Battling the Burnout: Creativity and Stress in College

As art students, it seems like being creative is our entire identity. Creating is what we live and breathe for, inside and outside of the classroom. However, there comes a point when we sit at our desks, and no matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to get anything out. It feels like we got lost and can’t find our way back.

While the rest of the world treats creativity as gift, it’s important to internalize that creativity is more than that. Everyone can be creative.

Creativity is a muscle. It’s why we’re at school, to we work hard and train so that it grows strong.

But what happens when we overwork ourselves to the point we don’t function properly anymore? We get injured. Creative burnout is an injury, and we should treat it as such. While some stress factors are beyond our control, it’s important that we recognize what our body is trying to tell us before it reaches its breaking point.

Here are some tips to help prevent reaching burnout and to get yourself back on track:

Take a walk.

Go outside! Enjoy the fresh air! It’s important to look at things other than our computer screens. Walking is a great form of exercise too! Free up your body and your mind will feel great about it too!

Get some sleep.

Sleep deprivation really affects your productivity rate. If you manage to get a full 8 hours of sleep, you will definitely notice a difference in your productivity, creativity, and concentration. Though it is challenging being in college, taking at least a 15-minute power nap can really help boost your productivity for the day!

Eat healthy and make sure you’re drinking enough water.

It’s important that you’re taking care of your body too. Make sure you’re eating healthy and giving your body the nutrients it needs. You are what you eat, after all! If you’re just feeding your body junk, then you too will feel like junk.

Explore a totally unrelated creative outlet.

The challenging thing about being an artist is that our hobby is our career and our career is our hobby. However, to keep the creative juices flowing, it may help to try out new things like joining workshops, or even rediscovering an old hobby! Trying something completely different may help balance things out and keep yourself in check.

Make a To-Do list and a schedule for yourself.

Listing down what you have to do will help prevent you from feeling too overwhelmed. If you don’t use a planner, small to-do lists will work just fine as well and will help you keep track of your daily tasks.

Remind yourself to take a break and REALLY give yourself one.

Establishing a good working routine and knowing when to rest is so important. We are not made to constantly work like machines and need time to recharge our senses.

However you choose to deal with burnout, the most important thing is to know yourself. Nobody knows better than yourself. Ask yourself: what works for you and what doesn’t? It may be difficult to figure it out on your own, but learning to understand what you need will help you reach your highest creative potential.