Savannah Watson

Burnout happens. Whether it’s at work, in creative activities, or just in life, I think it’s safe to say that most people have experienced burnout at least once. To non-creative types, it may seem like art comes naturally, but we all know that is not the case. Art, writing, and creating all take significant mental power; a different kind of mental power than is required for, say, a desk job. However, I don’t know about anyone else, but I feel like being burnt out creatively is a special kind of hell…

When I’m in a state of being creatively burnt out, the first thing I always wonder (and deeply desire) is when can I get back to normal? When will I feel energized and motivated to write again? And I think it all boils down to refilling my well.

Refilling your creative well can take virtually any form, but most often, I think refilling the well happens by engaging in our hobbies. This may sound incredibly obvious, but hobbies are important. And not just important, but IMPORTANT with ten exclamation points. Our hobbies give us something to enjoy, to take our mind off of things, and to relax. Whether your hobby is reading, drawing, puzzles, exercising, traveling, watching movies, baking, or anything else, it all serves to help us enjoy downtime.

And in this downtime – this relaxed mindset – we allow ourselves to refill the creative well, allowing our motivation and energy to find us again and ideas to flow back in more easily. Moving our bodies, changing our settings, and engaging different passions and parts of our brains can all bring us to a new reservoir of creativity.

It’s a little tricky sometimes when the thing we love to do more than anything is the thing that has made us burnt out. When I get burnt out from writing, I get frustrated with myself for not writing. But as hard as it is, I need to remember that not writing is perfectly okay. Meanwhile, I should enjoy reading, exercising, doing French lessons, painting, and all of my other little hobbies which will refill my creative well and let me get back to writing.

• Facebook
• Spotify
• Amazon