For anyone who’s feeling burnt out or struggling with creative block:

1. It’s ok to feel burnt out and it’s ok to struggle
2. Sometimes, feeling burnt out is part of the growing process
3. You can learn a lot about yourself during this phase
4. If you’re struggling, don’t worry, it’s going to be okay

The first step is figure out why you feel burnt out, because there are a lot of different ways it can happen, and you can’t start working on a solution until you figure out the cause of the problem. For some, it may be lack of rest of lack of balance in their life. For others, it might be an overwhelming pressure from themselves or others to perform. It could be that you’re overworked, with too many things on your plate. Maybe there are external influences that are draining your energy, or internal influences causing self doubt.

Lack of rest can originate from several things, like not sleeping enough or not taking care of your body (getting enough exercise and nutrition). Often times, it can also come from not giving the mind enough idle or relaxation time. If you’re not giving yourself down time and you’re constantly driving yourself to be productive, you’re probably not doing enough things to recharge and reset your focus. Some ways that you can counteract this is to sleep, eat healthy foods, do some cardio (get your blood pumping) and get bored. Get off your phone and just let your mind wander without the distraction of screens.

If you’re struggling from the pressure to perform, you or others are probably putting unrealistic expectations onto you. You don’t have to hit a home run every time you go up to swing - that’s just putting too much pressure on you and very quickly leads to perfectionism and the fear of judgement. Some things you can do to combat this are to just do things for yourself and do them poorly. If you’re struggling to write a song, purposely write a bad one just to get something started. Create a video and don’t post it, just get in the habit of doing things for yourself and not others.

There are many more things I have to say about feeling burned out and how to get past it, but instead of typing everything out, I’ll just let you listen to the podcast!