Dealing With Burnout
What to do? How to start drawing again? How I cope?
It's been a while! I disappeared for a month and hadn't written anything because I encountered burnout. Today, I feel like sharing this monologue of my thoughts will help me process this. And if you're going through burnout right now, maybe knowing you're not alone will help you too ❤️🩹
Also, there's something new at the end that you might like!
Well, we've all been there, haven't we? I personally believe it's inevitable – no matter how much you love what you do – burnout often comes from accumulated emotions/thoughts/unrealized plans/or whatever else.
Lately, I've been experiencing burnout frequently, and there are reasons for this – major life and work changes, a "crisis" in questioning what I want, and so on. In current realities, where all creatives are confused and concerned about the industry's work situation, this adds stress to the routine when you're unsure about your business's stability.
Burnout sometimes approaches quite noticeably, and I think we can somewhat influence this state from afar. Much depends on how we structure our business initially, so that during these "downtime" moments it runs like clockwork – marketing, outreach strategy, content consistency (planned ahead to avoid struggling during burnout), and working on passion projects that really break up the routine and provide that kick of inspiration we all desperately seek. Right now, I have such a project idea, but I'd like to bring it to life in collaboration with a photographer – so if you're a photographer or know someone, email me!
Nevertheless, life is complicated, and if burnout happens, the worst thing you can do is blame yourself for it (hello, yes, this is about me 👋). Growing up in a society where rest means laziness, and when you're tired of one activity, you're just told to do another, now I feel the consequences – an eternal chase for productivity and the number of successfully completed tasks. As a result – the mind doesn't rest, and burnout appears. We haven't learned to rest, and it's a skill we have to figure out on our own.
I'm lucky to have my partner in crime who keeps reminding me of everything I've done and achieved, and that sometimes I just need to give myself time to recover. In March, I'm going on a trip, and I hope this will help me come back to myself, truly recover well, and return to work with a pleasant, light feeling.
If you're facing burnout, don't be critical of yourself, give yourself time to recover, and engage in pleasant routines that help you disconnect, at least temporarily. You're not alone!
As always, thanks for reading,
Irene 💜
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Irene Neyman is an illustrator, graphic designer, and creative director. She runs her own design studio Deeply. Talk about her experience and tips & tricks for creatives.
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