Overthinking fixes burnout
Three simple strategies to reignite your creativity
To be fully transparent, I’ve been creatively burnt-out for the last 4 months.
Why is this happening?
How long will this last?
Am I a failure?
These are questions I’d think about more than I’d like to admit.
But I’ve since learned to embrace them—and in turn—have regained some agency over my actions.
So in this post, I’m going to share my top three strategies to fix creative burnout.
Strategy #1: Overthink everything
If you’re looking to stop making progress in your life, I highly recommend overthinking.
You’ll feel like you’re getting work done because your mind will be racing.
But don’t worry, when you come back to reality, you’ll realize that actually no progress was made and that you’ll be in the exact same spot as before.
Some actions of an overthinker include but are not limited to…
Worrying about the future
Stressing about global news
Questioning things out of your control
Basically a summary of the questions I shared earlier.
If that doesn’t solve your burnout, then you’ll need to bring in your pocket pixels (aka smartphones), because they provide a great source of constant dopamine.
Strategy #2: Maximize screen time
“Come with me, as I walk you through a day-in-the-life, as a regular person overcoming burnout” - *generic influencer voice*
Morning
What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed?
If you said go outside and enjoy the sunlight, then you are at-risk of having a productive day.
While you’re out frolicking, there is someone else who just snoozed their alarm for the 1st 2nd 3rd time and is balled up under their bedsheets & scrolling on their phone.
That person is maximizing their screen time because they are so important.
What if somebody texted them?
What if they got a really urgent email?
What if their crush saw their Instagram story?
These are reasonable things that must be checked immediately after waking up.
Because otherwise, the world will move on and you will be left behind.
Afternoon
Okay, now that you’ve started your day scrolling for just 5 10 30 45 minutes, you’re ready begin work.
You get to your office and realize that you can’t be on your phone as much.
This might seem concerning, but your laptop will sub in.
You’ll see emails and messages come through, as notifications ping like chirping birds. They’ll squeal for your attention and you’ll respond instinctively…
…only if it’s important, obviously. After all, you’re important, so how dare non-important people pester you with requests. God forbid they try scheduling a meeting.
But worst case, you can cancel 2 minutes before, say you got busy, and never reschedule.
Night
As you get ready to go to sleep, make sure to set your alarm for the next day.
Think about what time you need to wake up at. Then subtract ~30 minutes so you can account for snoozing.
And since you’re already on your phone, you might as well check your notifications again—because you’re so important.
It was a long day, so it also doesn’t hurt to scroll through social media for 1 2 hours before bed. You’re tired and deserve a reward.
And if you fall asleep watching a video or listening to music, that’s even better.
It shows that you’re really good at maximizing opportunities… in this case, the opportunity to maximize your screen time.
Now, you have an elite thought process and a fresh dose of dopamine.
All you need to do is bring it together.
Strategy #3: Start tomorrow
Just lock in.
But first, you should probably binge some business podcasts and productivity YouTube videos.
When you’re done consuming that content, type your thoughts into ChatGPT and have it spit out an action plan.
It will outline everything you need to do.
So just do it today.
But wait, it was a lot of work, so just start tomorrow.
And if you still feel tired the next day, then just do it the day after.
Okay, but that day is Friday so maybe start the day after that or Monday.
But then work starts again and you’ll get busy.
So start the tomorrow after Monday.
Wait, it’s your best friend’s birthday that week so hold off and do it the tomorrow after that.
Woah, it’s been a few months now, you must have been busy.
It’s okay, you’ll know when you’re ready. Don’t force it.
You have tomorrow.
right?
Okay, I’ll be for real now
I obviously was sharing what not to do.
But over the past few months, that reverse psychology felt like my actual psychology.
I knew what not to do, but I just couldn’t control myself.
I was on the worst kind of autopilot.
One that kept me trapped in my mind and numbed by social media.
From this experience, I learned that it’s so easy to surrender to your feelings.
Like you can just stop.
And nobody is really going to care.
At times, I just wanted to crash out and do nothing.
But the ease of giving up reminded me why I started dreaming.
And being around high-agency friends kept me afloat.
So what next?
I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to do.
But if you’re reading this, it means that I’m back…
…back to creating more than consuming.
Maybe that’s through this blog, a B2B SaaS company, a YouTube channel, or some private journals/videos.
I have no idea.
But as long as I’m creating, I know that everything will be alright.
PS—RIP “Subway rides to write this” metric (iykyk). I moved to Brooklyn in January and have a much shorter commute to work now.
LOL
This was a fun read, thanks Daniel!