If you’re struggling with the kind of burnout I experienced, or think you might be headed there, this post may help. Here are a couple of things you’re probably going to have to come to terms with, and some helpful tips to avoid winding up where I did and to help heal the damage if you’re already there.
The Grindset Lifestyle is Toxic
If you haven’t encountered the term ‘grindset’ before, you can read an in-depth definition here.
In the writing community, you’ll find a lot of authors pushing the idea that you can absolutely be a successful author with a significant amount of writing income while working another full time job. All you need to do is utilize every ounce of free time for writing, editing, and/or marketing. Write on your breaks. Writing during lunch. Edit during your commute if you can. Cut your sleep short and work on your writing before work or after dinner. That sort of thing.
And that works great, to a point. It stops working if your day job is so soul-sucking that you don’t have the mental or physical energy left to write with. It doesn’t work if you have heavy family obligations, or have a job that requires long hours. And let’s be honest– many of us have lives that include some combination of these things.
You’re Not Going to Write Every Day, And That’s OK
The pressure to commit a certain number of words to paper every day is a common theme in the writing community. This goes hand in hand with the implication that you should feel bad if you don’t meet that goal.
If you have other obligations that eat a lot of your time and energy, this is going to be difficult to achieve. You’ll probably feel bad about that, and feel like you need to push yourself to catch up, which will make you even more stressed out.
Try this: instead of beating yourself up about what you didn’t get done, congratulate yourself on what you accomplished.
Sometimes ‘Good Enough’ Is Perfectly Sufficient
At the Other Job I was frequently confronted with the fact that there just physically wasn’t enough time to accomplish everything. That meant I had to delegate, prune items off my to-do list, or cut corners. Since there was often no one I could delegate to and I’d already pruned everything I could afford to prune, a certain amount of corner-cutting had to take place.
And you know what? It was fine. The world didn’t end. No one noticed. I mean, I noticed. And for a while I felt pretty guilty about it. But eventually I came to view the ability to cut corners as a necessary skill.
If you’re a perfectionist, work on teaching yourself that not everything has to be absolutely perfect. Sometimes efficiency is more important than perfection. Learn what “good enough” looks like and aim for that, so that you can save your energy for the things that really matter.
Don’t Sacrifice Relaxation. Recharging Is Essential
Remember when I said I’d cut as much non-essential stuff off my to-do list as possible to make time for the absolutely crippling workload? Well, relaxation was strictly non-essential. Reading books for enjoyment, playing video games, hanging out with friends, hiking, and eventually even sleep all fell under the axe of “maximizing productivity.” The only thing this is a good strategy for is maximizing burnout.
Taking time to relax isn’t optional. It’s essential for creators, and arguably for everyone else. Needing time to relax and let go of the to-do list isn’t a weakness or a vice of the undisciplined. We need to recharge our batteries by sleeping and partaking in enjoyable pastimes. If you exclude those activities from your life, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Take A Break
If your burnout gets to the point where your ability to be creative is just completely gone the way mine was, you may need to take a hiatus. It may not be a short one. But taking your foot off the metaphorical gas pedal and not forcing yourself to be creative when you have no creativity left is essential to recovering.
Do Things You Enjoy
When and if you can, take time to do the things you used to enjoy and which helped inspire you in the past– not because they’re supposed to magically bring you instant inspiration, but just because you enjoy them. For me, that meant hiking, kayaking, going on road trips and exploring new places. It also meant reading lots of whatever looked interesting.
Take Care of Yourself
Some of us come from backgrounds where you keep pushing until you collapse, either because what you’re doing has to get done or because that’s the ethos we’ve been instilled with. Pain is weakness leaving the body, etc. However, there’s something to be said for getting as much sleep as your body needs and remembering to eat. Maybe take a multivitamin occasionally, if your work schedule has you skipping a lot of meals and getting most of your nutrition from vending machines and drive-throughs. Eating well and getting enough rest can really speed up your recovery.
Everyone’s Journey Is Different
If you’re recovering from severe burnout, take as much time as you need without pushing yourself to meet goals. Depending on your mental health, workload, and a variety of other factors, recovery could take anywhere from a few months to a handful of years. Resist the urge to publish a return-to-productivity date or give yourself a deadline. When you’re ready, you’ll know. And whatever you do, don’t give up hope. It may take longer than you expect, but I promise your ability to be creative will grow back, just as mine did.
