Tired of Creative Burnout? How to Feel Inspired Again
On Burnout, Creativity, and Why You Should Sometimes Just Go Lie in the Grass
Let me just say this up front:
If you are feeling like a crusty piece of burnt toast with a vague desire to set your laptop on fire and yeet it into the ocean, same. Creative burnout is real. Not exaggerated. Not a myth invented by people who ✨just need better time management.✨ It’s very real, very annoying, and extremely capable of making you question every life decision that’s ever led you to open a Google Docs.
And guess what? If you’re in it right now?
You’re not lazy. You’re not washed up.
You’re just fried. Crispy. Emotionally breaded.
Like a little creative mozzarella stick who’s been left under the heat lamp too long.
🧠 Flashback to the Chaos Core Memory
I was one of those teens who’d skip breakfast, not because I was trendy or mysterious, but because I was dangerously malnourished and had priorities—like riding the longest possible bus route to school so I could daydream and write sad stories about fictional people instead of thinking about real responsibilities. This was how Daydreams for Breakfast™ was born.
I carried a notebook everywhere. My hands would cramp. I didn’t care. I’d forget to eat. I didn’t care. I skipped class. Couldn’t care less.
I had friends in film school, so I ditched my accounting and statistics classes to lurk in theirs like a passionate little writing gremlin, absorbing drama and creative chaos like a sponge with boundary issues.
I wrote like I was possessed. Like if I didn’t get the words out, I’d spontaneously combust. Or turn green. Like Shrek.
And I kind of miss that version of me—unhinged, committed, vaguely translucent from lack of nutrients.
But here’s the plot twist:
Now I’m older. I have bills. I have mommy duties. I yearn for someone to give me time out.
And surprise! That constant output? Not sustainable.
Because now I get… what’s the word… buuuurnt (out. Shout out to my girl—Ariel).
Mentally, emotionally, existentially tired.
🥴 Creative Burnout 101: Why You Suddenly Hate Everything You Once Loved
Here’s what they don’t tell you when you’re 17 and convinced you’ll be the next literary prodigy: Doing creative work doesn’t mean you won’t burn out—it means you might actually burn out harder.
Why? Because your identity is all tangled up in it. Your writing, your art, your music—it’s not just what you do, it’s who you are.
So when that engine sputters, when you open your laptop and stare at the blinking cursor like it’s a ticking time bomb that will detonate in your face if you don’t start writing – the spiral is swift and brutal.
You start thinking things like:
- “Maybe I’m not creative anymore.”
- “Maybe I was never that good.”
- “Maybe I should just open a plant shop in a remote village and never speak to anyone again except a cat named Mango.” (I would totally name an orange tabby cat Mango if the Universal Cat Distribution System hands me one.)
Spoiler: you are still creative. You are just exhausted and overstimulated and probably dehydrated. And Mango the cat supports your return to art. But first, you need to sit down. Maybe lie down. Maybe cry while horizontal.
😮💨 How to Not Burn Out Like a Dumpster Fire: Actual Tips From a Former Overachiever Gremlin
Let’s talk strategy. This isn’t about “five productivity hacks to make your muse love you again.” This is about how to be a functioning creative person without emotionally imploding.
🧽 1. Romanticize Boredom (Yes, Again)
You need to get bored. Not like “I guess I’ll scroll Instagram” bored. I mean real, brain-empty, stare-at-a-wall kind of bored. The kind of boredom that makes your brain start connecting weird dots like, “what if anxiety was a talking raccoon?” Or, “The rain drops on the car window look like Hidden Mickeys. I wonder how many I can find before we reach McDonald’s.”
Creativity thrives in the weird liminal space between doing nothing and thinking everything.
So go outside. Sit in silence. Watch a ceiling fan. Think about nothing. Let the ideas sneak back in without your usual performance anxiety.
🪦 2. Stop Trying to Be a Creativity Necromancer
You cannot resurrect your muse by screaming at her through a blank document.
If the vibes are off? Walk away.
Do literally anything else: reorganize your snacks. Pet something. Stare at a wall again. The more you force it, the worse it gets.
I fast from writing for a day or two when I’m burnt out. Not forever. Not in a dramatic “I’m quitting everything” way. Just like, “Hey brain, take a nap. I’ll see you later.” And you know what? My creativity usually comes back unbothered and moisturized like it just got back from a weekend retreat.
🤡 3. Make Something Stupid
If you’ve been trying to write your magnum opus while in a state of nervous collapse… stop. Instead, make something dumb on purpose.
Write a haiku about the crusty patch of skin at the back of your neck. Draw a comic about a sentient tea kettle. Pretend you’re five years old and just discovered glitter glue.
Creativity needs silliness to survive. Not every idea needs to change the world. Sometimes it just needs to be a funky little brain dance.
🚩 Signs You’re Burning Out (in Case You’re in Denial)
- You haven’t enjoyed anything you’ve made in the past month.
- You’re doom-scrolling and calling it “research.”
- Your inner critic is louder than a toddler with a kazoo.
- You’re oscillating between wanting to make a masterpiece and wanting to delete everything you’ve ever made.
- You feel like if you don’t create something soon, you’ll stop existing.
- You feel guilty when you call yourself an artist. AKA Imposter Syndrome has entered the chat
BABE. You are not a productivity robot. You are not your art. You’re allowed to step back and still be valid.
🎤 Final Thoughts from the Burnout Dungeon
The truth is, your creativity isn’t a faucet or a factory or some inner dragon you need to slay every morning. It’s more like… a moody houseplant. A mystical one. Like, you have to talk to it sometimes and give it weird sunlight and let it wilt for a day before it decides to bloom again.
So let it wilt. Let yourself rest.
Because I promise—if it’s truly your calling, it’ll keep calling. Even if you ignore its texts for a while. Even if you ghost it to go take a nap. It’ll be there. Weirdly patient. Slightly chaotic. But always yours. And trust me when I say – I am living proof.
I ignored my calling for 12 years. Look where I still am. 💛
Now go drink some water. Eat a snack. Maybe lie on the floor for a little while.
Art can wait.
🫂 TL;DR for the Crispy Brains
- Burnout is not failure. It’s feedback.
- You need input before you can output.
- Take breaks. Be boring. Do weird stuff.
- Your creativity is not gone—it’s just tired of being treated like a content factory.
- You are still a creative person even when you make nothing.
What’s one tiny, silly, non-productive thing you can do today just for the joy of it? Drop it in the comments so I can all steal your ideas. I mean… be inspired by them. 👀
Leave a comment down below!
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