5 Exercises to Help Creative Individuals Overcome Burnout

“Burnout” often begins with stress, which hinders creative thinking and concentration levels. Whenever faced with stress, many people often look for immediate solutions such as caffeine, alcohol, food... But one of the most effective ways to reduce stress without affecting physical and mental health is It's still meditation.

The state of relaxation during meditation helps the body limit the production of stress hormones such as cortisol, creating a favorable environment to "recharge" creative energy. In the long term, meditation will help you become more in tune with your own thoughts, emotions, and body. With increased personal awareness, you can identify the early signs of “burn out” more quickly and address them before you become too exhausted.

You don't have to go to the mountains to learn meditation, start by sitting still and focusing on your breathing for about 10-20 minutes.

If you're exhausted, the obvious solution is probably to take a few days off to recover physically and mentally. Moving to a new place and a change of scenery will help you escape your daily routine, stimulate your senses and bring a fresh perspective, breaking the monotony in life.

However, we can't always leave everything and rest. Then, try taking more breaks using the Pomodoro method: Focus on working for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. Many creative generations have applied this method to increase productivity and avoid burnout. You can set the time yourself, or use an app specifically designed for this method like Tomato Timer.

Most importantly, don't think you're wasting time while resting, but consider resting as part of your job.

If there's one thing that causes stress, it's sitting around all day. Human ancestors wandered everywhere, hunting and gathering, not for us to waste this body all over one place. Get outside and get active.

Exercising will release pent-up anxiety and stress and stimulate creative thinking, because the body will produce endorphins during this time, while limiting the amount of cortisol, helping to improve the mind. significant status. “But where do I have the energy to exercise?” In fact, regular physical activity also helps improve health, build endurance, and thereby be more alert when working.

You also don't need to "try too hard". Physical activity jumping from 0 to 100 in an instant will lead to many harmful consequences. So, start comfortably and happily, according to your interests, like taking a walk in the park, jogging a short distance or light dancing.

Complex and painful emotions are often “neglected”. Many people even work more and live busy lives to avoid facing them. But negative emotions never disappear, but exist in the subconscious and constantly want to escape, leading to stress and exhaustion.

At this time, a diary can be a good tool for you. Write down your feelings, thoughts and ideas so you can understand yourself better and stimulate your creativity without pressure from anyone. Journaling regularly will help you see the things that stress you out, the things that hurt you, or the things that give you the motivation to keep going.

“Burnout” is the result of monotony, of repetitive work over a long period of time. When this happens, we forget why we got into the creative industry.

When you are "stuck" in a project, you can try changing to another job. If you write, try drawing some lines. If you are an artist, try your hand at music. This change helps stimulate the brain, helps you focus and prevents feelings of stagnation.

Besides, you can try collaborating with a new creative resource to gain new perspectives, receive new energy and motivation. No matter the outcome, you will definitely learn many interesting things about the world, people and yourself.