{"id":9679,"date":"2021-07-21T05:29:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T12:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/?p=9679"},"modified":"2026-06-05T13:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:38:25","slug":"a-complete-guide-to-beating-art-school-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/a-complete-guide-to-beating-art-school-burnout\/","title":{"rendered":"A Complete Guide to Beating Art School Burnout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Header by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artstation.com\/artwork\/XnQwL3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damita Khalida Nurwan on Artstation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nThis is your passion.\u00a0 It\u2019s all you want to do with your life, so much you\u2019re shelling out thousands just to learn to do it better.\u00a0 Maybe you even see it as a labor of love: Your parents and friends are pessimistic about the job prospects, but you\u2019re willing to take that risk just to make it happen: To go to school for art, work hard at it, and push yourself to be the best artist you can be.\n\n...So why don\u2019t you feel like doing it?\n\nAll creatives are familiar with burnout, but it can be uniquely frustrating for art students.\u00a0 Professionals often complain about the disillusionment they feel when they have to turn their passion into a job\u2014and being a student carries all the responsibility with none of the pay.\u00a0 For those with heavy course loads, especially those who have to work other jobs while in school, it can be easy to just crash and start wondering why it\u2019s all worth it.\n\nSo I set out to create a thorough list of things you can do to beat burnout.\u00a0 For this I collaborated with Madeleine Chaffin, an Animation and Visual Effects student at Azusa Pacific University, for some firsthand experience.\u00a0 Previously, she\u2019s worked with us on an article called\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/making-up-lost-time-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Making Up Lost Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/a>, where we featured her stunning freshman-year animated short \u201cBigger Fish.\u201d\n\n<iframe title=\"BIGGER FISH | APU Freshman Animated Film\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S3NuCA3EYC8?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u2014<\/p>\nThere are three basic types of creative burnout.\u00a0 Likely there are more, but I like dividing things into threes:\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Type 1: Lack of ideas<\/h2>\nThis type is where the well runs dry.\u00a0 Where you want to create something original for your project, but still can\u2019t come up with any concepts that aren\u2019t ripoffs, anything with a message, anything that fits.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Grind, yes, but don\u2019t dismiss the importance of inspiration<\/h4>\nHow important is it, exactly?\u00a0 On one end of the spectrum is the camp of working artists who believe it doesn\u2019t matter, that art is just a matter of pure dedication to hours of practice and keeping a routine.\u00a0 On the other end is the stereotypical flighty artist who refuses to touch a pencil unless their inner child is dancing through a field of sunflowers.\n\nMost of us are somewhere between the two: We recognize that a lot of art is tedious hours spent drawing details, but that if we get tired of it, we need outside motivation and ideas to rekindle our fire.\n\nLooking at how other artists have executed similar ideas can not just inspire you, but give you a lot of clues to how to do it yourself.\u00a0 My go-to sources for top-tier art you can search by keyword are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.artstation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Artstation<\/a>, hashtagged drawings on Instagram, and Reddit\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ImaginaryNetwork\/wiki\/networksublist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Imaginary Network<\/a>.\u00a0 As Madeleine puts it:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Going through websites for creatives to see how they execute similar concepts can inspire you, while simultaneously introducing new techniques and styles you could be eager to try out. Immerse yourself in their mindsets!<\/p>\nAlso, I can\u2019t recommend keeping a general folder of your favorite pieces enough.\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-9703\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-1024x530.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"530\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-300x155.jpg 300w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-768x397.jpg 768w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-1080x559.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-980x507.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals-480x248.jpg 480w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Goals.jpg 1183w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>From my own folder titled \u201cGOALS\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re worried about jealousy, teach yourself a more positive line of thinking.\u00a0 Instead of seeing pro artists as untouchable creative gods, or even worse, competition for your future job, see them as humans with the same size brains as you, who once sucked at drawing until they grinded up their skills over the years\u2014as you will someday.\u00a0 Or alternately, people you can borrow elements from without feeling the need to draw exactly how they do.