I’ve been more than a little burnt-out recently. It’s making it very difficult to write, or do the graphic design projects that need to be done. I’m trying to rest – it’s not easy for me to do that – and hopefully I’ll be back up to speed soon. Like… today, because I have stuff to do this morning (and that’s also why you’re getting such a short post) but this afternoon I really must complete one project. Also, do a sinal salute (so helpful of Dorothy Grant to invent that evocative term for suppressing an incoming stress headache!) and respond to an email.
Burnout happens. l don’t think that there is a way to fully avoid it. The remedies for it likely vary from person to person.
Right at the moment I’m contemplating how to get back into the swing of things. Or even if I want to. I go through this periodically, shoving obligations off my plate as fast as I can complete them, saying I don’t want to take on more obligations.. and look, my plate is overflowing again.
I’m having trouble focusing, and my muse is dragging her feet. I’ve been here before. Likely, I’ll be here again. In the meantime, I have LibertyCon looming, and a very complicated road trip home after that. I need to get cracking!
My remedies for burnout usually involve: finishing up projects as quickly as possible, then not saying yes to more. Taking more walks, photographs, and time away from the computer desk. Reading for pleasure, not work. Sometimes, when it’s really bad, that reading is sheer brain candy. Other times, like now, I’m switching between Thomas Sowell’s excellent Conquests and Cultures, and binging through the less-expensive Cadfael ebooks (I am only buying them at $2.99 or less, can’t afford to drip that much cash out on the whole series). That I can do this level of reading means I’m not burnt out too badly.
I’m also trying to spend more time with my family, not sitting at the desk grunting at them from time to time. One of the (many) factors in this particular burnout has been their inability to help around the house, and that’s not a good thing when I’m feeling frustrated, resentful, and totally overwhelmed. Since I know that one of them is not capable of doing more, and the other is reaching the stage of early adulthood where he’s not got time for it, I need to re-evaluate what I am not doing, and how I can make sure what is necessary gets done.
And then there are the dreams. The projects I’ve held close to my heart, wanting to bring into the world fully developed in due time. The things that will take time, precious time, to do. Those can be very hard to give up. Sometimes, though, they will conflict with what other people want of me, so I have to deflate them and pack them away. Maybe later. Maybe not. I spent last week grieving one particular dream that would have interfered with other people’s plans, so it had been popped. Burst dreams hurt.
Burnout hurts. Takes time to heal from it. As frustrated as I am, as much as I want this to be over with, I’m here and I need to take the time to work through it. All the time it takes, darn it.
Mad Genius Club 
6 responses to “Burnt Remedies”
Family first, please. I’ve seen too many people lately that don’t have time for everything, and the family gets shunted which leads to even more problems.
As for the reading, I like your choices. I just had two Sowell books delivered, which are going to sit on the shelf a little while as I have too many other things to do. My mother and I both enjoy Cadfael as well. Unfortunately pretty much all of my pleasure reading has been through audioBooks in the car (Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee series). At work I haven’t had any downtime other than to check out the news and some blog posts, and at home I’m trying to get the yard, garden, and housework done, while my wife directs me on what she “needs” unpacked and put up/stored/thrown. At some point I expect to catch up with stuff and relax, but that might not be until after I retire in another mumble years.
Best of luck
I feel ya, I really do. I burnt and crashed a while back in 2019, then the enshittening happened, and ever since I’ve struggled, but I’m older than you and have rheumatoid arthritis. So burnt out and ongoing helath issues have made me their bitch.
Yet despite all of that, I have written stuff; even completed a new short story, and engaged in my hobbies when I can. Living in London just means I can’t escape easily from the maddening crowd.
Late May. Day Job had a last minute bout of craziness, the flooding (not RedQuarters, thanks be), trying to get stuff published, some medical stuff (thanks, genetics. NOT), and realizing that I only have a total of four uncommitted weeks left before Day Job restarts. And I have SO MUCH I need to get done. Or that I think I need to get done.
It’s not burn out. That’s what loomed back in December-January. This is more … looking up at a movie-tsunami of commitments.
Keeping my hand in while writing, however few words, and hopping from project to project.
Some people may, or may not, find this useful:
Brain Games for Blocked Writers: 81 Tips to Get You Unstuck by Yoon Ha Lee
Family is important, but so are your dreams. The young adult will quickly turn into an independent adult . . . and then you can dust off those dreams and see if they’ve grown up into something possible.