Endless Revisions at Work? How to Protect Your Creative Spark and Prevent Burnout: Learn a quick visualization exercise to handle constant feedback without burnout. This Glass Box Method helps creative professionals separate emotions from work demands and protect their energy.
There is a part of most (dare I say it, all) jobs that comes up often: the endless revisions, changes, and requests to do it again in a different way.
Does this resonate with you? I know it resonates with me, especially when I reflect back on my architecture jobs and the endless revisions that had to be done.
One of the main issues was that there was always a lot of people to please – a lot of different bosses with different opinions.
All these changes can make us feel tired and exhausted, but more importantly, they can make us feel deflated. When you are doing creative work, this can start to dim your creative spark and you start to wonder if you are the problem.
Frustration shows up.
It’s not just about being busy, it's the mental erosion that happens when you’re trapped between your own personal standards and the job demands, and when you're working for someone else and have no tangible ownership or authority.
When you self-identify as a perfectionist, this mental erosion can be even worse.
The constant changes and revisions can start to trigger the “I’m not good enough” story that a lot of us hold in our minds. Holding this thought impacts us and can turn into the beginning of burn out or even chronic stress.
Before your next meeting or email response to a change request give this exercise a try:
Actionable Homework: Creating Space
1. Pause: When feedback triggers frustration, overwhelm, or worry of not being good enough, stop what you are doing. Do not reply to the email or respond to the request. If you are in person, take a deep breath or a sip of water before speaking. Use the Toastmaster’s “stately pause” to your benefit. Even your boss could use the break!
2. Visualize: Spend 20 seconds visualizing a glass box floating out in front of you. Put the triggering email or request into the box and close the lid. Seal it up with your next breath.
3. Translate: Transform the request or complaint into neutral data when you close the lid. Turn it into data to be evaluated, nothing more. Instead of “They think I’m not good enough” or “They think I can’t do my job”… turn it around and state the facts only to yourself. Fact: This is a request for x, y, z.
4. Execute: Answer the request to the best of your ability without self-judgment or blame. Make the change. When you are working for someone else, this can be easier to do because you are being paid for your expertise, not your perfection. When we are self-employed, we can pivot our thinking towards factual business decisions, client preferences and your independent creative power.
5. After-Work Self-Care Ritual: When you are ready to leave the office or turn off the computer at the end of the day, visualize leaving the glass box at the office door or sitting under your desk. Walk away from it physically and mentally.
This exercise can be used in our personal life as well when we are being asked to do something we feel goes against our core values or to just do something we disagree with.
I invite you to give it a try — let me know how it goes!
If work is affecting your well-being, and you are really feeling stuck, undervalued or burnt out and wondering if there’s a better path forward, let’s talk. I offer confidential career-focused coaching and mentoring sessions specifically for busy professionals (especially folks in architecture) navigating corporate environments. Click here to schedule a chat.
Let’s work together to get your energy back.
Your well-being is not negotiable.
Mel Sharpe
Self-Hypnosis Coach
My story
