There’s one thing that’s so pernicious it can take you out of the writing game for HUGE amounts of time. And that is burnout.
Burnout is defined as a state of exhaustion that’s caused by excessive stress.
Sometimes it’s hard to notice the amount of stress you can put on yourself for deadlines and specific goals, constantly lingering in the background of your attention.
This leads to being exhausted. Which leads to burnout.
No one has time for burnout. So here are some tips that I use personally to make sure I never et exhausted enough of writing to become burnout.
Tip 1. Take a Break
I know it’s not the most popular belief in hustle culture, but breaks are seen to be for people who are weak.
“David Goggins never takes a break, so why should I?’
You should take a break because it acts as a palate cleanser for your creativity. I’m not talking about having a 3-month break from writing your novel. Rather, I am talking about a set time each day or each week where you take a periodic break from your writing and do something that has nothing to do with writing.
Personally, I’ve just gotten a Nintendo Switch and I have been playing a game called Cuphead for my break. If you know anything about this game it is brutal. Very difficult (for me at least). That’s why it’s such a perfect distraction from my writing.
So when I get back to my short story or my blog post I am refreshed and ready to go.
Try it out. Be sure to have breaks.
Tip 2. Be Mindful
Mindfullness has an airy fairy ambiance to it, being thankful for things. However active reflection of your current situation can help you identify warning signs of exhaustion.
I recommend that at least once a week, just write on a piece of paper for 5 minutes, how you are feeling about your writing. Nothing strenuous. Just enough to get you to become aware of how you are feeling.
I for one am very out of touch with my emotions. I will be feeling bugged all day, and never stop to think why I am. But I find every time I can track back my emotions to a specific scenario and understand why I’m feeling the way I am.
Neglected thoughts don’t disappear, they fester.
If you don’t reflect on how you are feeling about writing you can become spiteful and hateful for the act of writing, when it should be something you love to do.
So, check in with yourself, be mindful
Tip 3. Broaden Your Horizons
I find the biggest reason I get burnt out is that I’m stuck with a single idea for too long, which gets me mentally in a rut where I’m going forward and backward in it, getting deeper and deeper into despair.
The easiest way I’ve found to get out of the rut is to consume some content that I otherwise wouldn’t. I find that this allows for a fresh perspective on your writing that is hard to achieve if you don’t take a step back.
Just an hour ago I watched the new slasher movie “Thanksgiving” about a Thanksgiving-themed killer. It’s about as goofy as you can imagine. But because I don’t usually watch slasher movies it inspired some interesting scenes that I can add to my own horror writing.
So definitely, if you feel you’re getting in a rut with your ideas, consume some different content, in moderation of course. And I can almost guarantee you will have a fresh unexhausted attitude towards your work.
Conclusion. . .
Burnout is a pain but there are many things you can do to avoid it, they are all about taking a step back from your writing, intermittently.
The 3 tips I shared with you were;
- Have breaks.
- Be mindful
- Consume unfamiliar content
If you enjoyed this post, check out this post about avoiding toxic-productivity;
Thanks for reading. Best of luck with you’re writing 🙂
Leave a Reply