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I’ve been quiet for a while. I had a lot of things on my plate before I went on vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a few days. Now I’m back to… uh… having even more things on my plate. I could have theoretically skipped the vacation to catch up on work,1 but that would have been a bad idea. Vacations are really important.
This might seem pretty obvious, but you have to put this into perspective. Most of the people I know and work with are either freelance writers (who often have two jobs – their freelance work along with a day job) or professional creatives (who sometimes don’t even notice that they’ve worked a 60 hour week until someone calls them wondering if they died or something). If you’re writing or designing a game or doing illustration, it’s often not because you’re making millions2 of dollars a year, but because it’s something you love doing.
But it builds up. If you’re a writer, for example, odds are that when you’re not writing or doing something else to pay the bills, you’re talking to other writers about writing, or blogging about writing, or reading to learn more about writing, or what have you. In and of itself, that’s not a bad thing at all – it’s a vocation many are passionate about, and many of us enjoy the process. But there is such as thing as too much. Once in a while, you have to take a few days for yourself in order to recharge the batteries.
Many of us see time and energy as a direct commodity and resource – you have a certain amount to spend, and you spend it, and the next day you have the same amount to spend again. But in reality, that’s not true. Many times, you have a little bit less than you did the time before, and putting in the same amount of time and energy day after day gets to be harder and harder. With freelancers, this is often even worse, because often “free time” becomes “a chance to get more work done.” This is a trap, because there’s always more work to be done.
For years, I was on this treadmill, and I burned out pretty hard because of it. I actually thought I was done forever, but I was back in six months. Since then, I’ve tried to make sure I actually take a few days now and then to focus on something I enjoy, or even to take a break entirely.
“Taking a break” takes a lot of forms, however. A chunk of my shorter breaks late last year ended up being the first draft of Marvelous Superheroes. During my trip to Mexico, in which I swore I wouldn’t do anything resembling work, I ended up spending several hours brainstorming ideas for some stories I’ve been debating writing just for fun over the past few years. Another time I took a mental health break, I ended up watching most of the Red Dwarf series.
It all comes down to self-awareness. There’s a line between “lazy” and “burned out,” and I think each person needs to find that line for themselves. For me, I find that if I’m just being lazy, the feeling passes when I write the first few sentences of whatever I’m working on, but if I’m still feeling like gouging my own eyes out after a half hour or so, I’m probably burned out. Taking a day or two (depending on the timeframe of the project) to walk away from it and doing something completely different usually helps me. It’s not a weakness or an excuse – it’s necessary to make sure that when I come back to the project, I’m putting my best work into it.
Yes, you should write ever day. Yes, you should push yourself in a variety of ways. Yes, writing is hard work, and you should be ready to put in the hard work to make it the best you can. But no one can work all of the time, even if the work is incredibly awesome and fulfilling.
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Not much to add, but a great big, “amen.”
I’ve fallen into that ‘I could get work done’ trap recently. I found myself hating my computer monitor. I realized this right around the time I was considering a third monitor to add to the efficiency of my desktop, so I could keep my icons on it, using the other two for active projects.
I’m greatly in need of a vacation. I’m worried that since I have a heavy con season ahead, that I’m just going to work. I need to vent steam.
Sometimes even a day can help. If you can schedule one day to just blow off and play video games or do something you’ve been really looking forward to, that can help a lot.
I don’t if you have kids, but that really makes it difficulty. My time is split three ways, (paying) work, family/kids and everything else. And being a modern Dad, I give 100% to the kids. Which means I’m often burnt out before I get to do any of my hobbies.
I know I should draw and write every day, but many times I just find my brain shutting down and watching crap on TV (or reading, which is good).
No, I don’t have kids. I admit it can be tough, but many writers that I know who do have children often get up early and write in the morning. Even half an hour a day is (in my opinion) better than three and a half hours once a week.
I wish I could do that. I’m up at 6am and get the kids out the door at 7am. Can’t imagine I’m that dedicated to get up at 5.30am.
A while a go I did make sure to do a certain amount of creative work every day, despite tiredness levels. I found though the quality of work was often very weak and it was only when I made a space of a few undisturbed hours that made decent effort.
I also found having time to dwell on subjects I was writing/designing (or coding for) improved the work greatly when I start actually doing it. Sometimes procrastination can be good.
Well, everyone has their own process. If it’s working for you, then that’s the right answer.
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Have fun on your vacation, boss. It sounds like you could use it (and that is not meant with any insinuation or snark). Getting that time off helps; for me, it tends to kill momentum when I get some built. However, burning out is not an acceptable alternative.
Enjoy the hell out of Mexico.
Well, I’m back from vacation now, but thanks. I did have a good time.
Wow, reading comprehension for the win
I have to say, this is one of the reasons why I’m glad to be a Shabbat-observant Jew. Once a week, come hell or high water, whether I want it or not, I have a day off when I can’t do any work at all. Any. Yes, sometimes I find myself brainstorming ideas or working through some concept or other, but even that is fairly low-impact and rarely lasts too long. It’s a day of rest and I use it for that.
That said, I can sympathize with David about needed a vacation. July cannot come fast enough for me; I’ve been on a non-stop treadmill since early last year and the danger of crashing is very real every day, both for me and my wife.
That’s a fascinating perspective. There’s certainly some merit to those beliefs and cultures who set aside one day as truly a day of rest.
Yeah, you’re right.
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