Self-care rituals for artists and entrepreneurs (the unseen cost of creativity)

Burnout isn't just for the exhausted nine-to-fiver. Creative folks, especially the artists among us, know this trap all too well. If you are an artist or any sort of creative person who works professionally - or aspire to be a professional in any creative industry - you probably feel so blessed for the thousand ideas you have in your mind.

The first days, you won't feel tired but just excited! The adrenaline in your body will push you to work harder, until your body will start showing you the first random signs of your tiredeness: a little headache, maybe some pains to your neck, or to your eyes.

What we will soon discover is that those small symptoms are early signs sent by your brain - throughtout your body - to alert you that the brain's energy is diminishing to critical levels.

Like most of us, we ignore those signs to the extreme point that your brain simply refuses to cooperate with you again, leaving you in a burnout state.

Raising again from this low energy level is not easy. Sometimes, it may take one or two resting days, while in more complicated scenarios, it may take months or even years.

MY HOLISTIC APPROACH

These are the daily habits that helped me to recover faster from low energy days.

1. POMODORO TECHNIQUE

Our brain could deeply focus for 25 mins only, so working for more time is not productive as it could seem. Work in focused bursts, usually around 25 minutes, then take a break. It’s like giving your brain small, manageable doses of work followed by a mini-vacation. A quick walk or a breath of fresh air can work wonders during those breaks.

2. DESIGN CAREFULLY YOUR PROJECT - and STICK TO THE PROCESS

Design how many elements will be in your illustration or project, in a realistic workflow. Don't overlapp multiple projects until the current one is finished.

3. DRINK WATER REGURARLY

Hydration is another game changer. You might not see the link between creativity and drinking water, but staying hydrated keeps your mind sharp and ideas flowing. Try shooting for at least 8 glasses a day. Your brain is mostly water, after all, and keeping it topped up helps fend off fatigue and clears the mental fog.

4.TAKE CARE OF YOUR SLEEPING TIME

From 9 to 11 pm, it would be the perfect time to sleep since more repairing ormons for our body are released during this time of the day. If you cannot sleep so early, at least, try to sleep 8 hours in a day. Half an hour before sleeping, turn off your electrical devices (pc, phone) and do a simple breathing exercise.

5. YOUR ART and BUSINESS DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU EAT - SO DOES YOUR BURNOUT

We all need to drink coffee to give a boost of energy to our brain, and maybe easting 5 o 6 biscuits for coping with stress! But the sad truth is those inflammatory food will lead you faster to burnout, since you will waste more energy to digest food that contains inflammatory ingredients as white sugar or fat. Just reduce the quantity of sugar in your daily food, and you will experience less fatigue, and more clarity!

6.SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS WITH YOUR CLIENTS

Know your limits—if three hours of solid work is your max, plan for that. You don’t want to be caught in the trap of delivering less than your best because you promised too much.

P.S. This is an extract of my latest story on Medium! I wrote it thinking about artists, but I think these principles apply perfectly to our business journey too! :)