Writing is a great outlet to express your creativity and allows you to explore your imagination. However, when you have deadlines to meet and feel like you’re writing day and night, it’s not difficult for burnout to affect you. Author burnout is when you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. While you love to write, during a burnout episode, it can become a real struggle to find the motivation you need to get into the creative space to write. Some common signs of author burnout include a lack of motivation, fatigue, writer’s block, feeling irritable about writing, and more. When burnout hits, writing can often begin feeling more like an obligation than a passion. While author burnout is difficult, avoiding it is key. Below, we discuss how to avoid author burnout and find the balance of getting work done while still finding joy in writing. 

Protect Your Time And Energy By Setting Boundaries 

It’s important that you protect your time and energy by setting boundaries. Boundaries are a great way to protect yourself from burnout. This means setting designated writing times and not working outside of them or cutting into family or rest time. 

Create Realistic Writing Goals

Setting goals is an important way to hit deadlines; however, the goals need to be realistic. When you set unrealistic goals, it’ll only stress you out, and you’ll likely experience burnout. This means that the goal you set will allow you to get work done, but the goal is attainable. You can set a certain number of words or pages you should write each day as your goal. 

Designate Recharge Days

Recharge days are needed to relax and recharge your battery, so when you return to writing, you feel refreshed and ready to complete your next writing goal. During your recharge days, you shouldn’t write. This is your time to do what you can to enjoy your time away from your desk. You could soak up some sunshine, hang out with your family and friends, or even just relax on your couch. 

Take Regular Breaks

While hitting your writing goals is important, so is taking short breaks between writing. Short breaks can reduce the risk of burnout, catch errors you may have missed previously, and prevent writer’s block. If you’re feeling a lack of creativity, sometimes taking a break, going for a short walk, or bouncing off ideas with a loved one could bring clarity and get the creativity to flow again. 

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help During The Process

When you start feeling stuck in the writing process, it can feel frustrating and even isolating. Reaching out for help could be key to avoiding burnout. You have a lot on your plate as an author, and sometimes you may need an extra hand to get tasks done. Between writing and promoting your book, you may not have time to handle both. You may benefit from a social media manager. At Book Brush, we offer full-service social media management, where our team will take over social media for you and maximize your online presence. We’ll help boost your author brand through your social media platforms. We’ll engage with your audience, create content relevant to your voice and brand, and consistently post. Your social media will be one last thing you’ll need to worry about with our team. We’ll free up some of your time so you can do what you do best – write. 

In Conclusion

In conclusion, while author burnout can be discouraging, stressful, and just plain tiring, these tips should hopefully help in avoiding burnout in the first place. Getting help with some of your tasks, like social media management, taking breaks, scheduling recharge days, and having writing goals, will all aid in keeping the creativity flowing while still allowing writing to be enjoyable.