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Plan with the snowflake method<\/h4>\nPlanning out your work before you start can save you a lot of the wasted time and pain that leads to burnout.\u00a0 The snowflake method is probably the way you do art anyway, working from generic and vague to specific.\u00a0 But it helps to methodize it, first brainstorming a ton of ideas, then whittling them down, consolidating them, until you find the ones you\u2019re going to use for your project.\u00a0 This can mean making way more thumbnail sketches than you think you need, while keeping a notebook or Google Doc at hand with written descriptions of all of the things you want to try for this piece; what it needs to convey, steps you\u2019ll need to implement it, and so on.\u00a0 Madeleine:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">If you are on a schedule, plan out some time to just allow yourself to mull over your ideas in your head, and form them without the pressure of getting started creating immediately. Concepts you are satisfied with can take time to form, and rushing the process can be detrimental.<\/p>\nThe more steps you can write down in a concrete form, the more you know what it\u2019ll take to accomplish this project, the better.\u00a0 Just make sure your plan is flexible, focused more on goals than the tiny details of process, so you can change it later.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Juggle multiple projects<\/h4>\nMadeleine:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Say, if you feel burnt out in the middle of working on a big painting, writing or music can be relaxing alternatives to turn to and regain some creative energy. I find it\u2019s often easier to return to the original creative work later. It can also occasionally be helpful to return to something simple and comfortable within your creative subject! Working on something with the mindset that it is for fun, and not a necessity, can ease the mind greatly.<\/p>\nPersonal projects are a useful reminder of why you wanted to improve your art in the first place.\u00a0 It can be validating beyond belief to see your passion project, the one you\u2019ve dreamed of for years, become closer and closer to how you pictured it as you improve from your schoolwork.\n\nBut this takes balance to succeed.\u00a0 Depending on how many projects you take on, it\u2019ll either allow you to constantly switch between projects to minimize gaps in your creative flow, or overwhelm you even more, making you always guilty when you have to neglect one project or the other for weeks.\u00a0 To avoid this, always be mindful of how many you\u2019re taking on, the scope of them\u2014having several projects going that will take years to finish is a bad idea\u2014and make sure that at least one of them is fun.\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Type 2: Mental exhaustion<\/h2>\nMadeleine:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Creative burnout can also appear when you have creative ideas but no energy to properly execute them. Perhaps you just can\u2019t quite imagine what you want your work to look or sound like. Or maybe, you have a perfectionist mindset and feel like you can\u2019t quite achieve what you\u2019re reaching for.<\/p>\n\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Figure out your focus style and work with it<\/h4>\nMuch of nailing your work is about entering flow state\u2014that period of uninterrupted creativity where you might not even be able to explain how you did it after the fact.\n\nHow you get to this state is unique to every person, but generally, there are those who can get right into it, but burn out quicker, and those who have trouble starting upfront, but can keep going much longer.\u00a0 Let\u2019s call them \u201csprint\u201d and \u201cmarathon\u201d focusers.\n\nSprinters can jump straight into a project with both feet, but after a while, they grow distracted and fatigued.\u00a0 For these people, things like Pomodoro timers, things that let them jump straight into work, then stop when they start to get tired, are helpful.\u00a0 For marathoners\u2014my camp\u2014flow state takes longer to achieve, but can last longer once you\u2019re into it.\u00a0 Like getting a semi-truck up to speed on a highway, it takes a period of less focused work before it turns on, but once you\u2019re there, you can keep going until bedtime.\u00a0 For both styles, a lot of people swear by apps that block distracting websites.\n\nFinally, focus isn\u2019t an inborn talent, but a skill.\u00a0 Like any other skill, it can be built up.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not great at it, don\u2019t fret: Just push yourself a little more each time.\u00a0 When you find yourself entering the realm of discomfort, but not quite pain (we\u2019ll get to that) you\u2019re growing.\u00a0 The more practice you get fighting off burnout, the better you\u2019ll get at it.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Embrace shortcuts<\/h4>\nIn his \u201c4 Time-Saving Tips from a Guy Who Spent 13 Years Doing a Comic,\u201d artist Lars Martinson talks about how the insistence on doing everything by hand caused him to pour ten more years of his life than he\u2019d originally anticipated into his graphic novel.\n\n<iframe title=\"4 Time-Saving Tips (from a guy who spent 13 YEARS drawing a comic)\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6BzCDVR-tr8?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\u201cWhen I first started, I wore my inefficient workflow as a badge of pride,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cI equated hard work with artistic integrity \u2026 I saw shortcuts as basically cheating, something only used by work-for-hire hacks on a deadline.