40 Days of Art: How to Cope with Burnout
Apr. 19th, 2011 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinIn a previous entry I mentioned the phenomenon of burnout, and how a professional must soldier on regardless of whether or not they want to do what they're doing. Burnout is, unfortunately, a standard part of every creative profession I know of; creating takes a lot more mental energy and emotional involvement than just putting numbers in boxes, and this can be exhausting. Keep pushing through the exhaustion, and you end up damaging the underlying enthusiasm that kept you going in the first place. Sometimes this leaves you feeling like you've had it, that you can't do this anymore; some people get it so bad that they leave their artistic careers forever and take up forensic accounting or something. Burnouts can range anywhere from 'disinterest' to 'fierce hatred' towards your line of work, and likewise can take varying degrees of effort to overcome. Some are so severe they cannot be overcome. The aim of this post is to keep you from getting to the latter.
There are two important things to remember about burnouts:
1. They are natural
2. They don't have to be permanent
Now, if you're doing this for a living, you can't just throw up your hands and say 'That's it! I can't do any more work, I'm burnt out!' – that is called 'being a temperamental flaky artist,' and they're unlikely to hire you back again. You have to learn to work around, through, and over the burnouts if you're going to make a career of this.
Burnout is not the same as a Crushing Lack of Self-Worth - The two can often go hand-in-hand, as there is nothing for killing the enthusiasm like feeling as though you are rubbish and will never improve. Eventually this feeling wears off, though, and if approached correctly can be fuel for self-improvement. Burnout happens whether you like your drawings or not; you just don't want to do them anymore.
Know Your Limits (and when you are approaching them) - When you are in the midst of an artistic enthusiasm it feels like you can go full speed forever, but sooner or later you'll run out of fuel. The earlier this happens, the sooner you have to start running on sheer willpower, and the more likely you are to reach critical burnout phase well before the project finishes. Once this happens a couple of time, you will know what you are capable of, how much enthusiasm you can dredge up, and therefore how to pace yourself. It's a tricky balancing game, as often it is more efficacious to take advantage of the enthusiasm while you have it – but that's the subject of an upcoming post.
Find a Salve and Apply Frequently - Chances are there is some part of your work process that is essential but unlike the main meat of it – tidying up eraser smudges or stray digital paint strokes, numbering animation, trimming stray threads on a sewing project, etc. Appreciate these moments and savour them; they are like power-naps for your creative juices. Alternately, getting up from your desk and walking around for a few minutes can do wonders. There is a thin (perforated) line between this and procrastination, so use wisely, but it works!
Know What is Poison and Avoid It - Sometimes there is a specific thing that burns you out faster than anything else. It could be something you don't really mind when at the height of enthusiasm, but when you're not carried along by a driving passion it sucks the life out of you. If you feel your enthusiasm start to wane, or you are in a situation which you know is likely to lead to burning out, avoid it as much as you can. For me this is CG animation – prolonged exposure makes me want to throw in my hat on the whole animation business – but I've known people for whom character design or storyboards or cleanup play the same role. You have to be prepared to pay the price for this, especially when it comes down to either doing this thing or not being employed, so it's not something to take lightly, but if it means your survival as an artist it might be worth it. Try to build up your skills in enough other areas that you have something to fall back on.
A Change is as Good as a Rest - If you're burnt out after finishing Project A, try to find a different job to do on Project B. When I was working in TV I was constantly cycling around board revisions, design, and layouts, and that kept me interested and on my toes. It doesn't hurt to acquire enough skills to do several different jobs, either, as they all inform each other, even if you have to spend a few months working in a department you don't like. If you're not a professional, try making your next project as different as possible from the one that came before.
But Sometimes Rest is Best - If you find yourself seriously burnt out, STOP. Do not keep pushing yourself, especially if you are not professionally obliged to do so, or you will be like the little remote-controlled car revving against a wall until its batteries die. You need to recharge! Sometimes there is nothing for it but just to do nothing. Or, at least, not do what you're burnt out on; you still have to buy groceries and stuff obviously. You run the risk of letting some of your skills atrophy, but it's easier to build them back up than to reclaim your passion after a serious burnout.
If you are burnt out to a lesser degree, this can be a good time to do some non-creative study work – going to life drawing, drawing off the screen, etc – it keeps the pencil moving without drawing on any of your depleted creative juices.
