5 Tips on How to Avoid Burnout as a Writer

Writing daily for an extended period of time can easily lead to a ‘writer’s burnout’. That happens in particular when you don’t balance your writing habits, and you are pressured and affected by the limited time you have and need to write, or you are behind your projects.

On top of that, you may feel detached and hopeless with your writing jobs; for sure, you are not motivated anymore, or you have writer’s block. How can we avoid burnout as writers, and what should we do if we ever get in this stage?

I quit one of the blogs I had because I was literally burned out to the edge. I had put so much pressure on myself and had so many expectations; by the time that I could not meet those expectations, frustration and hopelessness were overtaking my thoughts. As good and excited I was before, as detached I felt afterward from my writing abilities.

Therefore, learning from my experience and research, I will share with you five main tips on how to avoid burnout as a writer.

A simple schedule, planning, and knowing your expectations can go a long way.

Before, because I had a complex job situation, I had little time for writing. There was no schedule or planning for my writing hours; I was always tired. However, I had high expectations from myself, which I could not reach.

After a long break in writing, I am back, and now on Medium. Ever since I have made myself a simple schedule to wake up each day at 05:00 AM and write for about two hours after my morning coffee.

With my writing abilities, I can expect an article to be finished, proofread, and published (or submitted to pubs) by 07:30. Of course, as this may not always go the same, I always let myself time until 09:00 hours to extend myself in the unfortunate case I am not mentally sharp or hit a writing block.

As a backup plan, I always give myself a bit of time in the afternoon after work, just in case. I don’t put any more pressure on myself, as rushing things is not suitable for my mental health, quickly leading to burnout.

It is also an excellent approach to have the article titles ahead and know what to write the next day. That will help you approximate how long the article should be and how much time you should invest into researching.

Lowering yourself the target barrier to the point you are more comfortable.

Don’t force yourself to write 60 articles a month. Don’t take two weeks' holiday from work with the expectation to write at least four articles a day, every day, during this time.

This will quickly lead to burnout. Why? Because I’ve done it, and I burned myself, in fact, more than once. I learned from my experience.

Now, it is simple to write every morning an article, not too complex that can take too much time if I cannot afford it, but neither too simple to rush things out only to obtain more free time for myself.

Think about long-term writing and success. You won’t get anywhere if you push yourself more than you are capable of doing it. Take baby steps, be your own hero and be supportive to yourself.

Having regular breaks and a day off from writing can help a lot.

A day off should always be off. Whenever it is from work or writing, that day you should relax your brain muscles. But doesn’t this conflict with your schedule of publishing each day an article, at least? Not if you know how to approach this.

Often, at work (as this allows me as well) or when I have some extra time, I can add a bit of mixture and start working on a short article or, in my case, a poem or short fictional story. That would be great to publish on my day off.

Think that you have a week to work something for that day slowly. With no rush and no pressure!

I feel like I would better keep things spicy and keep writing when I am entirely concentrated on it during my writing time. However, don’t do that. Take a few minutes for a quick break each half-hour and stretch yourself, make a coffee or put your head out of the window for some fresh air. That will help a lot more than if you are in full focus mode with your writing.

Don’t lead a monotonic writing style — shake things up and change your scenery.

Writing about the same things over and over causes long-term burnout. Mixing your writing style and articles could benefit from the excitement of writing and avoid burnout.

There are no coffee shops open at 5:00 AM for me to change my scenery. Would you believe me that sometimes I like writing on the beach? I leave the coffee shops for the late morning or afternoon if I have some extra time. I take my laptop and write remotely.

It is an excellent approach to do this instead of always writing in your home as not only you may have more inspiration from the change of environment, but it brings back the excitement of writing?

According to “writetodone”, J.K. Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book in a café shop near her location in Edinburgh. Take this as an example.

You may have to shake things up a bit wherever location or plans you may have, follow your writing schedule, and offer you extra time to complete your projects.

Think about the long-term goals.

I always do. Thinking about how things could turn out in the future, a half year later or a year later, if I remain consistent in writing and how this MAY financially benefits me, is a huge motivation that countereffects burnout.

What is your long-term plan, and why do you write in the first place? Think about that and how to use those thoughts to your advantage.

An honest conclusion.

Burnouts happen to everyone. Just make sure you take a step back and re-evaluate everything and see the main reason for the burnout and how you can countereffect it.

But the best approach is to avoid it in the first place. It is very possible to prevent it, but this depends only on you. You are creating your own success and never forget why you are writing.