Five Ways to Fight Creative Burnout

Where Fleur takes a break and decides to doodle

It hit me like a truck this past Tuesday: complete and utter burnout. I just couldn’t anymore—it happens to everyone, and I’ve been here before, so it wasn’t such a shocker. Still. Burnout can come out of nowhere.

In this instance, I had just completed the rough draft of a non-fiction project. So yay and cake, only I wasn’t even feeling that.

This is when I know I really need to refill the well. And too often, because writing is my job, it is work. That wave of inspiration, those moments of getting lost in the story or my ideas, those aren’t the norm. Most of the time, writing is a mental workout. And us writers do have to feed our minds to avoid burning out.

So on this dreaded Tuesday, I first went for a hike (always a good idea). And I allowed myself to put all writing on ice. Also, I thought about how I’ve gotten past creative burnout before.

Here’s what I do when I hit a wall like this:

1.        Paint, draw, doodle—some creative act that is not writing. I like to doodle and realized I hadn’t done that in a while. It’s fun, calming, and lights my brain up.

2.        Go to a museum or see art (like murals in your city, maybe) –seeing someone else’s work really does help sometimes. My city even has museum free days for when my budget is tight, but I need to see something beautiful.

3.        Watch or listen to other artists talk about their work. There’s a Disney Pixar series where different animators and storytellers talk about their process. I find that really inspiring. There are also podcasts if that’s more your game.

4.        Cook a different meal. That’s creative, plus it has the added value of feeding you and your people (or at least you) at the end of the day. I haven’t made Italian wedding soup in a while; I think that might be for dinner…

5.        Stop writing. It’s okay to take a break. The stories will be there.

Note: I am listing this sage advice here so I can make sure I take it…

How about you? How do you fight burnout?

I recently picked up this magazine because Gennine Zlatkis’ studio was in it. I love her work and find it very inspiring to look at all these beautiful creative spaces.

What I’m Writing and Where I’m Going

Well, the no-writing thing is pretty obvious… A break will be good this week. I’m going to doodle, check out the murals around town and get some hiking in. See you on the trail, Colorado friends.

What I’m Reading

I just finished Edwin Hill’s Who to Believe which was really good. No surprise; he’s a go-to author for me. Now I’m reading The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan, which is fun and light.

Your Weekly Floof

It gets a little cold here in the Colorado cottage, so Floof makes sure she finds my lap when possible. Especially when I’m wearing flannel.

It’s very zen…