I like January because it gives me a chance to reflect. Not just on the last year, but on the larger vision I have for my life and the progress I’m making trying to build it.

My 2025 was extreme volatility, with high highs and low lows. And a big part of those lows was burning out creatively.

So, here are some reflections on creative burnout, and some ideas about how you (and I) can avoid it.

There’s no getting around this: having someone else tell you what to do with your time is easier than having to decide for yourself.

At my old job, I had a boss. And he basically set my priorities for me. He gave me goals (often associated with HIS goals… based on the incentives for achieving them), and then I organized my time to achieve those goals.

Most importantly, I didn’t have to decide if the goal was worth achieving. When your boss tells you to do it, you just do it.

When I quit, all of that changed. Suddenly, I was in charge of picking the goals.

And that is a lot harder than it sounds because you’re plagued by the same question: is this goal worth achieving? Is achieving this goal going to help get me what I want?

And no one can answer that for you.

Executing the goal isn’t that hard. What usually keeps me up at night is the anxiety that I’m working on the wrong thing.

Because time is finite. You have only so many creative hours in the day, and you want to spend them maximizing your chances for success. And so you have to allocate your time the best you can.

And it’s not just professionally either. You have to dictate your personal life too. You have to decide when and what to eat, when to exercise, when to relax, when to spend time with friends and family. There’s a real decision fatigue that adds up over time.

The most important thing is first to RELAX mentally. You are NEVER going to allocate your time perfectly. Nor can you be absolutely certain you are working on the right thing.

So give up the struggle and just lower the stakes for yourself. Remember, it’s all good.

And then pick a goal and start towards it.

You can always pivot later, but you will feel so much better once you’ve made a commitment to a goal you think is worth pursuing. Don’t worry if it’s the “perfect” thing you should be doing right now. Just commit.

And once you commit, don’t second-guess it until you’ve given it a solid run.

Next, build a rough schedule each morning for your day. I usually just jot down the 2-3 things I want to get done, then tunnel vision my day around those things. My list looks something like this:

That’s it. You shouldn’t have 20 things going at once. Pick the two or three highest leverage activities, and put them on your daily schedule until they’re done.

Finally, find time to let go mentally. When you work for yourself, there’s no real transition between “work day” and “home time.” You need to build it in for yourself.

Tara and I used to end our day with a walk. At the very least, we’ll try and say: “okay, the work day is over. It’s husband and wife time now.”

It’s easier said than done, but it’s really important. Because your mind needs time away from the grind so it can get some clarity on what’s important and what’s not.

Often, it’s only after a little bit of time away that I come back to something and say: this isn’t worth doing. That’s the kind of clarity you’re looking for.

Thanks for reading.

-Thomas

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