Arts and Creativity editor Violetta Kavanagh shares her advice on how to overcome the hurdle of feeling creatively burnt out.
Creative burnout - we’ve all been there. That point in the creative process where everything just comes to a complete standstill as ideas and inspiration seem to vanish. It is a state that often comes with both mental and emotional exhaustion that can affect anyone who is engaged with creative work, from writers to artists to entrepreneurs.
Feelings of frustration, along with a general decrease in motivation and productivity, soon start to emerge, making the process all the more difficult. While creative burnout is a frustrating bump in the road, there are things you can do that may help get you out of that creative slump and get the gears turning again. Here are some tricks I picked up along the way to help get the ball rolling when the well of creativity dries up.
Change your environment: Sometimes a change of scenery is all that is needed. When you find yourself staring at the same four walls, it's impossible to come up with something new. That's why simply switching the environment around you can work wonders to find some new inspiration.
As a writer, I have often found that going to places that inspire me creatively is just what I needed to make progress. Whether it be an art gallery, a library or simply a stroll through nature, a change in the creative space can be just the thing that helps to bring about a new wave of creativity.
Keep it simple: Trouble often arises when things get complicated, so why not revert back to simplicity. Ideas can often get muddled together the more complex they become, which can result in feeling overwhelmed. Attempting to make a creative project overly complicated can not only take the fun out of it, but may lead to it being discarded altogether.
When this happens it's good to take a step back and simplify things. Think about the foundation of the project and how the idea for it came to be in the first place. Use your fundamentals as building blocks to push yourself back towards progress while keeping in mind that simplicity often leads to success.
Expand your creative outlets: If you are feeling stuck on a particular creative endeavor, try exploring other avenues. Allow yourself to explore and reignite ideas through different creative forms without placing restrictions on yourself. For example, if you are in a slump with a writing project, try switching to simple doodling for the time being.
Simply stepping away from the thing that is freezing your progress and instead engaging in other activities that spark inspiration or joy can help to stimulate a mindset of completely new ideas. The engagement of different mediums can be useful to not only reduce the pressure of waning creativity, but can help to reignite your overall passion for your creative work.
Prioritise patience and self-care: The final and most important thing is to engage in self-care - be patient with yourself. Take care of both your mental and physical wellbeing. If things are getting too stressful or too tiring, cut yourself some slack and take a break. Remember that at the end of the day, creativity is supposed to bring a sense of fun and freedom.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so neither should be your creative project. The most important thing to remember is that it's okay to take some time for yourself. Embrace both the ebb and flow of creativity and you can navigate through the rough patch. It may be difficult, but you can find your way back to the joy of following your creative pursuits once again.