Designers often face situations where their interest in their work fades, previously favorite activities are a burden, and most of their duties are handled automatically. Perhaps daily procrastination is a consequence of emotional burnout.
The creative and professional path of a designer is largely connected with such things as stress, hassle, constant generation of ideas, irregular schedule and incessant work with criticism. An important responsibility of any designer is to make the design of something (website, packaging, product, illustration or layout, etc.) contribute to solving problems for users and potential customers, as well as achieving customer business goals.
Sometimes projects are on fire, and some work needs to be done by staying late or even at night. It will destroy not only your moral but also your physical strength. Work deadlines can also cause stress. The schedule and the ability to control the amount of time for tasks is a great practice, but sometimes it can lead to burnout.
Deadlines are perceived by creative people in different ways, they motivate someone or drive them into stress and upset. It is difficult to make an unambiguous decision because short deadlines motivate or destroy productivity. That all depends on the character and personality of each individual. It is a huge mistake to conclude the value of a designer based on the time he spends on a particular project. The quality of work is not equal to the time spent.
It often happens that clients demand to perform large-scale work in a short time. The situation is also curious when a professional quickly finds an idea or a solution and embodies his plans, and the client is sure that if so quickly, then the work is of poor quality. It is important to prove your value as a professional, according to the acquired experience, skills and abilities, and there is an opportunity to increase speed.
How to avoid such issues?
And now, let’s talk about how to prevent such cases or solve the problem if it does appear.
- Normalize sleep
Due to lack of sleep, the body cannot function normally, and cognitive skills and the ability to make rational decisions decrease. Regular lack of sleep, even for an hour, provokes the release of stress hormones and blocks the appearance of happiness.
- Eliminate or minimize stress sources
It is important to understand what is the source of stress and burnout. If the reason is work, you should seek support within the company or go on vacation to rest, regain strength, emotional and physical stability.
- Take breaks from work
Pauses in the work process make us more productive and resilient to stress. If you distance yourself from work tasks from time to time, it helps you recover faster and leads to increased productivity. Use physical exercises, walks and hobbies that aren’t related to the main activity as a “switch”.
- Look for positive moments
At the end of the working day, try not to focus on the bad but to look for positive moments. For example, how does your work help others? If it does not bring obvious benefits to society, you are, in any case, working for the benefit of the family. Understanding the contribution and significance is an excellent protection against burnout and one of the conditions for happiness.
- Defend the personal boundaries
Don’t be afraid to say “no” if you feel tired. Prioritize your schedule, and avoid multitasking with perfectionism.
How to deal with emotional burnout?
Burnout can be avoided if you know how to take care of yourself:
- What gives you a resource, and what takes it away? Identify the signs by which you understand that you are starting to get tired and experiencing stress. But just knowing is not enough, you need to learn how to apply this knowledge.
- Become a good friend to yourself, and do what you love in your free time. Do not scold for mistakes and failures.
- Love yourself simply for what you are. Many were loved in childhood for something: for grades, prizes, obedience. In adulthood, this experience becomes the cause of self-eating, guilt and shame, which exacerbate burnout.
- Seek help and advice from colleagues, relatives, or a psychologist if you feel that you cannot cope on your own or you just need support.
It’s important to understand that anxiety is a normal condition for any person under stress. You should not be afraid of anxiety, otherwise, you will aggravate the situation. You won’t get anything from short-term stress. But chronic stress can hurt.
In this article, we tried to cover the main points on the emotional burnout topic and hope that it can be useful to someone, help and minimize getting bad emotions from the workflow.
Psss, more exciting topics are coming soon on this platform. Stay tuned!
