Crawling out of Creative Burnout
Steps to recover from the stress cycle.
START (Somewhere, and especially) HERE:
First, Lower your expectations.
Dear, why are you working yourself to burnout? Accept yourself where you are at this moment. What society tells you about productivity, weakens your innate ability to find your own rhythm. You’ve been pressuring yourself to live up to so many standards to count, have you ever stopped to question where high expectations for yourself came from? There’s no guilt in taking time to yourself.
Internalized shame keeps you stuck in a state of self-abandonment — self-sacrificing, worrying to a state of no reserves. Burnt out.
While your “performance” propels our economy and workforce and maintains high levels of “productivity” — we have internalized the belief that we are required to be fuel for a machine. Yikes.
Here’s my very personal take: Institutional Shame &/or Adverse Childhood experiences — “results” in a fawning style trauma response to protect a core identity fear —abandonment+ rejection — we all have the desire to feel accepted by a society or familial structure. Perfectionism might just be a “product” of trauma.
What a heavy weight that is to carry alone. Self-abandonment and self betrayal for acceptance into the norm.
Think about it: Internalizing the feeling of shame keeps you critical of yourself, projecting and judging others based on your individual experience and identity in a collective “society.”
I know we are still connected to this capitalist “machine.” We still have everyday obligations to our relationships, family, our kids, our job — but it’s important to not give everything we have just to please and be seen or as worthy, employable, or accepted by it. You are worthy to feel as you are right now, you are capable of accomplishing anything you put your mind to, you are also allowed to fail. You are also able to be supported by those you love in your journey. You’re a pioneer of your own life, not someone else’s.
If we are to get anywhere beyond where we are right now, we have to acknowledge, accept, and show compassion and love to our current Self. You’ve came a long way, you’re a badass, and it’s okay that you’re feeling the weight of it all. You’re not expected to be perfect. Accept this and you’ll wake up to a whole world of unlearning unhealthy habits that you’ve performed and perfected.
-McKenzie
Journal.
I like journaling because it’s a great way to document the ebbs and flows of my colorful inner world. Jotting down the negative thoughts helps me break them down what fears and insecurities are really going on behind the perfection mask I put on to collect my acceptance and worth from society. — I get to express frustrations, angers, injustices, and sadness I experience in daily life. When you can’t just blow your lid on your co-worker, partner, the narcissist in your life, or your nosy neighbors — just journal. You don’t have to judge what comes out, just keep writing. See how many pages you can fill up with thoughts.
This helps me come back to focus on relationships that I’m positively investing in. Emotions have a big part in informing our behavior. If we don’t have control of them, they will control our mind and our presence in the moment, causing us unnecessary pain and strain in our relationships if left unchecked.
Emotions are wonderful informants. When we journal about our emotional experiences we understand ourselves better and we can begin to heal and recover from emotions that may be suppressed or stuck in our body & mind from past hurts or experiences.
Practice Mindfulness.
According to Mayo Clinic Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
Spending too much time planning, problem-solving, daydreaming, or thinking negative or random thoughts can be draining. It can also make you more likely to experience stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. Practicing mindfulness exercises can help you direct your attention away from this kind of thinking and engage with the world around you.
Do a body scan, examine your thoughts as they come and go. Meditate, listen to a playlist, sit, lay down. This is all a process of grounding yourself to reduce stress & anxiety. Practice breathing exercises to reset your nervous system. Please feel free to reach out if this seems foreign or you have questions — I’m no expert in medicine but I am an expert at a lifetime of learning how to heal myself through different exercises. Now that you can see your thoughts for what they are, you can start to become aware of your thought processes. When we become aware of the ways we talk to ourself we can practice grounding techniques to recover from burnout. Start to redirect the negative self talk. Show yourself some compassion and acceptance. Now, make an intention with/for yourself. Name something you want to focus on everyday, and just focus your attention on one thing at a time.
Get out of your head and into your body.
We don’t have to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorders to see and acknowledge the harmful effects that emotional turmoil, high levels of cortisol, or stress can have on our bodies over time. As a society we’ve been informed to not let emotions affect us, yet given no equipping education or support for the road ahead causing us to deny that we have feelings at all. We create harmful frameworks for our brains — using shame and guilt to deny us from experiencing our life fully. The practice of suppressing emotion is detrimental to our body and opposite of what we need to recover from burnout. BUT HEY, NEWSFLASH, YOU ARE NOT A ROBOT. We need to let all emotions move through our body so we can release them. Emotions inform our body/mind about our limitations or boundaries we should have with ourself or others- we have the opportunity to use that wisdom to create the life we deserve. Some questions to ask yourself when internally examining your emotions/feelings:
What is the emotion?
When/What triggers the emotion?
Where in your body is it present?
What does it feel like?
Draw a picture of the physical properties of it.
The more you can identify and name the feeling physically, the more in tune with your body you will become and you’ll get in the habit of learning more about your feelings, so you can finally get some relief. Don’t worry if this process brings up big feelings as you explore all the complexities of your humanity. You’re on the road to Being the best YOU!
An important factor of stepping out of the stress cycle is trying to identify where the stress is coming from so we can show compassion to ourself and create boundaries with people when we’re bring triggered. This part is scary because it draws up more emotions realizing the toxic patterns you’ve subject yourself to while silencing your own needs. This work is important because you start to uncover traumas and hidden resentments towards things you didn’t know affected your identity and belief system. Now you get to sort it all out.
Ask yourself these questions:
Is there a memory associated with this feeling? What is that memory?
Do you feel safe in the memory? How can you be present in this moment and show compassion to that feeling, then carry yourself to a place of safety and acceptance. There’s space for everyone’s emotions in the room. Past hurts (trauma) can cause misplaced resentment in the moment if left unchecked. It’s okay if this part takes time. There’s no roadmap for the human experience.
When we’re in a state of burnout from stress, we’re operating in survival mode. Be patient with yourself. In this time, our bodies unhealed traumas or adverse experiences can misinform our brains/body reaction to our current environments, especially if our emotions are dis-regulated and our body is in fight/flight/fawn/shutdown. If you don’t feel safe and you are in an otherwise “Safe” current environment, your body may need a break — allow the people who love you to support you and ask for what you need.
Before reacting with resentment in defense or shutting down because you feel vulnerable, walk away. Identify and know your own limits. Try not to react in the moment. This is a boundary for yourself. When you allow your feelings to be present but not imposing on the current situation — it helps to form a compassionate solution and see things for what they are and not what you assumptions tell you. If two or more opposing emotions are dominantly guiding your conversations, there’s probably an adverse solution going to follow.
When you are intentional and present with your needs in mind and compassion in your heart, you have complete control over a positive solution- in relationships, in work, in goals. Nobody can bring you down. You are accepted as you are, in this moment, now what? If you can get out of the habit of operating out of shame, you can really go anywhere a create the life you deserve.
Maintain your Health — Exercise your body & mind through nutrition and physical activity.
Bodies are wonderful things. The body knows how to heal itself when we give ourselves the opportunity. Treat your spacesuit kind. I take walks, do yoga with my daughter (Cosmic Kids, anyone?), take stretch breaks throughout the day and try to get in more fitness that allows my heart to pump more blood and oxygen through my veins. Polyvagal theory is a fun topic to research if you want to dive in to the science of all of this!
Call an old friend or family member.
A window into another person’s life may be the branch that you needed to climb up to see the possibilities. To laugh or cry or simply to catch up — it brings you to a new level of happiness. Connection & remembering memories livens your spirit. You’ll be surprised to know that someone would find delight in that phone call, too.
Keep Resting.
You’re awesome and you deserve rest. You owe it to yourself. Use that fiery passion and drive and share some purpose and vision with yourself to recharge your powerhouse. Remember when I said your body is super smart— well, it can also tell your drive when it needs to shift into park, too. ;- ) When you’re tired, lethargic, overwhelmed, zoned — Take a nap. Find a weighted blanket and cover yourself while reading a book or if you feel in your head — take a jog! Once you get past the uncomfortable feeling of not being productive, try relaxing or doing an activity that is fun. Do something for yourself. Is it a shower that you need right now? A walk? A glass of water? You’ve got this. Own it.
One thing at a time.
When everything feels a little too much — see step 1. Okay, expectations lowered. What do you want to focus on right in this moment? Maybe, you need to plan your day, respond to that email, organize that shelf, like that video, the paths are endless. See your life as a choose-your-own adventure book. Choose one path and commit to it — Be present in the process. Get curious about the ways you do things. Just re-associate your body to doing tasks.
Go to therapy.
I wish mental health was a common priority. Therapy is helpful to observe and reflect on all of the emotions we don’t get time to process daily. You can learn new coping skills, get insight on how to level up your career, become more confident, and find relief from internal/external and physical ailments. Mental health is physical health. I think we’ve accepted that. I just wrote an article about getting into your body when dealing with emotions. So we can accept that processing emotions effectively should be integrated into our physical wellness plan. What I’m saying is, “It’s okay to cry and it’s important that you feel welcome to do so.”
Crying is HEALTHY — So, let those tears out.
Create boundaries.
Once you have gotten into a practice of loving yourself, you start to notice what affects you. You notice certain environments or topics of conversations are too much for you. How do you want to operate and receive love? It feels like a new world to learn. Start expressing your needs with your inner circle or people you share space with — Be kind, yet Be firm.
A boundary is not a line or a divide. It’s your personal invitation to others, complete with a personal map of how to love and respect YOU. You’ve worked hard at understanding yourself, incorporating someone else into your process is a privilege. You are worthy of love beyond measure. Unconditional love.
Make lists, THEN eliminate what doesn’t align with YOUR JOY.
What do you want to focus on today? Focusing on our goals can help us stay in tune with our desires and work toward them in attainable steps. Crossing off things to do celebrates every achievement you’ve already made. You’re awesome. Agendas, Phone notes, Voice recording, excel spreadsheets, windows, whiteboards. Find the space you want to organize your thoughts and get back to planning with new intentions in mind. Develop new workflows or systems for yourself and take it easy on yourself as you try new things.
If shame drives the perfectionist cycle right now, How do you get in the driver’s seat?
Where do you want to go? There’s a world of possibilities.
Start anywhere. What is on the opposite side of fear? Leadership.
When we are present in the process of helping ourselves out, we reverse engineer the solution. Your framework for growth and healing — can now be the road map to others. A helping hand. Be the hero you needed in this phase of life. Helping others is a rewarding way to bring yourself out too.
We build each other up. So once you build yourself back up and start believing in yourself again, let me know how it went. EMBODY YOUR LIGHT. Step up. STEP IN. Start. You’re a resilient badass who overcomes anything you put your mind to. Keep expanding. PEACE.
I’m McKenzie Hanson & I love telling my story and helping others find the voice to share theirs. I create digital marketing content through photography, stop motion, and video. I love drinking coffee & tea, dressing up, thrifting, and all the weird complexities of the human experience. Being a highly sensitive & a deep thinker + feeler helps me understand and observe the world differently. If this article resonates with you, feel free to follow me or read another article here. Interested in working together? Head over to McKenzieHanson.com and reach out! Need a playlist after this article — I got you covered! →Affirm your Truth.
