5 Ways to Take Care of Yourself During Burnout

What is Creative Burnout?

When I search “creative burnout” on the internet, I get lists proclaiming, “The Best Ways to Conquer Burnout!” and “How to Get Over Burnout Fast!” and “How to Get Back On Track.”

I’ve noticed a big problem here, and I think it’s because we treat creative burnout like a problem to be solved. Hustle culture tells us to fix it fast, push through, get back to producing. But that mindset is part of what got us here in the first place.

Quite literally, “burnout” signals your fire (your passion and energy) being snuffed out. And if you’re an artist, a business owner, or anyone who makes things for a living, you know how painful that is. You’re disconnected from the part of yourself that creates.

Burnout is mental fatigue, and is a natural response to running too hard for too long.

If you go out on a run and start to feel a little too breathless, what do you do? You stop and catch your breath, or drink some water. Every runner knows that when your body’s screaming, you don’t push harder. You listen, you pace, you rest, you recover. That’s how progress is made.

If you treated that exhaustion like a sickness you had to power through, you'd collapse or get injured. And yet in creative work, we treat burnout like a badge of honor. Why?

The Hamster Wheel of Hustle Culture

We live in a culture that worships productivity, where rest feels like weakness, especially if you're a business owner (and especially if you're a woman business owner). We’ve been taught that rest is lazy and that doing nothing is a failure of ambition.

It’s wild how deeply we’ve normalized working through lunch and staying late as if it’s proof of dedication when study after study shows that intentional breaks actually increase creativity, focus, and productivity.

I think we need to look at what rest actually means. Because the way we’ve been taught to see it as lazy, unproductive, or something to feel guilty about, is backwards. For all intents and purposes, rest is about being intentional with your time. That might look like taking a nap, sure, but it might also look like painting something just for fun, or walking without a podcast playing, or sitting still without needing to “earn” it.

All of us who founded this creative house came from the same place: corporate offices. I still remember how it felt to come home after work, too drained to draw or write or touch anything I actually cared about. That kind of burnout tires you out and strips away your sense of purpose.

So from day one, we knew we had to do things differently for the sake of our work and for the sake of ourselves. If we didn’t protect our energy and build rest into our process, we’d burn out before we ever had a chance to succeed.

We’re not perfect at it. We were raised in hustle culture too. But we’re unlearning it together.

1. Step Outside Your Routine

When we’re feeling stuck, we get out of the loop. Sometimes that means stepping away from the screen and getting some literal fresh air.

-Walks

-Coffee with a friend

-A solo museum day, creative field trip, etc.

Intentional breaks reset our brain chemistry. When you step away, your mind has room to be creative on its own, without you forcing it. There’s a reason we get our best ideas in the shower.

2. Create Low-Stakes Creativity Spaces

-Paint-by-numbers & puzzles (both creative and little mindless)

-Making zines (my personal favorite)

-Baking, gardening, cross-stitching

Playful creativity unlocks freedom.

3. Lean on Community

Burnout thrives in isolation. But when we share what we’re feeling, especially with other creatives, we get perspective, empathy, and encouragement. We don’t try to power through alone.

-Check-ins with creative friends

-Honest convos with each other when someone’s hitting a wall

-Allowing someone to take over a task for you, so when they hit a wall, you help them carry theirs.

Creativity isn’t a solo sport, so don’t let individualist culture trick you into thinking otherwise.

4. Set Micro-Goals & Protect Creative Time

We’re big fans of structured sprints and guarded calendars. Creative work needs breathing room and boundaries.

-1–2 hour “deep work” blocks

-No meetings during peak creative hours

-Saying no to anything that fractures our focus

5. Turn Off & Let Inspiration Come to You

Sometimes the best move is to stop trying altogether. We unplug. Turn off our phones, close the laptops. We let our brains rest like they’re supposed to.

-Sky-watching, device-free

-Quiet mornings with no emails

-Days off (that are actually off)

If you’re burnt out, you haven’t failed.

This is your body and brain doing what they’re designed to do, and that’s to tell you to slow down.

We don’t get it perfect. Work needs to get done to make sure our clients get everything they need. But with these breaks in place, it’s the reason we built this studio the way we did so we’d never have to choose between our creativity and our well-being again. 

That’s the work. That’s the rebellion. And you’re allowed to rest.*