\u00a0 True artists, I told myself, toughed it out.\u00a0 I learned the hard way what that kind of stubbornness gets you.\u201d\n\nRemember, the end viewer won\u2019t care about how much you suffered while making the piece.\u00a0 And school, where the consequences for failure are mediocre grades, not lost commissions or being fired, is the best place to learn to suffer less.\u00a0 You should be building a library of visual shorthands and digital shortcuts that will make rendering tricky subjects easier without compromising your vision.\n\nOne of the best aspects of Photoshop\u2014or any art and design program, really\u2014is that there\u2019s never just one way to do anything.\u00a0 So start learning how to make and use actions, scripts, advanced shortcuts, and the countless other small hacks that will save you from having to draw every little detail by hand.\n\n(The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/estore.wacom.com\/en-US\/expresskey-remote-accessory-us-ack411050.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ExpressKey Remote<\/a>\u00a0is great for that, by the way.)\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Don\u2019t lose track of the social side of art<\/h4>\nOne of the main signs of burnout is \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/collegeinfogeek.com\/student-burnout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disengagement from friends and colleagues<\/a>,\u201d so get re-engaged with them.\n\nYou adopt the interests of the people you spend the most time around, and having other motivated artists around will do a lot to push you to draw more.\u00a0 Despite often being a solitary pursuit, sharing art is social, and let\u2019s admit, most artists like to impress people and hear their direct feedback.\n\nAnd when your focus wavers, I can\u2019t overstate the importance of having someone to keep you accountable.\u00a0 Whether that means a designated accountability partner or just having someone around who will check in on you, the feeling of not wanting to disappoint a friend is sometimes a better motivator than even the grade.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Get over self-care guilt<\/h4>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9708\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-510x382.jpg 510w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-1080x810.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-1280x960.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-980x735.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971-480x360.jpg 480w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/daria-minaeva-img-82971.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artstation.com\/artwork\/w6Bg6L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daria Mineva on Artstation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSome people, both in and out of college, glorify swearing off TV and video games, hanging out with friends, parties, and general fun so you can buckle down and put everything into pursuing your dream 24\/7.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, this leads to burnout.\n\nI won\u2019t go into the details of self-care.\u00a0 There are thousands of books and articles on what self-care means and how to practice it, many aimed specifically at students:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/classroommentalhealth.org\/self-care\/student\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u2019s one<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cmhc.utexas.edu\/selfcare.html#:~:text=Self%2Dcare%20refers%20to%20activities,and%20outside%20of%20the%20classroom.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">And another.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/timely.md\/blog\/self-care-tips-for-college-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">And a third.<\/a>\u00a0 And you probably already know what you like to do.\u00a0 But the biggest hurdle when it comes to actually doing it?\u00a0 Overcoming guilt.\u00a0 And I know: When you\u2019re in the thick of your schoolwork, juggling classes and projects, especially when you\u2019re already drowning in work, it can sound like putting the cart before the horse to just take some time off and be unproductive.\n\nLooking through the self-improvement, psychology, and health sections at Barnes &amp; Noble while researching this article, I found hundreds of books on how to work longer, harder, more focused... but nothing on burnout.\u00a0 There were plenty of books on de-stressing, sure, but nothing on overwork.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m reading too much into it, but that seems to speak to the cultural notion that there\u2019s no such thing as too much work.\u00a0 But this is a toxic mentality that will wear you down to a stump.\u00a0 The sooner you can get it out of your head, the better.\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Type 3: Physical strain<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>\"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised.\" \u2014 <\/em>Zapp Brannigan<\/p>\nThis is the most insidious kind of burnout: the kind that affects your body directly.\n\nWhere a lack of creativity can be frustrating, and mental exhaustion can wreck your grades and make you feel like crap, the physical kind can lead to repetitive strain injuries, carpal tunnel, tendonitis, and other physical ailments that might be setting you back more than the cost of your schooling in surgeries later down the line.