How to overcome—and avoid—creative burnout

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. 

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