I’ve been writing a lot on LinkedIn lately about burnout. It’s something that I have dealt with twice in my working life and it seems rampant these days. You may not spend your days in a 9-to-5 job, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience burnout.
What is burnout? The way I think about it, burnout is basically an extreme reaction to chronic stress. Your body has sent you all of the warning signs that you need to pay attention to the stress that’s building up, but you’ve pushed through them. Burnout is the emergency brake. The symptoms are: extreme physical and exhaustion; depersonalization; and detachment. You’re exhausted, no longer feel like you’re controlling your own life, and can’t bring yourself to care that much.
How do I fix it? Start by giving yourself grace. If you’re experiencing burnout it’s because you’ve been doing too much so you have to do less, especially less for other people. Stop doing anything you do because you feel like you “should.” Focus on yourself for a while as much as you can. Get some exercise (which is the best way to relieve the stress in your body), preferably in fresh air. Spend time doing activities that restore you.
What does this mean for creativity? You may notice your burnout first because the creative activities that you used to enjoy aren’t holding the same appeal to you. Give yourself some grace and take time to rest. Then, when you are starting to feel rejuvenated, you can add back in some creative work, especially if you’re trying something new. Creating is actually one of the best ways to cure burnout so when you’re inspired to create something again, go all in.
Burnout is completely curable, but it’s not that easy (especially for women) to identify burnout and to take the steps to cure it. Burnout happens when you ignore yourself so long that stress just builds up in you with no place else to go. But, that level of selfless giving is actually what’s expected of women, so to beat burnout you have to revolt a bit. Take time back for yourself, recognize that you don’t have to put yourself last on your own To Do list, and make creating a priority rather than something that you get to do once you’ve taken care of everyone else. Doing so may actually save your life.
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