In today’s politically divided landscape, many creative professionals find their inspiration dwindling under the weight of world events. Here’s how to preserve your creative energy when everything around you seems designed to deplete it.

When the World Feels Too Heavy for Creativity

I’ve noticed something happening lately among creative professionals. Our feeds are filled with concerning headlines, heated debates, and constant reminders of division. Meanwhile, we’re expected to continue producing engaging content, innovative ideas, and thoughtful strategies as if operating in a vacuum.

As social media marketer Karenn Castro recently observed on LinkedIn: “Working in social media marketing right now…can feel wrong. Disheartening even? The state of the world is so saddening. But here we are posting and trying to keep the ‘brand alive’.”

Her words came across my LinkedIn feed randomly this week, but resonated really deeply. How do we reconcile our creative responsibilities with the emotional toll of absorbing everything happening around us?

The Empathetic Creative Mind

Research suggests that creative professionals often experience emotions more intensely than the general population. Psychologist Elaine Aron’s work on “highly sensitive people” indicates that many creatives possess a more permeable filter for sensory and emotional information—essentially, we feel things more deeply.

This heightened sensitivity serves our work well when channeled productively but can become overwhelming during times of collective tension. A 2018 study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that people in creative fields show higher rates of anxiety and depression, partly because they process information in a more interconnected, associative manner.

This isn’t just psychological theory—it’s a practical challenge many of us face daily.

Empty Tanks and Social Media Burnout

For social media professionals, the challenge is uniquely complex. After spending hours strategizing, creating, and monitoring content for clients or employers, the thought of maintaining a personal social presence can feel impossible. The creative tank is simply empty.

Castro captures this perfectly: “If you’re finding it hard to be active on your personal socials after managing so many clients accounts, you’re not alone.”

This phenomenon—having nothing left for yourself after giving your creative energy to paid work—is increasingly common. It represents not laziness but a genuine depletion of limited creative resources in an attention economy that demands constant engagement.

Reclaiming Your Creative Spark

Despite these challenges, there are concrete ways to protect and nurture your creativity:

Create a news consumption strategy. Rather than constantly checking headlines, designate specific times to get informed, using trusted sources that provide context without sensationalism. Information matters, but constant exposure rarely helps you or your creativity.

Establish firm boundaries. Creative energy is finite. Schedule specific periods for consuming versus creating content. Your mind needs protected space to generate ideas without constant external input.

Find micro-communities. Connect with like-minded creators who understand your challenges. These connections provide safety valves for frustration and sources of inspiration when yours runs low.

Practice regular perspective shifting. When national events feel overwhelming, focus on local impact or personal growth. When those feel stagnant, zoom out to appreciate historical progress. Adjusting your perspective lens helps maintain balance.

Embrace “productive disconnection.” Schedule regular periods completely offline. Studies show that mental wandering—the kind that happens when we’re not engaged with screens—actually enhances creative thinking and problem-solving.

Reconnect with manual creativity. Activities like drawing, gardening, cooking, or building engage different neural pathways and provide relief from digital exhaustion. These tangible creative outputs can reignite your professional creative energy.

Consider creative cross-training. When one form of creativity feels depleted, switch to another. If writing feels impossible, try visual design. If strategy seems overwhelming, experiment with photography. Different creative muscles can rest while others work.

The Bigger Picture

Remember that creativity has always flourished even—sometimes especially—during challenging times. Throughout history, periods of social and political upheaval have coincided with remarkable creative innovation. Your creative voice matters precisely because it helps make sense of complex experiences.

The weight you feel isn’t weakness; it’s evidence of your connection to the world around you. That connection, when channeled thoughtfully, becomes the source of your most meaningful work.

Your creative spark hasn’t disappeared. It may be temporarily dimmed by the noise around it, but with intentional care, it can burn more brightly than before—not despite the challenges, but informed by them.