If you’re tasked with being creative, all day, every day, it can get pretty taxing. What do you do when the wellspring starts to shallow? Or when you simply can’t find the joy in the job? 
 
In this article, we’ll trace this dreaded affliction to its roots. And we’ll offer up some ways to cure it… and avoid it altogether. 
 
What is creative burnout?
 
This may be easier to define by describing what it isn’t. Creative burnout results from working at peak capacity, nonstop without breaks. It can also happen, less obviously and more insidiously, by simply working on the exact same kind of creative assignment, over and over and over again. 
 
So what isn’t it? It’s a lack of motivation. It’s a lapse in optimism. At its worst, it’s a feeling akin to writer’s block (and we wrote an entire article devoted to that subject), where you think you’ve simply dried up. 
 
Creative burnout, in a word, sucks. It’s the antithesis of why you wanted to become a creative professional in the first place. It makes you question your choices, and face that next assignment with a feeling that uncomfortably resembles resentment. 
 
So how do you cure it?
 
Knowing the causes helps to point up the solutions. Based on what we described above, here are some basic things you can try: 

• Take a new approach. Work feels tedious when it is tedious. So mix it up. Try new techniques for brainstorming (we’ve got an article about that, too). Consider working in different media, if possible, for concept and/or execution. If you’ve always sketched on a Wacom tablet, pick up a pencil. If you’re attacking a local market, consider swapping out that mailer for a radio spot (yet more tips here). If you always work copy-first vs. layout-first (or vice versa), flip the order. (Yes, we have an article about that topic, too.) 

 

• Take a break. This is arguably the best advice we can give. You must have faith in your own abilities; too, you must allow yourself to recharge. No one can work at 100-percent capacity nonstop. An engine, at full throttle, will burn out. You will, too. So cash in those vacation days—or take a personal day. Get away from the office. Disconnect from the grid (with a bounce email set up first) and appreciate what makes all the work worthwhile: Friends, family, and inner focus. 

 

• Take a detour. There are other outlets for your creativity that don’t pay cash, but pay less tangible dividends. Pen a story for your kids. Paint a watercolor. Write a poem. Take some nature photography. Without the stress of deadlines or client expectations, you can really stretch your wings and soar. It’s good for your soul. And it will give you a new perspective—and new optimism—when it’s time to return to work. 

 

• Take a chill pill. This is related to “take a break,” above. Make some time to zone out—or Zen out—with some total escape time. Find that secret beach. Plug in those noise-cancelling headphones and tune in to your most uplifting music. Meditate. Rediscover yourself and why you matter. 

 
How do you prevent it?
 
That should be pretty obvious by now. If you keep aware of the conditions that cause burnout—such as missed lunches and weekends, a lack of variety in assignments or the execution thereof—you can work to avoid them in the first place. Knowing the penalty for not doing so can be a big motivator. Others may not understand or appreciate why you, say, need to take a half-day off. But they’ll certainly appreciate the killer creative you’re able to easily deliver upon your return. 
 
Need help with that next creative challenge? Contact us. We’d be delighted to help. 

We’re fans of social networking. We’re fans of saving money. And if you’ve read any of these articles, you’ll know that we’re also fans of counterintuitive tricks to help get your business ahead. 
 
In this article, we’re going to check all three of those boxes.
 
Incidentally, although this article originates on our website, www.CopelCommunications.com, we’re cross-posting it on—you guessed it—on LinkedIn. 
 
Make that “attempting to cross-post it,” LOL! If it gets censored, we’ll take that as a compliment—and validation of our advice. 
 
Life on LinkedIn
 
LinkedIn is certainly a powerful and handy tool. We use it all the time. It’s great for making connections with, say, people you’ve just “met” via email—and for checking background credentials, mutual connections, and so on. 
 
It’s also a system that’s ripe for gaming, unfortunately. We recently interviewed a person for a job opening, and he boasted that he had thousands of important LinkedIn connections. One of the people on our interviewing team called him on this point: “Hey, I looked at your connections and I’m very impressed. I’m friends with that senator, too! How do you know him?” 
 
Crickets. 
 
Turned out that this person had essentially spammed this senator and thus got the LinkedIn connection. But it’s not what we’d call a “real” connection. 
 
We practice what we preach. Check out our LinkedIn page. Our connections number in the hundreds, not the thousands. But we know who those people are. And they know us, too. 
 
Turning spam to your advantage
 
Obviously, you’d like to have to have a rich book of LinkedIn connections. Just as important, you’d like prospects to check out your LinkedIn profile. That’s the first step toward their learning more about you, clicking their way to your website, learning even more about you and your business, and, ideally, reaching out to you. All of that would be great.
 
But it begs the question: How do you get these thousands of untold strangers to check out your profile? 
 
Here’s where we get to the “cheap” and “counterintuitive” part of this article. 
 
Not long ago, we got a LinkedIn InMail request from a total stranger: a woman who, ostensibly, wanted to sell us something. 
 
Now in case you’re not familiar with it, InMail is a "premium" service. You guessed right: You must pay to get it.
 
So connect the dots: This woman was shelling out money each month for the privilege of messaging us… a total stranger. 
 
What would you do if you got her message? 
 
If it’s clearly spam/a pitch to sell you something you don’t really need, you’d tend to ignore it, and delete the notification. But that might be costing you an opportunity. 
 
Make the system work in reverse
 
The best thing to do, in an instance like this, is to accept the invitation. Consider: 

• You needn’t buy anything this person is selling. Nothing is obligating you. In fact, this person just spent money to say “hello” to you. You can be polite and obliging and say “hello” right back, thanking them yet declining the offer.

 

• At the same time, connect to that person on LinkedIn. Why? We can guarantee you that this person has thousands of connections, kind of like the “Senator” person we’d described above. 

 

• Now consider that LinkedIn is a two-way street. Every one of those thousands of new second-level connections will suddenly get you on their radar. As a “close” connection, you’ll pop up under “People you may know” on their screens. 

 
This is a numbers game. The more connections this spammer—er, “person”—has, the more exposure you get for connecting with them. It’s like network broadcasting. Only it’s free. 
 
And it gets better: Depending upon how good a job that that person did in filtering to find you, your new “connections” may well be quite relevant to your business. It’s almost like getting LinkedIn Premium… without the premium. 
 
So keep an open eye, and an open mind. The business you end up boosting may be your own. 
 
Want more help? Contact us. We’d be delighted to discuss your needs.