ASLU 105: Creative Burnout: Protecting Yourself and Your Creative Business

Editor’s Note: Some links in this article may be affiliate links. Full disclosure is located at the end of the article.

This episode is brought to you by Fine Lime Designs Illustrations

Creative burnout can have a direct impact on your mental health and your ability to earn a living as a working creative. This week, I have an honest conversation about creative burnout, how you can protect yourself from it and what to do when you find yourself in the midst of it.

In 2015 I fell into one of the worst periods of creative burnout I’ve ever experience in my 30+ year career. It lasted just over a full calendar year, with 7 months of that time spent on recovering and finding my way back to my “normal” self.

During that year, I went from feeling a little tired and out of sorts to being completely burnt out and then slipping into an episode of depression. Recovering meant putting my life on hold, pulling it apart and then slowly reassembling it in a way that would help me get better but also help me prevent future burnouts.

It meant figuring out what kept tripping me up and working to remove those obstacles so I would have a clear path forward. I had to learn to put up boundaries that not only protect my mental health and creative energy but help them thrive. And it meant I had to learn how to treat my body as a professional tool that I rely on to earn my living.

This week I share a little bit about my story but I mainly focus on the tools I learned to help me stay healthy and creative so I can run a healthy creatie business and have a healthy, fulfilling creative live

This Episode Is For…

This is a great episode for creatives who:

  • aren’t sure if they're feeling burnt out and want to understand what to look for

  • worry about what creative burnout can mean for their business and their ability to earn

  • struggle with periodic episodes of creative burnout

  • are feeling burnt out and aren't sure what to do next

  • are looking for tools to prevent future burnout

If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.

Listen To the Episode

Here’s a link to this week’s episode. You can also listen via the player below or on your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, and more). Just search for And She Looked Up!

in this episode we discuss:

  • a little bit about my creative journey

  • understanding the difference between creative block and creative burnout

  • how to recognize the signs that you’ve gone beyond burnout to more serious mental or physical health issues (and why it’s important to seek professional help when you’re not sure!)

  • understanding natural creative rhythms and learning to trust them

  • questions to ask yourself to determine if you might be burnt out (find your boulders):

    • when was the last time I took a proper vacation?

    • when was the last time I completely unplugged from social media for more than a few hours?

    • when was the last time I had a decent night's sleep?

    • am I eating properly?

    • am I moving my body every day?

    • do I actually like what I'm doing? Does it fit with my values and my life goals?

    • am I creating good work or am I phoning it in just to get the job done?

    • am I feeling blue, depressed, anxious or stressed out?

  • learning to recognize that your body is a professional tool that your business depends on (and how regularly scheduled maintenance is so important)

  • the steps to take to keep your body (and your mind) in good shape - it’s as important to you and your business as a professional athletes body is to their career

  • tools for refilling your creative well

  • how to fill the lows in your creative rhythm in a healthy way

Mentioned In This Episode:

Apps Mentioned

  • Forest
  • Headspace

Books Mentioned

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Podcast EpisodeMelissa HartfielS3, creative enterpreneurshp, creative mindset, creative burnoutComment