While working at my last job at a biggish tech company, my creative output on personal projects plummeted to near zero. I burned all my energy during work hours, and there was nothing left in the tank for my creative interests. Couple that with the comfort of a good paycheck, and it’s easy to see why my creative output was virtually nothing. Even when I had a creative urge, I would run out of steam almost immediately.

As soon as I decided to leave said company to focus on and pursue my own interests, the urge to create things returned almost immediately. Now I feel the urge to blog, produce code, and more. I’m trying to break long enough to heal the burnout, but it’s nice to feel that energy again. Even still, the urge waxes and wanes, indicating some leftover burnout yet to be released.

I’ve noticed this same thing with other creators. They get a job working for someone else, and they also usually stop creating things on their own time.

I mean, this all makes sense. We only have so many hours in a day and only so much energy to burn. But for those with an urge to create, it’s a bad environment when there’s insufficient autonomy, and it’s an opportunity cost I don’t think most of us realize until it’s a done deal.

Opportunity Cost

There are opportunity costs to working for The Man. All the energy used for the corporate job is energy that would otherwise be directed towards our own interests. This energy creates opportunity. It also takes advantage of opportunity. But if the energy is expended at the day job, the opportunities are missed. This is a large cost. For some it might be worth it, for others it won’t be. It’s an assessment and decision we all must make for ourselves.

Creativity Requires Focus

This is not to say that all jobs working for The Man lack creativity. Working for inefficient companies that don’t value focus time are what kills creativity. If you’re a creative and you’re not allowed ample focus time to actually create things, you will be unhappy and you will burn out if you stay too long. You can’t turn creativity on and off like a water faucet. It comes when it comes, and that’s in moments of focus. If your day is sliced up into meetings in the mornings and afternoons, you can forget making the kind of creative progress you’re wired for. Make sure the company truly values focus and creative time and they’re not just blowing smoke up everyone’s asses.

Closing Thoughts

I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing, without being a perfectionist that prevents me from pressing publish, because I could add and polish these thoughts for a while, so I’m not sure how to end this, other than to say: be aware of the tradeoffs of becoming an employee for a big corp that doesn’t value focus time, doesn’t understand how to drive products, and is focused on things that don’t move the needle for their customers. Pay attention to what you’re giving up for the cush gig, and how you feel on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Reassess regularly, and do not ignore exhaustion, annoyances, or other signs of burnout, and don’t get too comfortable with golden handcuffs, because handcuffs are shackles in all the ways. You’re a creator, and creating is what you long to do, and putting yourself in an environment where that isn’t nurtured and respected will stress you more than you realize, and it will probably take at least 2-3 times longer to recover than you estimate.