The creative industry demands a lot from artists, making it easy to slip into bad habits that lead to creative burnout. Burnout can be seriously detrimental to your work, lifestyle, and health. Here are 5 ways to protect your creative edge.
The creative industry demands a lot from artists, making it easy to slip into bad habits that prioritize your work over your health. This leads to burnout, which is more than an occupational annoyance. It's detrimental to artists' work, lifestyle, and health.
However, there are ways to prevent burnout as an artist. Here are 5 tips you can implement now to take control of your creative work.
1. Treat Yourself Better Than a College Student Stereotype
When you’re on a tight deadline, there is a strong temptation to fall into the sleep-deprived and over-caffeinated stereotype of a college student. Lead Animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks Jason Martinsen is used to demanding work environments but admits the hardest he worked was in college.
“Obviously, having the youth, you didn’t get as tired and you were, you know, running on coffee,” Jason joked. “But when you’re getting paid to do work, you’re expected to do it at a certain level.”
Students are in a learning environment. They can afford to say yes to everything and pull all-nighters to cram in their assignments, personal projects, and social life. It’s a chaotic lifestyle in which flaws are expected. Professionals simply can’t function that way, and not just because you can no longer handle the sodium in microwaveable ramen.
2. Eliminate Ghost Hours
Ghost hours are when you put in more work than you’re paid for. Whether you’re behind schedule or grappling with a creative block, a project can sneak into overtime. When this happens, you may choose to not bill these hours.
Artists do this for a number of reasons. Some fear that asking for more time is unprofessional. Others want to prove to themselves and their employers that they can handle the workload. Senior Technical Artist Mathias Royrvik said, “It can almost be a bit of guilt. If you’re sitting there at the end of the day, and you said I’m going to have this done by the end of the day but you don’t, you think, ‘I can sit for another hour or two.”
If you let your supervisors think you completed an 8-day task in 5-days, they’ll continue to give you a 5-day deadline, not knowing that they're jeopardizing the project and your health with unsustainable timelines. Be honest about the hours you're working to keep everyone on the same page. Mathias said your colleagues might even offer the solution you're looking for.
3. Strive to Reach Your Goals in an 8-Hour Day
When you enter the creative industry, especially as a freelancer, you might be ready to break away from the typical 8 hours a day, 40-hour workweek. However, this model provides stability and structure.
Sticking to an 8-hour day allows you to focus your energy to work for a set amount of time before giving yourself a break. This can actually improve your workflow because you learn how to get everything done in the allotted time. “It’s okay to work a lot of overtime a month or two here and there, but you should try to minimize hours and increase efficiency,” Jason said.
Not to mention, the typical workday could quite literally save your life. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows that people who consistently work more than 8 hours a day face a 40-80% greater chance of heart disease. This is due to stress, raised blood pressure, and unhealthy diets (Forbes.com). Next time you’re considering burning the midnight oil to finish a project, plan for some counteraction yoga and deep breathing!
4. Make Time to Sharpen Your Creative Edge
“Sustaining a pace of 12 hours per day causes your work to suffer,” Jason said. “You will lose the edge and creative spirit.” All work and no play truly does make Jack a dull boy. Dedicating every hour of your day to a work project kills creativity. Literally! When your brain is at rest, the subconscious mind can problem solve and connect ideas that an active mind wouldn’t (scientificamerican.com).
Overworking can also prevent you from gaining new ideas. Reading, watching films, listening to music, doodling - there are so many relaxing activities that can inspire your breakthrough moment. The more your mind can wander and wonder, the better. Jason provides a great tip: “If you’re dreaming about work, you’re probably working too hard.”
5. Prioritize Your Health
When your job is also your passion, it's easy to make sacrifices. However, skipping karaoke night is different than creating habits that neglect your physical and mental health. Creative burnout does more than impact your efficiency at work. It leads to increased anxiety, emotional distance, exhaustion, and feelings of numbness (verywellmind.com).
By prioritizing your sleep, exercise, and diet, you’ll minimize the impact of burnout. Morning walks can increase creative output by 60% (Stanford.edu). Foods that are rich in fiber, protein, and Vitamin D boost concentration (everydayhealth.com). Sleep can help with memorization and pattern recognition to assist with creative problem-solving (dreams.co.uk). Even spending time with family and friends improves psychological well-being and reduces stress (piedmont.org).
Despite the many ways prioritizing health can improve creativity and workflow, the most important thing at the end of the day is your well-being and happiness. Whether it’s meditation, family dinners, or morning walks, put your work on pause. Your art, body, and mind will thank you for it!
LEARN MORE
CGMA provides comprehensive instruction for Art, Games, and VFX industries in a variety of courses for a range of students, from 2D and 3D artists looking to supplement their college studies to industry professionals looking to stay up to date on emerging trends and techniques in the field. Learn more at https://www.cgmasteracademy.com/
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Sources
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/q-a-why-a-rested-brain-is-more-creative/
https://www.verywellmind.com/stress-and-burnout-symptoms-and-causes-3144516
https://news.stanford.edu/2014/04/24/walking-vs-sitting-042414/
https://www.everydayhealth.com/add-adhd-pictures/what-to-eat-in-an-adhd-diet.aspx
https://www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/7-ways-that-sleep-help-your-creativity/
