TheColorCubicle

Creativity is the ability to imagine the world through a new lens. Creative work is to find some way of translating those visions into a tangible output that can be valued and consumed by others. From design and performing arts, to the spoken word, grassroots organizing, and all the way to breakthrough advancements in science and technology, creative work is all encompassing. Let’s face it: this is such stuff as deep feeling and thinking and tinkering is made of. Though the work you do is helping to shape a new world, it’s not always sunshine and cloud-free skies. If you’re not careful, you’ll be all burnt out before you’ve even gotten anywhere at all. Here are 5 sneaky pitfalls that keep you from doing your creative work. . . . SUGGESTED READING: When Intentions Go Public Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap? Peter M. Gollwitzer,1,2 Paschal Sheeran,3 Verena Michalski,2 and Andrea E. Seifert2 1 New York University, 2 Universita¨t Konstanz, and 3 University of Sheffield

For the average working-class American, there is no such thing as work-life balance. Not while there’s product to be moved, quotas to be met, customers to be satisfied, and pockets to be filled. If we’ve learned one thing from major businesses turning record profits during the height of a global pandemic, we should know that when it comes to work, the sky is the limit honey. Work encroaches steadily on daily life. So much so that the boundary separating the workplace from the private family home is beginning to seem like a mere suggestion. Here are several reasons why I think the vast majority of us may never truly experience work-life balance.

This is not a story about work like balance, self-care, or quiet quitting. This is about what happens when, frankly, none of those things are working and you’re finally ready to give up. This won’t be a happy, hopeful discussion. And nor will it preach the pros of perpetual positivity. This is what happens when you give of yourself to such a degree that nothing seems to matter.