\u00a0 And malnutrition and sleep deprivation can straight-up kill you, even if not immediately.\n\nThankfully, the ways to fight these are simple:\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Sleep.<\/h4>\nNo matter how much it\u2019s glorified in school and work culture, sleep deprivation is nothing to be proud of.\u00a0 Not only does it, in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.quora.com\/How-many-hours-per-night-generally-does-Jimmy-Wales-sleep-Is-it-less-than-the-average-adult-Ive-always-imagined-that-really-successful-people-simply-dont-need-as-much-sleep-to-remain-alert-and-highly-functioning\/answer\/Jimmy-Wales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the blunt words of Jimmy Wales<\/a>, \u201cmake you stupid,\u201d if you plan on so much as driving, it can be fatal: The book\u00a0<em>U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (And Life)\u00a0<\/em>reports that 67% of undergrads who were in car accidents say they were tired at the time.\n\nSometimes, deadlines or having to balance jobs and school leaves you no choice but to pull all-nighters\u2014and this is the best time in your life to do it, when you can tank the sleep loss without it killing you the next day.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re managing your time well, this should be a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence.\u00a0 And remember that sleep debt is cumulative: It\u2019s easier to miss a day of sleep if you haven\u2019t been running on five hours a night for the last few months.\n\nIf you can\u2019t get a solid 6-8 hours of sleep a night on a schedule, [you can\u2019t overestimate the value of] naps.\u00a0 In fact, sometimes, during crunch time, it\u2019s even easier to sleep in two four-hour stretches a day instead of one eight-hour, when anxiety over your looming deadline is keeping you from sleeping too long.\n\nAnd due to its cumulative nature, sleep debt can also be paid off with more rest.\u00a0 On your days off, sleep in and don\u2019t feel bad about it.\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">Eat.<\/h4>\nAll other things being equal, working long hours on cup noodles will burn you out way faster than on a healthy diet.\n\nI know, when you have a project you\u2019re frantically trying to get in, the last thing you want to do is stop for an hour to root through your cabinets to find what you can combine into a meal, chop stuff, cook stuff\u2014it always takes longer than on the recipe, doesn\u2019t it?\u2014then do the plates and dishes.\u00a0 But instead of letting that put you off it, one of the best things you can do through college and into early adulthood is develop a repertoire of one-pan meals that don\u2019t take much shopping.\u00a0 If you\u2019re an organized person and comfortable eating the same thing several days in a row, try meal prep.\u00a0 And it always helps to have a slow cooker so your food can be making itself while you work.\n\nSide note: For pulling all-nighters specifically,\u00a0<em>U Thrive\u00a0<\/em>suggests \u201cprotein, complex carbs, and a ton of water.\u201d\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\">When something hurts, stop.<\/h4>\nCommon sense, right?\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly the point: Don\u2019t ignore the glaring signals right in front of your face.\u00a0 The \u201cit\u2019s nothing, I can still work\u201d is strong among ambitious people, especially around college-age where you think you\u2019re not old enough to do permanent damage to your body from working.\n\nBut in many cases, pain isn\u2019t \u201cweakness leaving the body,\u201d it\u2019s the body telling you something\u2019s wrong, and if you push through it, you can seriously overexert and injure yourself.\u00a0 Think of it as your\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tvtropes.org\/pmwiki\/pmwiki.php\/Main\/ArmorMeter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shield meter<\/a>: If you keep taking hits after you deplete it, you\u2019re directly burning through your HP.\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deviantart.com\/yuumei\/journal\/PSA-for-Artists-Don-t-make-the-same-mistake-I-did-577426340\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">See this post<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0<em>Fisheye Placebo\u00a0<\/em>artist Wenqing Yanon on why that\u2019s <em>permanently\u00a0<\/em>bad.\u00a0 \u201c[In college,] I drew all the time and didn't think much about it,\u201d she writes.\u00a0 \u201cI would draw until I'm in pain, from sitting too long, from not eating because I was in the flow and didn't want to stop. I would get terrible back pains and even heart palpitations from sitting in the same position drawing for so long.\u201d\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9685\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/tumblr_nypdy9fVM41qe959eo1_5401.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"527\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/tumblr_nypdy9fVM41qe959eo1_5401.jpg 540w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/tumblr_nypdy9fVM41qe959eo1_5401-300x293.jpg 300w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/tumblr_nypdy9fVM41qe959eo1_5401-480x468.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>From Yanon's Deviantart<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cIf it were just ugly nails, I wouldn't really care, but the nails are just the tip of how bad I've been treating my body. Nowadays I try to take it easy and take long breaks in between but the damage that has already been done can't be undone. I can only draw for so many hours in a day before I have to stop or I will get pains from my entire hand, arm, and shoulder.