THE HARDEST PART of getting back on the horse after a burnout is, well, getting back on the horse, especially if your burnout was coupled with a crippling loss of faith in your own abilities. It's a scary thing! You don't know what will happen when you put pencil back to paper and you're worried less than satisfactory results will send you right back into the dumps. But it has to be done. Sometimes the grace period of the burnout gives your brain the time it needs to sort things out so you properly learn them, and once you get limbered up again you're better than you were before. I've been through this cycle a dozen times and I know I always come out better on the other end, but it's still really really hard to force myself back. It's either that or dropping out entirely, though, and I know I don't want to do that.
There are two important things to remember about burnouts:
1. They are natural
2. They don't have to be permanent
Now, if you're doing this for a living, you can't just throw up your hands and say 'That's it! I can't do any more work, I'm burnt out!' – that is called 'being a temperamental flaky artist,' and they're unlikely to hire you back again. You have to learn to work around, through, and over the burnouts if you're going to make a career of this.
Burnout is not the same as a Crushing Lack of Self-Worth - The two can often go hand-in-hand, as there is nothing for killing the enthusiasm like feeling as though you are rubbish and will never improve. Eventually this feeling wears off, though, and if approached correctly can be fuel for self-improvement. Burnout happens whether you like your drawings or not; you just don't want to do them anymore.
Know Your Limits (and when you are approaching them) - When you are in the midst of an artistic enthusiasm it feels like you can go full speed forever, but sooner or later you'll run out of fuel. The earlier this happens, the sooner you have to start running on sheer willpower, and the more likely you are to reach critical burnout phase well before the project finishes. Once this happens a couple of time, you will know what you are capable of, how much enthusiasm you can dredge up, and therefore how to pace yourself. It's a tricky balancing game, as often it is more efficacious to take advantage of the enthusiasm while you have it – but that's the subject of an upcoming post.
Find a Salve and Apply Frequently - Chances are there is some part of your work process that is essential but unlike the main meat of it – tidying up eraser smudges or stray digital paint strokes, numbering animation, trimming stray threads on a sewing project, etc. Appreciate these moments and savour them; they are like power-naps for your creative juices. Alternately, getting up from your desk and walking around for a few minutes can do wonders. There is a thin (perforated) line between this and procrastination, so use wisely, but it works!
Know What is Poison and Avoid It - Sometimes there is a specific thing that burns you out faster than anything else. It could be something you don't really mind when at the height of enthusiasm, but when you're not carried along by a driving passion it sucks the life out of you. If you feel your enthusiasm start to wane, or you are in a situation which you know is likely to lead to burning out, avoid it as much as you can. For me this is CG animation – prolonged exposure makes me want to throw in my hat on the whole animation business – but I've known people for whom character design or storyboards or cleanup play the same role. You have to be prepared to pay the price for this, especially when it comes down to either doing this thing or not being employed, so it's not something to take lightly, but if it means your survival as an artist it might be worth it. Try to build up your skills in enough other areas that you have something to fall back on.
A Change is as Good as a Rest - If you're burnt out after finishing Project A, try to find a different job to do on Project B. When I was working in TV I was constantly cycling around board revisions, design, and layouts, and that kept me interested and on my toes. It doesn't hurt to acquire enough skills to do several different jobs, either, as they all inform each other, even if you have to spend a few months working in a department you don't like. If you're not a professional, try making your next project as different as possible from the one that came before.
But Sometimes Rest is Best - If you find yourself seriously burnt out, STOP. Do not keep pushing yourself, especially if you are not professionally obliged to do so, or you will be like the little remote-controlled car revving against a wall until its batteries die. You need to recharge! Sometimes there is nothing for it but just to do nothing. Or, at least, not do what you're burnt out on; you still have to buy groceries and stuff obviously. You run the risk of letting some of your skills atrophy, but it's easier to build them back up than to reclaim your passion after a serious burnout.
If you are burnt out to a lesser degree, this can be a good time to do some non-creative study work – going to life drawing, drawing off the screen, etc – it keeps the pencil moving without drawing on any of your depleted creative juices.
THE HARDEST PART of getting back on the horse after a burnout is, well, getting back on the horse, especially if your burnout was coupled with a crippling loss of faith in your own abilities. It's a scary thing! You don't know what will happen when you put pencil back to paper and you're worried less than satisfactory results will send you right back into the dumps. But it has to be done. Sometimes the grace period of the burnout gives your brain the time it needs to sort things out so you properly learn them, and once you get limbered up again you're better than you were before. I've been through this cycle a dozen times and I know I always come out better on the other end, but it's still really really hard to force myself back. It's either that or dropping out entirely, though, and I know I don't want to do that.
