What is Creative Burnout?

Over many years of my career, I had gone from being excited about every opportunity (and seeing everything as an opportunity) to having temper flare-ups where (I now realize) my team members walked on eggshells around me, being resentful of the work I had to do, not having anyone I felt I could ask for help, completely losing my passion for the work, gaining weight, and physically suffering from chronic GI issues and an aching back.  Every day was a bad day.  I was exhausted all the time.  Work had become my entire life, but in an unhappy, overwhelming kind of way where I had no relief from it, no time to myself, no time when I didn’t feel guilty about either working too much or when not working, not getting enough done. 

I started to look down the medical path for relief, particularly around my GI pain.  My mother died of colon cancer, and I was starting to worry.  In the end, after numerous painful and extensive tests that I would need unprintable words to describe, the gastroenterologist said: “you aren’t going to like this, but essentially, your issue is all in your head.”  He pointed to his head and then said: “you need to find a way to manage your stress.  There is nothing else wrong with you.”  Completely pissed off, I stormed out of his office, determined that there was no one around who could help me.

What had happened to me?

I see it as being like the proverbial frog in the pot:  he swims happily around in the water, not noticing that it is getting warmer and warmer until he is frog soup.  I had, over a long time, lost myself in my state of overwhelm, of working harder and harder, of needing to prove myself, and completely neglecting my own needs, including not eating properly, drinking too much to take the edge off and forgoing exercise.  I kept thinking that other people’s needs came before me and my health.

When you're in creative burnout

There are many signs of burn out, including creative burnout anand they occur in stages.  WebMD itemizes the stages as follows:

1. An urgent need to prove yourself and seeking perfectionism

2. Working harder and harder – needing to do everything yourself

3. Neglecting your needs, and thinking stress is normal. No social life.

4. More interpersonal conflicts.  Sleep is interrupted and physical complaints begin.

5. Revision of values – you start to see things differently and seem insensitive to others

6. Denial – bitterness and cynicism are your defaults.  You are impatient, intolerant, angry, your performance suffers and physical discomforts accelerate

7. Withdrawal – dealing with others feels like a burden.  Self-medicating with drugs and alcohol

8. Behavourial changes – apathy, avoiding responsibilities

9. Depersonalization – you lose your sense of identity, see yourself only as a vessel by which work and responsibilities are accomplished.  Life is meaningless.

10. Feeling empty – exhausted, anxious, panicked

11. Despair – self-hatred, depression, suicidal thoughts

12. Total burnout – a mental and emotional collapse, requiring immediate care[i]

This list is difficult for me to read.  I kept checking boxes as my eyes scanned down it.  Looking back to where I was, all those years ago, and being brutally honest with myself, I get all the way down to checking box #11.  If I let myself, I can still feel the despair of some of those times. 

Please don’t let yourself get there.  It is an unpleasant place to be.  If you see yourself anywhere on this list, contact me and let’s talk this through.

Burnout and depression can look very similar, but there is a significant difference.  Burnout is alleviated through rest and changes in mindset.  This is where a coach can be helpful, in supporting you through identifying the changes that you need to make to feel better and to get your mojo back and assisting with accountability.  Depression, on the other hand, is mental illness that must be taken seriously and requires therapeutic intervention.

How can coaching help?

Coaching is not therapy.  When you work with a certified coach, you are working with someone who can support you by listening objectively and attentively.  Those last two words are important, so read them again.  A coach is not a friend or a family member who might have a vested interest in having you choose a particular outcome for a situation.  Think: “oh, don’t upset the apple cart by bringing this up with Mom.  You know how sensitive she is,” and there is the advice that stops you from taking the action that you need to take for your own sake.  A coach, on the other hand, is someone who can simply listen, without judgement and ask you questions to get to the bottom of what you really want.  That is where, as silly as it might sound, the magic starts to happen.  Sadly, the vast majority of people do not have someone in their lives who will simply listen to them.  It is a rare, but oh so important gift.

Working with a coach to overcome burnout would look something like this:

1. Talking about your current situation, and looking at what work and responsibilities you have and what you feel like day to day

2. Clearly identifying where it is you want to be:  what are your aspirations, desires, goals for the future?

3. Identifying your blocks:  what is it that is preventing you from achieving your goals?  What thought pattern do you hang on to that has served you in the past, but is no longer healthy, relevant or necessary?

4. Determining clear action steps to get you moving forward towards your goals

5. Identification of resources and accountability

6. Celebration of forward movement and the many things you have accomplished.

In the middle of each of these rough steps, a good coach will both encourage you to keep moving forward and to dig a little deeper into your thoughts and feelings and will also challenge you to think about things in a different way. 

Working with a coach is not for the feint of heart.  It requires dedication and commitment because change is not easy.  But, when we look at the symptoms of the alternative – burnout with no end in sight – which path do you want to take?

If you are ready to take the road not travelled, email me and we will talk – no obligation, and no pushy sales.  Just an open ear and an open invitation to try something else.  You know what you want in your life.  This is one way to go for it.

If this resonates with you, email me at denise@powersunlimited.coach and let's talk about how to get you unstuck and moving forward.

En route.

[i] WebMd:  Burnout:  Symptoms and Signs