Managing Stress and Making Art

By Dana P. Rowe, PCC, CPCC, CPQC

Many artists and creative professionals find themselves feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and even paralyzed when they cannot meet their work’s mental and physical demands. Stress is a natural part of life, but it can also be detrimental to your health and creativity if not appropriately managed. In this blog post, I will discuss how stress impacts our mental state and our creativity levels and share some tips on managing stress so you can continue being productive despite it.

What is stress?

Stress is all around us every day. Getting caught in traffic, rush hour, dealing with difficult customers at work, screaming children, barking dogs, and demanding bosses; are examples of chronic stress. You know, the daily anxiety or worry one experiences when juggling hectic schedules at home and work. Chronic, a word derived from the Latin Chronos meaning time, refers to the fact that these stressors are ongoing and are related to life responsibilities we all have in common.

In addition to our daily, long-term stress, we also experience one-off events that are much more acute in nature. Getting fired from a job or losing a loved one can be absolutely life-altering and cause what is commonly known as acute stress.

The stress we experience as creative artists would be considered a combination of chronic and acute stress because we are constantly dealing with deadlines, mental blocks, and other stressors that threaten our creativity levels. But on top of those self-imposed stressors, a creative professional may also have to deal with high levels of uncertainty in a competitive field.

Mental Health and Stress

Chronic stress has been linked to various mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. When we experience prolonged periods of stress, our body produces hormones called cortisol which increase blood pressure levels and interfere with memory functions, making it harder for us to focus on complex tasks. So if you’re a creative professional, it’s essential to be aware of how stress can impact your mental health and creativity levels.

And what exactly is mental health? Let’s define mental health as the ability for us to process information, make decisions, solve problems, and have healthy relationships with other people in our lives. Mental disorders and serious illnesses occur when these processes are not working well.

Stress can cause mental disorders because it impacts the neurotransmitters responsible for relaying messages between the brain and other body parts. For example, serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates moods, and cortisol is known as the stress hormone. When we experience prolonged periods of high levels of these hormones in our system, they can disrupt mental health.

Physical Health and Stress

Physical health is also negatively impacted by stress. According to Harvard Medical School, stress can cause cardiovascular disease. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity are all associated with high stress levels in the body leading to adverse health consequences.

Stress in Creative Careers

Our creative work is directly affected by our level of mental health and physical well-being. When our stress levels are too high, our creativity declines because it can be challenging to focus. We might be overwhelmed by mental stress since it can affect our judgment and cause us to experience mental blocks. The mental blocks prevent us from finishing essential tasks on time, which negatively influences the quality of our work and, ultimately, our creative career.

Not All Stress is Bad: Healthy Stress

The psychological side effects of too little stress might also be harmful to us as creative professionals. It’s vital to understand that stress isn’t always negative. Research shows that having the right amount of stress can improve our creativity because it activates us and allows us to push through mental barriers without feeling overwhelmed, an essential component in generating ideas.

The type of stress you feel when you’re enthusiastic is called good stress, or eustress. Your heart rate speeds up, and your hormones rise, but there’s no danger or fear. Whether stress is considered harmful or helpful is dependent on a person’s reaction to what’s going on.

Finding Your Sweet Spot

The right amount of stress can improve performance and health and is especially beneficial for improving brain function. Too much or too little will have negative consequences on both your mood and physical well-being, so you need to find your “sweet spot.”

So, what do you need to manage stress as a creative professional? I’ve put together some research-proven methods to cope with stress and lower your stress level in healthy ways. Try them out and see which ones help you lower stress while also remaining activated and creatively productive.

Important Note

Please be aware that these suggestions for reducing stress and stress management are not meant to provide medical advice or take the place of seeing a mental health professional. Always listen to your body and see a physician if you have serious concerns.

01 Eat Healthy and Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise is an excellent form of stress relief. Recent research shows that regular physical activity can help you to avoid mental stress. It is believed that exercise releases endorphins, which are chemicals in the brain whose feel-good effects work as natural antidepressants and reduce pain sensitivity levels.

Regularly exercising also helps us deal with negative thoughts by increasing serotonin production (which reduces anxiety) and decreasing cortisol release – a hormone associated with increased feelings of stress and depression.

When we want to reduce stress, a healthy diet is also essential. Increased cortisol levels can also cause weight gain and harm our immune system. A balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle will help us feel better overall.

02 Spend Time with Family Members & Close Friends

While stress is inevitable, the way we respond to it says a lot about our personalities. One study found that women release oxytocin while engaging in activities with friends and children, which helps fight off feelings of depression or anxiety during stressful times.

This social support, a phenomenon called “tend-and-befriend,” can be seen as the opposite of what happens when someone experiences a “fight-or-flight” response. In this instinctual response, their bodies activate cortisol production (aka they feel anxious).

Another study showed that people with fewer social connections were more likely to suffer from mental health conditions like depression and anxiety disorders.

While there are many studies on how different genders react differently towards stressors based on biology, one interesting fact is that women may have an advantage in mental health because they are more likely than men to seek social support. As the saying goes, “misery loves company,” – but research shows that having a friend by your side can help you cope with stress and improve your mental outlook, especially during difficult times.

