If you are in the constant state of stress, feeling emotional fatigue, insomnia, facing lack of focus all the time, chances are you are officially burned out.
Whether you are a freelance designer or working in a professional web design agency, burnout is epidemic in the IT industry. In fact, one in five motivated employees is at higher risk for burnout. If burn out is not dealt correctly, it can have a negative effect on your job performance, career growth and the quality of websites you create.
Being a designer, you have to increase your creative flair and constantly improve your creative design skills to stay ahead of the game. If you are burned out and looking for some effective tips on how to stay mentally and physically fit to do your best, here are a few easy and proven ways to beat the creative burnout.
Diversify Your Work:
One of the main reasons mostly designers become burnout is the monotonous work for the same project or client. Constantly creating websites for the same client or industry will affect your creativity. To produce quality work, it is important to keep your mind fresh and change things from time to time. If you are working for a web design agency, request your manager to assign you a different project or join another team. If you are a freelancer, outsource your projects and start doing new things. In short, do a variety of projects, as diversifying your work will simply keep you motivated and allow you to try on different things in the web design process.
Take Regular Short Breaks:
Sitting at your desk and looking at the same four walls for long can make you feel uninspired or bored and affect your productivity. But sadly, web designers have to spend a lot of time on their computers. It is advised to set aside time to move away from your work station and take short breaks to refresh your mind, and start working again with new energy levels.
It is not necessary to take a traditional lunch hour break, you can recharge your mind during any time of the day by simply hanging out at a colleague’s workstation or simply take your laptop to an office lobby, cafeteria or any other part of the office. Get in the habit of taking a regular short break and do something that interests you more. Go for a walk, go to the gym, meet a friend for lunch, or read a book. Trust me, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to give your creative mind a little jumpstart that will help you successfully complete a challenging web design project in no time.
Work in Short Spurts:
There is no denying the fact that social media notifications are the biggest distraction that prevent many web designers to complete their project on time. But sometimes checking your Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feed for a while and then getting back to work can help you make more productive. If your mind is overloaded and your attention is over-divided, it is advised to divide your tasks and work in short spurts. It’s far better to work highly focused for a short period of time by taking short breaks, rather than working for long periods of time with partially focused.
Take Part in Challenging Design Projects:
Participating in design projects is an excellent way to earn some extra cash and improve your design skills. Taking a design challenge is an amazing trick to check how creative you are and hone your creative skills. It allows you to create websites outside of your comfort zone, as a lot of participants do the same project at the same time and put their best efforts to produce the best possible results.
Go on Vacations :
Believe it or not, too much work will simply burn you out. To avoid burnout, taking some time off is a great strategy to refresh your mind. Some people take a day off and they feel completely refreshed. While some need a week or month to let their brain rest. If truth be told, vacations are a necessity for a well-balanced and healthy life. It is important to make you more creative and productive at work. In order to design stellar websites, it is important to step away from the computer and go on vacations.
Maintain Your Exercise Routine :
Though it may seem counterintuitive to leave your desk and go to the gym to work out, exercise is critically important to improve your mental and physical health. Therefore, setting aside time for a gym is important as regular exercise can reduce stress levels, increase your productivity, boost memory, and improve your self-confidence. So, join a workplace gym or a local fitness club to stay physically fit and prevent emotional exhaustion that is the main cause of burnout.
Final Thoughts
Pay attention to your health, get more sleep, eat healthy, laugh, and keep yourself hydrated. Don’t stay glued to a computer screen, find time for your loved ones, watch your favorite movie, hang out with friends, and do whatever you like most or inspires you. By doing so, you will surely jumpstart your creativity and create better and awesome website designs for your clients.