\u201d\n\nSo listen to yourself and take care of your needs as best you can.\u00a0 Far from weakness, it\u2019s ensuring that you\u2019ll stay strong, able to keep up those marathon drawing sessions for the rest of your life.\u00a0 And although it\u2019s often impractical to cater to its every whim, you have to do what you can.\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Finally<\/h2>\nMadeleine:\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Creativity is a powerful tool of the mind, allowing people to pour themselves, their feelings, and their ideas into projects that can inspire others around them, and in turn, spur them to create something of their own. It exercises our brains and acts as an outlet. But just like any other muscle in our bodies, we have limits and cannot overwork them; we have to take care of our minds, and work at a pace that gives us time to regain energy, to make sure we can keep creating.<\/p>\nSo think of burnout as overtraining.\u00a0 The key to pushing yourself without weakening yourself is learning to tell the pain that indicates growth from the type that\u2019s breaking your body.\n\nIn short, work hard, absolutely; but plan so you can work smarter, don\u2019t let go of your social life, keep some personal projects going so you don\u2019t feel like art is strictly a job, and please, eat and sleep every day.\u00a0 And stay inspired.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9683\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"350\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-1080x540.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-1280x640.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-980x490.jpg 980w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header-480x240.jpg 480w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Alternate-Header.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u2014<\/p>\n\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Further reading<\/h2>\n<h5>My other Wacom Community articles on the subject:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/how-to-beat-anxiety-and-get-started-drawing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to Beat Anxiety and Get Started Drawing<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/how-to-take-care-of-yourself-when-working-from-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How to Take Care of Yourself When Working from Home<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/working-from-home-pt-2-productivity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Working from Home, Part II: Productivity<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Books referenced:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Dr. Mike Dow \u2014 The Brain Fog Fix<\/li>\n \t<li>Daniel Lerner &amp; Alan Schlechter \u2014 U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (And Life)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">\u2014<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"post__body\">\n<div class=\"entry editor-content\">\n<h3>About the Authors<\/h3>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1841 size-thumbnail alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/07\/CS_Jones_avatar-150x150.png\" alt=\"CS Jones\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/07\/CS_Jones_avatar-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/07\/CS_Jones_avatar-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/07\/CS_Jones_avatar-480x482.png 480w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2019\/07\/CS_Jones_avatar.png 595w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n\nCS Jones is a writer and illustrator based in the suburbs of Philly, but will be back in the city next month.\u00a0 He didn't go to art school himself, but drew on a lot of his experience freelance writing and illustrating for the general burnout tips.\u00a0 You can see more of his work, including most of his contributions to this blog, at <a href=\"https:\/\/thecsjones.com\/writing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thecsjones.com<\/a>, or follow him at @thecsjones on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thecsjones\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thecsjones?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>.\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"post__tags\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9710 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Madeleine-Profile-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Madeleine-Profile-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2021\/07\/Madeleine-Profile.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/> Madeleine Chaffin, as mentioned, is an Animation and Visual Effects student at Azusa Pacific University in (essentially) Los Angeles, class of 2023.\u00a0 She's already graduated from the California State Summer School for the Arts, also for animation, has been named a California Art Scholar, and won two design contests for the city of Riverside.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2325,2317],"tags":[33,794,1223,1224,619,131,1225,1226,744,29,31,1227],"class_list":["post-9679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-back-to-school","category-digital-drawing-painting","tag-art-school","tag-back-to-school","tag-burnout","tag-class","tag-college","tag-education","tag-exhaustion","tag-fatigue","tag-focus","tag-inspiration","tag-motivation","tag-self-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}