If you're finding that your motivation has dipped and exhaustion is creeping up on you, you must take the time to rest and recharge.
But to beat burnout, you have to take action. So, after your (short) rest, get back to work.
I've spoken about the 10 minute rule before on the channel and it's exactly for this reason that you should use it.
You can't go back to the same level of productivity you were at before you burned out, so just start with 10 minutes and go from there.
That's how you'll recover and it's what I'm covering in tomorrow's video, including how to prevent burn out in the first place, so I'll see you there! (5pm BST)
Or you could watch it right now here: www.patreon.com/c/BrinkleyComics
28 - 0
A huge salve against burnout is keeping yourself organised and grounded.
It can be really easy to overwhelm yourself with the mammoth tasks in front of you. And comics can be pretty overwhelming at the best of times.
Ever since I started tracking my MOOD, not just my goals, my stress and anxiety levels have dropped because I feel a lot more in control of things.
I built this system in Notion that I really recommend you check out: brinkleycomics.kit.com/comic-finsher-kit-pro
You can track both your mood and goals, and also link them together to get a better idea of how YOU work, how YOU can tweak your workflow and how YOU can achieve your goals sustainably.
28 - 1
One of the main reasons a lot of creatives burn out is because they intentionally choose not to rest.
And that's because whenever you rest, or take a break, you're trading something for that:
Momentum.
For a lot of comic creators, that trade isn't worth it. But that's short-term thinking because it'll almost always lead to burn out.
So the key is to take more rest periods that are short instead of pushing until your batteries run completely out.
38 - 3
One of the things I've tried to do for ages is to track my goals and progress, regardless of what I'm working on.
But a lot of the time, it just doesn't really work for me and I could never figure out why.
So I started tracking my feelings and linking those to my goals and progress instead and it was exactly what I needed.
If you track your feelings, you start to figure out why a comic session went well or why it didn't go so well.
You start to understand that you're just having a bad drawing day, not that you're a "bad artist".
If journalling hasn't worked for you, or tracking is inconsistent, then try tracking your feelings. I'll explain how and why this works in this week's video, coming out tomorrow.
28 - 0
2 weeks ago, I released a video explaining why I was starting my comic over after spending 1,000 hours on it.
I wrote a blog expanding on that, talking about the fear of never finishing. It's on my Patreon (for free) if you're interested, but here's an excerpt (and here's the link! www.patreon.com/posts/fear-of-never-134844614):
The second realisation was that my restarting the comic can be a positive not just for me as a creative, but for my audience. For you.
Not only can I apply everything I've learned about burnout and project management from the start of a project (as opposed to halfway through), but I can share the progress with you more intimately than before. And I cannot wait to do that.
Yes, it sucks that I'm going to have to wait to show the public the comic I've been talking about for the last 4,000 years, but that's a trade I'm willing to make. It feels like everything up until this point has been an 18 month long dress rehearsal. Now it's time to apply it all.
I've also decided to colour the comic as I go. For those who don't know, my original plan was to ink the entire thing and then go back to colour it. I thought that was a good idea because I'm not great with colour so I wanted to focus on the linework first, but in hindsight it was just me kicking the can down the road.
28 - 2
A lot of people don't know they're burnt out until it's too late.
Which is why I built a free tool so you can check to see if you are burnt out (and what to do about it if you are):
brinkleycomics.kit.com/burnout-recovery-kit
18 - 0
Why did your comic suddenly get worse overnight?
It was going pretty well, then one day you just forget how a pencil works. Why does that happen?
Most of us think it's because we're not good enough or, at least, we're not as good as we thought we were.
But it's not a skill issue, it's an issue with your emotional and mental state.
I'm going to explore this issue more in this week's video (coming out this Saturday) but while you wait, consider which of these are more likely:
1. During your sleep, your skills magically disappeared or got worse somehow
2. You're just having a bad day
Go easy on yourself, because it's always the second one, never the first.
(You can watch the video today if you join me on Patreon at 5pm BST today! www.patreon.com/c/BrinkleyComics)
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How many of you have restarted your comic from the beginning and why?
24 - 13
Tomorrow's video is a little bit different.
I've watched videos on YouTube where the dude uses a whiteboard to write down their points as they talk about them.
It's really simple, but it works.
So I thought I'd give it a try.
Now I may not have their millions of dollars, good looks or charm but I have something they don't have.
A Cintiq and crushing anxiety.
So who's the real winner?
Find out tomorrow.
26 - 0
Do you ever look at your comic panel and think "This doesn't seem right and I don't know why"?
Me too.
It's totally normal but it's also incredibly annoying.
It slows us down and causes us to question our abilities.
If only we had a checklist that we could refer to so we could push past these doubts when creating our panels.
Oh! I've just found one. Maybe this will help: brinkleycomics.kit.com/comic-creator-checklist
And if you get this free checklist, I'll send you emails that'll help you tackle motivation (or a lack thereof) and planning tips to make the entire comic experience much more manageable.
26 - 4
Comics are hard to make.
You will hit a brick wall. You will doubt yourself. You will take breaks.
This is 100% normal. The negativity, frustration and anxiety are part of the process. Instead of seeing them as things stopping you, they are telling you that you are improving.
I create videos to give you the tools to carry on, especially when you feel like giving up. This happens most often when we're deep into a project and comics is my speciality. I literally have a degree in it.
And although my niche is comics, the advice is universal for the majority of creatives and I cover things like:
1. Creating a sustainable schedule to fit around your life
2. How to ignore the voices of doubt that can cripple progress
3. How to set your comic up for success by planning properly
4. Strategies to help you improve faster and fall back in love with creating
I've come close to quitting many times over and the strategies that I talk about are the ones I have used personally.