For the Love of Creative Work

Creatives are stressed, but happy

There’s nothing in the world like being creative, so you can bet that when you read the work of a sex writer, you’re probably reading the work of someone who is satisfied with their profession.

I know I’m certainly one of them.

We may overwork at times. We may be stressed at times. But still, we’re generally happy and love what we do.

And a study in Social Science Research shows this love also extends to other types of creative workers as well.

“There are aspects of creative work that many people enjoy thinking about because they add a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment to our lives.”

Those who work in creative careers have benefits that workers in other jobs may not enjoy — like interesting work projects and the chance to express themselves in unique ways. But there’s also a downside to these jobs, as people in creative fields feel more stress and pressure than other kinds of workers.

Researchers Scott Schieman and Marisa Young surveyed 1,200 American workers to find out the extent to which their jobs required creative work and how much stress they felt because of their jobs. The survey revealed that those with jobs that required creative work activities were more likely to:

• have trouble with work-life balance — which was causing problems in their familial relationships;
• experience job pressures from overwhelming workloads; and
• attend to work-related e-mails, calls, and text messages outside of work hours.

“These stressful elements of creative work detract from what most people generally see as the positive sides of creative job conditions,” said Schieman. “And, these processes reveal the unexpected ways that the work life can cause stress in our lives — stress that is typically associated with higher status job conditions and can sometimes blur the boundaries between work and non-work life.”

“Stressful elements of creative work detract from what most people generally see as the positive sides of creative job conditions.”

Despite these issues, Schieman found that creative workers also have warm feelings about their jobs, unlike many in other fields who generally have negative feelings about the work they do.

“There are aspects of creative work that many people enjoy thinking about because they add a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment to our lives,” Schieman said. “This is quite different from the stressful thoughts about work that keep some of us awake at night: the deadlines you can’t control, someone else’s incompetent work that you need to handle first thing in the morning, or routine work that lacks challenge or feels like a grind.”

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Source:

Do creative work activities create stress? A new study identifies the challenges for the boundaries between work and family. University of Toronto. https://media.utoronto.ca/media-releases/social-sciences-humanities/do-creative-work-activities-create-stress-a-new-study-identifies-the-challenges-for-the-boundaries-between-work-and-family/