Break of college. Woah, that’s weird to say. Coming home I realized I was experiencing creative burnout. Creative burnout is when you feel mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted around creative work. This is common among art students and people who use their creative expression as a career. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted from dealing with an ever-growing to-do list, my stress, and absorbing other people’s stress. I knew I needed to take advantage of the break and recover. Here is what I did.

Creative Burnout: How I recovered

First, I reconnected with my hobbies. I enjoy reading and crocheting. Crocheting is a way to express my creativity that I don’t associate with school. I think it’s important as artists to branch out how we express our creativity to keep the creative spark lit while also taking a break from the usual practice.

Next, I rested. I knew my body needed rest. I let myself sleep in when my body was telling me to, I napped when I was tired. I think too often we let ourselves feel guilty for resting even when that is what we need. I focused on allowing myself to rest and knowing that resting now would allow me to be more productive in the future.

Next, I was productive. I brought home a couple of projects for school that I could work on at home. Instead of pressuring myself to do the work, I waited for the motivation to come to me to collage. This way I was productive when I wanted to be and didn’t have to spend my mental energy on motivating myself to do art which is what a lot of energy is spent on at school.

How I’m Preventing Future Creative Burnout

Lastly, I set myself up for success. Knowing I was experiencing creative burnout now, I knew I had to come up with a plan to prevent future burnout. I designed a morning and evening routine for myself to commit to. Whether you believe it or not, I believe I am an empath which means I am very sensitive to energy- both my own and others’. I needed to set aside alone time to dust off the excess energy that had built up throughout the day and set up protection for myself to begin the day. Today’s the first day of class after break and I got up to my alarm and immediately hit the yoga mat to start my routine. Humans are creatures of routine. I know I need a routine to thrive so I listened to what I needed.

I feel much better after the break. I’m glad I got time to myself to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. It’s refreshing to have that freedom again, even if it was temporary. I hope this helps other artists recover from burnout.

Thank you for reading,

audrey

If you want more tips make sure to visit my article Navigating Creative Burnout!