Designer Survival Skills, Ep. 5: The Burnout Buffet

There was a point in my career when I had so many tabs open - mentally and literally - I stopped remembering why I walked into rooms.

I’d jump from stakeholder calls to research reviews, from mockups to Jira tickets, from design critique to onboarding - all while my email screamed in the background and Slack notifications multiplied like tribbles.

And the worst part? I thought this was normal.

That it was a sign of being “in demand.”

That good designers thrive in chaos.

But here’s the truth:

Creative thinking doesn’t live in chaos.

It lives in focus.

Everything changed once I started treating my energy like a resource, not a limitless fuel supply.

I stopped responding to every ping like it was urgent.

I blocked time like it was sacred (and yes, sometimes labeled it “deep work” just to make it sound cooler).

I started saying no more often - and with fewer apologies.

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor.

It’s a signal.

One that too many of us ignore until we’re running on fumes.

So if your brain feels like an open browser with 47 tabs, maybe it’s time to hit refresh - or at least close a few windows.

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Next time: 🦛 powerful opinions, vanishing designs, and the moment I realized my prototype wasn’t just lost - it was sacrificed to the HiPPO.