By Zoe Jezeph

Dealing with Creative Stress

Welcome to Creative Burnout. A state of complete emotional, physical and mental exhaustion. It drains all energy and leaves you feeling unable to cope with the most simple tasks. Not that you even consider trying, since all interest and motivation is stripped away. 

The chances are it’s bound to hit you sooner or later. Especially as we are fast approaching the end of our journey at SCA (a stress in itself). And when it does happen, ideas don’t flow, creating more stress; which is what cripples you in the first place. 

It’s basically a viscous circle of self destruction given a fancy name. 

After experiencing it for myself, i’ve realised that it’s easy to bypass the techniques we have learned, which could really help reduce the pressure and free up some head space. 

Hopefully some of these techniques might be useful:

Most are pretty simple and maybe overlooked, but important. 

Breathe. 

Just breathe. It’s amazing how long you can hold your breath without trying. 

Break. 

Turn off for a while and do something completely different. 

Meditate. 

It only takes 2 minutes and it’s the easiest technique to skip. 

Play

Do something fun (if you can remember what fun is). Trip someone up or buy a potato gun. 

Laugh

Even if it’s for the wrong reasons. Laughing reduces stress and apparently makes you live longer…

Sleep

Can’t. Function. Without. Sleep. 

This is the biggest lesson learnt. Get enough sleep. End. 

Pick your battles

Figure out what it is that will benefit you. It’s normal to want to tackle everything, but you can end up spreading yourself too thin and will most likely accomplish nothing. 

If all fails, find a cat immediately and stroke it. Bonus if it starts purring. Purring has healing qualities. True story.