Dealing with burnout & Design Overload

[andrewelmore]

I am currently working on 15 different projects, all in different stages of active development or pre-production, or in some cases, publishing. But my bank account at time of typing this is in the negatives. I just sold a few dozen games and half as many records to pay a single credit card bill. How am I working more than I ever have before and somehow struggling to keep my family on my shoulders more than ever before. I keep asking myself the same question, over and over again. I know the answer, of course. All these projects being in different stages means my ability to get paid is also in different stages. One of these, when it's done, should cover my bills for a whole month. But it's already taken four months longer than it was supposed to, we still have a long way to go, and I don't get paid until the end of it. Some studios/clients pay on a Net 30 rotation, so I just have to wait until the beginning of next month to invoice them. Stuff like that. The stress is compounding chronic pain/fatigue and disability issues, meaning I'm just in much more pain at all times, which makes it that much harder to get anything done. I am in need of multiple surgeries and I straight up just can't get any of them lol. Weather isn't helping things much either, but now I'm basically just whining. Still applying for jobs all the time, still getting ghosted by recruiters and clients, then I wake up one morning to find that Pete Parsons used the money he got from laying me and my friends off to buy a bunch of cars, and they're not even like, tasteful. Point is, all of this stuff stacks up, and the weight is grinding me into the dirt and I feel like a corpse and I don't see a way out of it? I'm doing the most fun and interesting work of my life and it's killing me to death lmao.

Anyway. My problems are not your problems. But I wanted to be open and forthcoming about them because the reality is that shit is _extremely_ tenuous out there for Garphic Dseingers™. And for people in game dev in general, obviously. I am heartened by the growing tidal wave of labor activism in the games industry. We're unionizing all over the place, it rules. But man. I don't know how to make this work! I want to scream but my lungs are full of sand.

TL;DR -- real talk, how do you deal with burnout when you literally do not have the option of taking any kind of break? or rather, how do you even survive as a graphic designer anymore?

[andrewelmore]

Can't tell if the forum's just sleepy or if I posted Nuclear Level Cringe here lol

[breakfastcowl]

Sleepy forum dweller here, no cringe in sight. (Hell, had also thought about posting a burnout thread at one point.) I have no answers, I can only offer some degree of commiseration. Have been in multi-year design/retail burnout... and my 'fight or flight' response at the crisis point back then was to flail away to a different sector *entirely*, ultimately ending up in clock-in/clock-out warehouse level work. Can't say I recommend that as a course of action . Seeing those union activities is heartening. I hope such a wave continues. But it's a far outlook, honestly the work of lifetimes, and the here and now is still so difficult.

[malyzar]

Seconded. No cringe in sight. Just a very sleepy forum!

I'm sorry Andrew! Shit sucks. I don't have any great advice aside from stepping away. No idea what to do when that's not an option.

Uh, rely on the fundamentals? Not every thing has to the best thing yet. Taking a lil pressure off yourself, if at all possible, can help, in lieu of a real break. But I dunno, man. Digging for pearls of wisdom and coming up empty handed, lol.

Sucks to see one of the Greats be devalued and ground down like this. You don't deserve it, obviously.

[andrewelmore]

Thank you all. Sincerely. Though I take issue at "one of the Greats", but I digress, haha.

[Fruitality]

Hey mates,

My apologies I've been an extremely sleepy forum dweller over here. But also I read this thread last week and couldn't quite find the words to respond. (not that I have the right words now, but hey, I'm gonna try)

Andrew, you absolutely are one of the greats. It's awful to read that you've been going through so much. It really is a rough time out there across creative industries in general, plus the current state of the whole fucking world doesn't help.

I also have fallen off graphic design as a career,and a hobby, and an interest in general in recent years which is actually as bit disheartening to type out here (and was party of the reason why I wanted to start this forum). I think that's been caused also by burnout plus a lack of career progression and opportunities, and is probably why I now work in web design instead. Which has been a nice creative change and interesting to learn. And hobby-wise I've found myself really enjoying dabbling with and creating physical games like a multiplayer card game I'm working on, or add-ons and worlds for TTRPGs. However, I have been reading more about graphic design again lately which has been refreshing so maybe my brain just needed a big break and distraction.

But then despite all this, I'm still finding myself dissatisfied with my 9-5 job. So maybe that's just the state of the world at the moment. Burn it all down and start again. It's fucked.

I know nothing here will help at all in your personal situation, and you've probably heard it all before, but I think in one way or another there are similar feelings shared across creative industries at the moment.

Hang in there. You rule.

[andrewelmore]

thanks buddy

[Kai]

I read this post a month ago and also found no cringe but found a deep feeling of uselessness to not have the "the right words"*tm. I can emphasize with your worries as I see them in my partner sadly a lot too and just wish you the best <3 - ghost hug.