Well-being Ideas to Avoid Writer Burnout
Every writer, blogger, and professional who deals with language experiences periods when they struggle to create sentences. Ideas get lost and the feeling of frustration comes instead. This is a well-known practice, but the good news is that there are effective ways to avoid it.
With the advice from those who have experienced burnout, it is possible notย only to overcome it, but to avoid it altogether.
First and Foremost: Prevent instead of treat
To write and generate ideas, it is important not to let yourself burn out. There are aspects like health, inspiration, daily schedule, planning, etc. which can prevent you from falling into this trap. It is easier to keep your writing abilities keen instead of trying to treat writers block.
When that has happened, then it is hard to start writing again no matter how hard you try. Keep a few simple principles in mind to avoid an unpleasant and debilitating mental state. Let’s explore some more ideas below.
Health
When writing an exciting story, there is a risk of losing track of time in the day. You can end up sitting weeks next to your laptop and see nothing but a kitchen, a bathroom, or a bed. It impedes not only on your mental, but also your pysical state.
Exercise, walking, jogging, etc. really helps, as well as a regular eight-hours of sleep each night. Instead of thinking that you are losing your creative abilities, go for a walk, talk to people or play some sports and feel the taste of writing again.
Day schedule
It may seem trivial, but next to health problems comes sleep schedule problems. Sitting the whole night at your workplace or in your bed with a laptop can have a negative effect. One sleepless night affects days of productivity.
A person without sleep can do nothing but think about the next opportunity to sleep. Yes, it is possible to write at night and in the day after a sleepless night, but your creative side will not be at optimum level when you are tired and can end up being a waste of time.
Planning
Planning is an important part of the process. It might sound absurd when talking about writing a novel, but how can you be sure that your inspiration will come with the time you have planned for writing? With blogging and copywriting it is simple.
You realize how much time you need for one article and can plan the time of the day which best works for you, and the case is closed. With creative writing it is tricky. You can end up planning the time when you sit with the laptop and do nothing instead of working.
But if procrastination catches you, then schedule the time when you are in your zone for creativity. When you can synchronize this, creative writing will come much easier.
Stimulation
Read articles, stories, be updated with current events in the world. Subscribe to a few channels on YouTube and explore various aspects of interest like technology, development, psychology, etc.
Stimulate your thoughts and find information which resonates with your feelings and makes you feel inspired. Double the effect with researching which will stimulate plenty of views and might be useful for your writing experience.
In other words, educate and develop yourself to generate exciting ideas.
Inspiration
Whether itโs a book or copywriting tasks that you are writing, you need inspiration to express your thoughts. They are not coming from anywhere. Inspiration is something you have to keep in mind. It should be something more than watching a movie or reading a book.
You must feel yourself as if you are the hero of your favorite story. Do something you always wanted to do like ride a horse, travel to Maldives, experience a parachute, or learn to play piano. That will definitely give you experience you could describe in your works.
Your Turn
How are you personally avoiding those nasty burnouts?
Elvis Michael
10/23/2017 @ 10:51 AM
Thanks Frank. The ideas are all simple/approachable, and that’s exactly what makes them so powerful. No need to reinvent the wheel here.
Drawing inspiration from other sources continues to be one of my biggest methods. I have occasionally written some short fiction, and that’s where TV shows and YouTube comes in.
Call me old school, but sometimes I revisit classics like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The X-Files and (yes, really) Tales from the Crypt to get my brain started. These shows were full of standalone stories, many of them a bit silly but still great to inspire just about anyone.
Take care ๐
Elvis
Frank Royall
10/24/2017 @ 06:12 AM
Thanks much Elvis!
You mentioned really great tricks, which could certainly help avoiding a burnout!
To be ohnest, that could work super to me as well – watching Tales from the Crypt to get my brain started ๐
Susan Velez
11/06/2017 @ 06:25 AM
Hi Frank,
Great tips and I agree it’s so easy to get burnt out as a blogger. I personally love writing my content in advance. This makes it easier for me to take time off if I am getting to a point where my body needs it.
I also make it a point to exercise on a regular basis. I think it’s important to take care of your body. Like you said, sitting in front of your computer for long periods of time can lead to healht issues.
I’ve also invested in a standing desk. This has definitely made it easier for me and I love it.
Now I switch between my standing desk and working on my laptop.
Thanks for sharing these tips have a great day ๐
Susan
Vicki_in_Greece
12/17/2017 @ 05:44 AM
Great post. I have burned out mentally and physically from only writing day after day. Month after month. I kept telling myself I’ll stop when I finish 10 more pages, and then “well, I’ll stop when I finish the next 5 pages.” Ugh, I was delusional! I’m bookmarking your post to remind myself to be sure and enjoy life in-balance with my writing.