On Making Things When You're Tired

There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that lives in the body of a creative person — not burnout, exactly. Just life tired. Dull-edged. Foggy. Still full of ideas, but nothing left in the tank to chase them.

I’ve tried to force things in that state. Pushed through. Set alarms. Made deadlines that made me hate the thing I was making. But the truth is: some seasons are for gathering, not building.

If you're tired, you don't need to produce. You need to notice.

Take notes. Record voice memos. Screenshot colors. Collect scraps. Rest. That’s still part of the work.

You don’t need to fight your tiredness to be an artist. You just need to stay in conversation with it.

And when the energy comes back — and it will — you’ll have a full archive of fragments waiting for you.