5 Creativity Myths and How to Recover From Them: Myth No. 4

Home stretch is in sight for this miniseries. To recap the ideas we've talked about so far:

1: Creativity isn't magic. It's a muscle.

2: Creativity belongs in strategic jobs––not just artsy ones.

3: Developing creativity is not indulgent. It's practical

And we’re not easing up on the big ideas yet.

Myth No. 4: If I'm burnt out or I feel stuck, there's nothing I can do.

Burnout ain’t fun. Can I get an amen?

I’ve navigated several rounds of burnout myself—first as an athlete growing up, then in college (hello, senioritis), and sprinkled throughout my eclectic professional journey since. While each round has been painful, I can also track the most significant pivots in my life back to these bottoming-out moments. And they've been pivots for the better.

Now, this is not a rah-rah "BURNOUT IS ACTUALLY AMAZING" post. That'd be wild. We're keeping it a buck: Burnout sucks. It can lead to good things, but we're not going to skip the process of going through the hellish parts to get to the good stuff.

Burnout: Where No One Wants to End Up

I've noticed burnout is a sensitive subject these days. I think we all went from not knowing about it, to collectively discovering it, to talking about it, to trying to fix it, to feeling stuck in it. Except now it's got a name.

Yippee.

Now, no one in their right mind ends up burned out by preference. And no one wants to stay there either.

And yet, the symptoms of burnout and the mental and emotional space it lands us in feel, almost toxically (I mean that in the literal sense), like being stuck.

A sensation I recently experienced.

Getting Stuck on Snow

I live in Richmond, VA, and we recently got a LOT of snow and ice. Not as bad as some other states, but it's been rough. I also happen to drive an adorable Honda Fit. And I love my lil lady. But she ain't built for snow. I've spent weeks creeping across roads, enjoying my low gas mileage but knowing my girl is gonna be one of the fastest cars to get stuck because she's so light. Still, I managed to stay unstuck for weeks.

Until a few days ago. I was backing out of my driveway, fully shoveled, when I misjudged the curve and went up on the heap of snow at the edge. And I got stuck. It was so funny I ended up almost crying laughing. But there wasn't a thing I could do until I dug the tires out and got a good shove from my dad.

Pressing my foot against the gas pedal and hearing the wheels spinning against the ice had me thinking, "Heck, I know it's cold...but this is what burnout feels like."

Spinning in Place

Burnout can land you in a space of total collapse. But the early days often start with the sensation of spinning out in place. It's like you're trying to do work, trying to tackle problems, and you might be putting in effort, but you also feel like you're getting nowhere. Traction vanishes beneath you. And you don't know why.

All this burnout stuff also applies to our creativity.

I've been there when writing feels overwhelming, or all my ideas come out jumbled, half-baked, and just "not good." Objectively, too. I'm not just beating myself up about it.

I've been there when I'm working on projects, responding to emails, showing up in meetings, and I feel like a vacant ghost inside, numbing out.

You know, another side effect of treating our creativity like magic, not a muscle, is that we feel especially unequipped to handle burnout. If it's magic, it magically shows up, and it can magically disappear. And the lie will have us believing there isn't a thing we can do about it.

But if we were to see our creativity as a muscle, we'd also reframe the way we engage with burnout when it shows up.

So...what do you do when you start showing signs and symptoms of burnout?

From ample experience, here are some of my go-to's.

01/ Am I burnt out, grieving, or both?

Burnout and grief can have very similar effects:

• Low energy

• Brain fog

• Decision fatigue

• Changes in sleep / appetite

• Reduced desire to do the things you love

• Withdrawal / Isolation

• Irritability

You get the point. I've personally had both grief and burnout occur simultaneously, so I won't pretend this is an easy thing to parse out. But it is possible to get somewhere when you slow down and really think through what's been going on in your life.

And the reason it matters to distinguish between them is they require different recovery paths. (We're not splitting hairs for kicks.)

