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For highly creative people, and highly productive people, burnout is a reality. Most of the time, burnout hits after a long, multi-month, period of hard dedicated work toward a goal. Without proper rest, or some decent down time, burnout can kill continued productivity. When it hits, it hits, and will slow you down dramatically.
I believe burnout happens to most people not only on a long term project basis, but also weekly. The first step is recognizing it. Burnout can show itself in the form of loss of motivation, an irritable response to simple things, and the feeling of just wanting to give up. You need to develop a level of introspection that will allow you to see yourself in an unbiased manner.
Once you recognize weekly burnout, start to prevent it week-to-week by sticking to your weekly structure. Scheduling your week, and your to-do items, will allow you to space out your work. This is guarantee that the tasks get accomplished, and prevent you from front loading your week with so much work that you burn out by the back half of the week.
Finally, control your controllables. Get sleep. Any sleep, as much as you can. We can’t all make time for 8 hours of sleep. But, make it a priority to get as much as you can. Clean up your diet. A bad diet means bad energy and messed up hormones. Keep it clean so the engine can run smoothly. Finally, give yourself space from the creative process and technology to rest and recover your brain.
For more information on this topic of burnout, recognizing it, and preventing it, check out the full episode of The Stronger Revolution:
