We’ve all heard the story before: a bright-eyed creative enters college with dreams of becoming the next Pablo Picasso, Richard Avedon or Oscar Wilde. They practice their craft religiously, picking up as many small gigs and commissions as possible. Sure, the pay isn’t great, and client expectations are a tad unreasonable, but when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life—right? As months pass, something starts changing. The field they once looked at with passion now feels like their prison. Rather than brimming with new ideas, they have to wrack every creative bone in their body to even find the right wording for their invoice. They’ve fallen victim to the common enemy of every creative: burnout.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome that results from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” While the WHO may be specifically talking about workplace burnout, this description can still apply to those in the classrooms, internships or simply working on personal projects as well. With WHO’s definition in mind, we can identify the characteristics of burnout as follows:
- feeling exhausted, unmotivated, or mentally distanced
- feeling unable to successfully or effectively make progress
- feeling negativism or cynicism
While burnout often results in these sets of traits, different types of burnout are caused by different circumstances. In Ali Abdaal’s best-selling book “Feel Good Productivity,” he categorizes burnout into three categories. Firstly, there’s what he calls “overextension burnouts.” This type of burnout is caused by an unsustainable workload characterized by an overloaded schedule. Ryleigh Snow (senior, graphic design), in her time at Andrews University, has repeatedly experienced this kind of burnout. “Multiple projects a week, I'm talking 8-10, really takes it out of me…” she stated. “At semester's end, I usually have a couple weeks of complete burnout.”
With overextension burnout being highly present in many workplaces and universities, how do we go about avoiding it? One of the best strategies to combat overextension burnout is simple to conceptualize yet difficult to incorporate: saying “no” more often. Ashley Janssen, a consultant who helps entrepreneurs reduce burnout, claims that “the road to burnout is paved with hundreds of ill-advised “yeses.” We only have so much time and mental bandwidth, so when presented with the option to take on additional projects, saying “no” can be the best option for both our mental health and long-term success.
“We tend to think we can do everything. It’s a myth,” Abdaal says. “Sustainable productivity means recognizing the limitations on our time.”
Even if a high volume of work must be completed, setting boundaries for how much time is spent on each individual project can prevent additional anxiety. Additionally, some work requires higher levels of polish, whereas other tasks simply need to get done. Differentiating and prioritizing won’t change the fact that we might have, at times, very busy schedules. Instead, it allows us to navigate these busier times with more clarity and less mental exhaustion.
Daysha Crawford (sophomore, photography) noted how by prioritizing and giving herself breaks, she was able to help avoid feeling overwhelmed throughout her time at Andrews.
“I would write down what time I wanted to do each assignment in an order that they needed to be completed and incorporate break times in between,” Daysha said, reflecting on how she manages her workload.
Regardless of how busy we are, one vital step to avoid burnout that Daysha touches on is recognizing that breaks are never optional. A lack of taking meaningful breaks or truly resting is a central issue that ties into the second type of burnout: depletion burnout.
Depletion burnout exists when individuals simply don’t take the time they need to recharge. This recharging isn’t just a quick walk to the fridge to grab a snack or scrolling through Instagram between classes; it's recharging in a way that feeds our souls. When we force ourselves to perpetually “lock in” without allocating meaningful time for breaks, we risk making more mistakes, being less efficient, and falling prey to depletion burnout.
Matthew Alquinta (sophomore, business) described how passionate he was about making music with his band and connecting people through his performances. Despite this, the unrelenting need to perform left him feeling creatively exhausted before transferring from Southern to Andrews. “Leaving Southern and performing every Sabbath for an entire semester, I was super burnt out and felt like I had run out of ideas to bring to the band,” Matthew explained. However, by “taking breaks and branching out to other artistic mediums,” he learned to better counteract and prevent the effects of burnout.
Having projects, hobbies or passions that feel satisfying to work on can be incredibly beneficial in avoiding depletion burnout. Sebastian Dominguez (sophomore, graphic design) talked about how one of the times he felt most creative in life was when he could work on one of his passion projects over the summer.
“During one of these summers, I recreated The Last Supper with my friends and I in place of the disciples,” Sebastian said. “I was super passionate about this project and would work on it almost every day for around [a] month.”
Creatives can forget the importance of finding creative outlets to recharge that aren’t tied to any stakes, classwork or bills. An actor, for example, might try painting in order to take a break and rekindle their creativity. A videographer might enjoy learning to dance simply for fun. Feeding our souls by engaging in meaningful activities, taking walks in nature, spending time being curious, and letting our minds wander can all help prevent burnout as well.
The final type of burnout arises when we don’t pursue projects or work that align, inspire or connect with us. This is called misalignment burnout. This category of burnout is complicated to work though, as many times new creatives can get placed in positions that don't feed their creativity. For example, an artist who wants to help create meaningful graphics for a nonprofit organization would likely start experiencing misalignment burnout if they were forced to sit in an office and do paperwork all day.
Brenna Lyons (senior, fine art and French) chose to become a fine art major because of her love of drawing, enjoyment of painting, and her desire to put out something into the world that she is proud of. When referring to a recent period of burnout in her life, Brenna noted how she was working multiple jobs and wasn’t as engaged creatively with her coursework.
“I didn’t have any studio classes, so I…wasn’t creating,” Brenna said.
Often, there are simply parts of our everyday life that don’t naturally excite us or seem to align with our goals, yet when we’re constantly forced to work on projects that don’t engage with what drives us, the results in mental disengagement and demotivation.
It's also often a lifelong pursuit, discovering what we are truly passionate about, nonetheless learning how to incorporate that passion into our daily lives. By having clearer goals, however, we’re empowered to focus and pursue what matters to us, both short-term and long-term. Every day can be a step towards alignment if we’re intentional about routinely taking inventory. Once we’ve taken inventory, we must then prioritize moving towards goals that resonate with us. We can also learn to reframe and find new value in our current work with these new goals in mind. Experimentation and intentionality are the enemies of misalignment.
With all three types of burnout having been discussed, it's important to realize that rarely is just one type of burnout at play in our lives. Instead, we often have to fight against all three types of burnout in various degrees at various times. These categories simply allow us to better understand why we’re experiencing burnout, and how to best fight against it.
If you’re experiencing burnout, know that you’re not alone. Though we might try to push our minds and bodies like a machine, we simply aren’t designed to constantly be productive. As Michael Gungor, a musician and podcaster, puts it, “burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.” Burning out or feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean you're creatively inept or broken; it just means you’ve got a lot on your plate—that you’re human. By decluttering your schedules, resting in ways that are truly rejuvenating, and pursuing work that aligns with your values, you’re empowered to embrace your humanity rather than trying to run from it.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.