02/ If you were burned out, physically, what would you do to recover?

And we all laughed quietly to ourselves.

But come on. We know the answer to this one. We'd say, "REST."

Now, I know that sometimes life circumstances make this answer seem almost cruel. I mean, heck, who wouldn't want to rest? But also, if you've been in a stage where you are actively burning out, it means you were probably spinning out without traction.

My car had a burnt-rubber kind of smell for a minute once I got unstuck from the snow. I wonder if that's what our brains in overdrive also do, in their own way of course.

And if we're being super honest, while we may not be able to afford a standstill rest, what if you could drop a few gears down to give your brain a chance to cruise? I'm not saying you make it a new lifestyle or mantra, but you have to give yourself a chance to regulate, reset, and rest.

03/ Recover with reps.

Recovering strength in a muscle comes with rest and reps.

Now, if you wanna do burpees and push-ups to get your creative muscles back on track, go for it. (I have a side tangent I'll save for another day about exercise and creativity.)

But I'm more specifically talking about reps of exercises for creativity. You know...that ancient art we call practicing. Wild stuff.

Reps of exercises for helping creative muscles might seem silly, but all that practicing actually builds strength.

For anyone that's spent quality time in PT, you know the deal. You do the exercises. Stay consistent. Trust the process. And trust the ones giving you the exercises know what they're doing.

Yes, trust is a big theme. Booyah.

04/ Focus on recovering your creative muscles, not getting unstuck.

That might sound weird. But bear with me a second.

Usually, we experience full-blown burnout because we dismissed the early warning signs that we were starting to spin out. (I mean, it's freaky to realize you're not getting anywhere with effort being deployed. So I get the denial. It just doesn't help anything.)

A full-blown burnout crash can have us falling for the myth that we're stuck and there isn't anything we can do about it.

Except what we diagnose as "stuck" usually has to do with a destination, a goal, or a metric. We're not thinking about our creativity in and of itself. We're fixated on where it's getting us (or not getting us).

So, the kind of wonky deal with this myth is that in some ways it is true: When you're burnt out, you're not going to move with the same level of traction or speed you would normally use. And maybe you are too worn out to make progress.

But your creativity, in and of itself, isn't stuck. It just needs a shift.

Making the Shift to Recover

Recovering creative muscles from burnout is a highly personal process, which is what one-on-one coaching is best geared for. But I can still give you some general tips for getting started.

1. Stop: Stop spinning your wheels, whatever that looks like. You know you're not getting anywhere, and you're just damaging what's already worn out.

2. Self-Reflect: How long have you been losing traction? When did it start? Dig into those questions around grief. Note, too, that sometimes old grief resurfaces years later and can look like burnout, or be the inciting event behind burnout. Don't dismiss the possibility of your symptoms being rooted in grieving something, even if you think you should've been "over it" by now.

3. Build in Creative Reps: Once you've assessed what's going on, you need a combo of continued rest and reps to rebuild your muscles. A recommendation is to get your creativity muscle reps in doing something else than you normally do. For example: I tend to write, move shapes around on Adobe Illustrator, etc. My burnout reps usually involve baking, doodling illustrations that don't serve a monetary purpose, or sewing. Part of the deal is your brain needs a break, and it needs to stay in motion, in a low gear. So find ways to do that.

4. See the Process as Formative: When you go through burnout, it can become a fixation to get through it ASAP. And I'm not encouraging you to camp out there for longer than you need to. But if you slow down and really look at the insights you're getting, the new skills you're trying, you'll find there is gold along the path of recovery. My encouragement is simply to expect it. And therefore look for it. Pick it up. And hold onto it. I've been so encouraged by what I've picked up in the middle of a burnout season.

   
   

So there you go. Hope that's encouraging. As always, getting a more personalized touch is where creativity coaching comes in. I'd love to work with you to help you get unstuck. We can swap stories, laugh, and help you get off your pile of snow together.