Burnout. I would venture to guess that a good number of you reading this are part time photographers, working a day job and shooting gigs on the weekends. Perhaps you’re spending your nights editing away while the soothing sounds of a Netflix drama plays in the background, and each day, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to make the leap to do what you love full time. Except now, it seems like your love for photography is more of a millstone and you are tired. Your photo shoots are becoming mundane, you can’t find it in you to do anything new, and even if you had the energy, the well is dry.

You are burned out and we’ve all been there. Full time photographers experience this all the time too, allowing the weight of the business aspect to swallow up the creative process. For artists, creativity is something to be nurtured and in the following video from Photoshop Week on CreativeLive, photographer Julieanne Kost shares 3 exercises she uses to nurture her creative spark.

[REWIND: THE GREAT ABYSS | FOR ALL OF US WHO STRUGGLE WITH CREATIVITY]

julieanne-kost-creative-live

Thoughts

In another life, I may have been a self-help guru because I love these types of exercises. So many of us flit through life and just go through the motions, complaining about this or that and wondering why life is sucky. Aside from the end of the year when half hearted resolutions may wander into our minds for a few days, few people really contemplate where we are, where we are going and how we are going to get there.

As creatives, it is important for us to be introspective. As Julieanne mentioned, we tend to have many limiting beliefs and self doubts in our abilities. These doubts and fears are creativity killers. Consider doing one of the suggested exercises  and perhaps it will help give you that creative fuel you need to spark an amazing idea!

What are some ways you get yourself out of creative burn out? Comment and let us know below!

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