03 Yoga

Yoga has become a popular way for people to relieve stress, exercise, and increase body awareness. While yoga styles vary based on personal preference, the focus is to join your mind with your body through deep breathing and holding body poses.

Yoga has been the object of significant study when it comes to mental health, and the majority of studies have found that yoga may improve mood. Evidence suggests it may even be as effective at treating depression and anxiety as antidepressant drugs are. Yoga’s effects seem related to how this practice affects the nervous system in a way that helps calm stress responses while lowering cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. There are several excellent relaxation techniques accessible to us that are well worth attempting. Yoga is definitely one of them.

04 Mindfulness Practice

The body is a part of the mind. When we feel stress, our breathing becomes shallow, and there’s also tension in our muscles that can lower concentration levels. Mindfulness practices like journaling, meditation, or walking lower this stress response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which increases relaxation.

The mindfulness practice of journaling is an excellent stress management tool. It helps you put your feelings into words, making it easier to calm down and solve the problem causing you anxiety or frustration. When we journal, we also help ourselves see the bigger picture and how our actions affect those around us, both of which can be helpful when thinking about ways to lower stress in life situations that are difficult to manage on their own.

05 Belly Breathing Technique for Stress Reduction

Deep breathing exercises are a great way to reduce stress in your body. This is because when you breathe deeply, the amount of oxygen that enters your bloodstream increases, and it provides relaxation to both mind and body. Studies show it may also help lower blood pressure levels if practiced regularly over time.

This type of deep breathing can be done anywhere without anyone knowing what you’re doing or thinking about while performing them. Breathing techniques make an excellent alternative stress relief technique compared to others like yoga, requiring special equipment or lots of room space.

06 Avoid Excessive Alcohol or Substance Use

When we experience mental or emotional distress, it’s natural for us to self-medicate in unhealthy ways, such as overeating, smoking, and drinking too much alcohol.

These “solutions” to relieve stress can lead to severe heart disease, liver disease, and even cancer. Also, when our bodies release stress hormones like cortisol and catecholamine, the increase in heart rate and blood pressure levels can contribute to massive feelings of anxiety.

Indeed, the occasional drink may momentarily relieve tension and worry, but it’s critical to take the long view to ensure that your drinking habits are healthy. Research shows that excessive drinking may hurt your creativity as well as your health. To keep yourself inspired and productive without being distracted by other factors in life, moderation is key!

07 Affirmations and Positive Self Talk

Talking to yourself might not be something you’re comfortable doing when out in public. After all, it looks a little strange when someone mutters to themselves while waiting in line at Starbucks or strolling down the street. But studies show that affirmations can be a handy technique that has been shown to lower stress levels and increase creativity—in other words, it’s good for your mind and body!

Affirmations are positive statements like “I am happy with myself the way I am!” or “I know how to do this, and I can do it well!”. You could even make up your own affirmation for a personal goal you’d like to achieve—the key is that they need to be positive statements about yourself instead of negative self-talk such as “I am not good enough.”

In one study, Eighty-five study participants were divided into two groups: one was assigned the task of reaffirming their values with positive “I” statements, and the other did not. Cortisol responses to stress for individuals who affirmed their values were significantly lower than those who did nothing to affirm their personal beliefs/value system, which might impact how they felt under pressure.

 

08 Laugh More

A funny thing happened on the way to your mental health and creative productivity: Laughing lowers stress and makes you happier!

Humor has often been used as a coping mechanism for dealing with stress and anxiety. One reason is that it can reduce stress and tension by relaxing your muscles while relieving the physical symptoms of stress, such as increased heart rate or elevated blood pressure.

Studies among people diagnosed with cancer found that those who participated in laughter interventions experienced more stress relief than control groups. The same study showed positive mood and depression scores after both humor exposures relative to their respective baselines.

 

09 Get Plenty of Sleep

Getting a decent night’s sleep and producing creative work are linked inextricably, and getting adequate rest is a powerful stress management tool. To help you fall asleep and stay asleep, experts recommend that you practice good sleep hygiene. This means having healthy sleeping habits such as avoiding caffeine before bedtime or keeping to a regular schedule for going to bed and waking up in the morning.

Sleep experts also suggest taking time every day away from technology, at least one hour before hitting the hay, so your eyes can rest and reset themselves overnight if they feel strained after using electronics throughout the day. Suppose insomnia is an issue where you struggle with falling asleep or staying awake during certain night hours. In that case, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may be needed alongside practicing sound sleep hygiene techniques like these mentioned above.

 

10 Keep a Gratitude List

Expressing gratitude is a great way to relieve stress and anxiety. It focuses on what you have rather than all the things going wrong in your life. You can express gratitude by writing down just five good things that happened today or thinking about someone who did something for you without expecting anything back, then write them a letter thanking them.

What’s Best for You?

We all need to find the techniques that are best for us. Finding ways to cope with stress and avoid overwhelm is an individual journey, but there’s no shortage of research-backed strategies out there. If you can learn how to be better at coping with mental stress before it becomes serious illness, then these tips should help get you started on your way!

So take a moment now and ask yourself which strategy resonated most with you? Which one do you think will work well in your life as a whole? What’s something new about yourself or perhaps some aspect of your personality that came up during this post?

There may not be any right answer, but I hope that asking those questions has helped give clarity into how you can be more creative and productive in your life!