6 Warning Signs You’re Going To Burnout From Content Creation (And What To Do About It)
I’ll be busy checking my Instagram analytics, I shouted as my wife walked out the door.
Moments later the weekly “Usage” notification popped up on my iPhone showing screen time was up 312%.
The obsession grew so gradually that you’d miss it if you weren’t paying attention.
The more I would post, the more I would check my stats.
Every time I grabbed my phone the first thing I would do was check my followers and the views on my latest post.
Dozens of times per day.
In between calls. On the way to the bathroom. While I microwaved my lunch. While I walked home from work.
Across every platform.
Instagram - Check. TikTok - Check. Facebook - Check. YouTube - Check. LinkedIn - Check. Twitter - Check.
Hungry for the hit of dopamine that would come from seeing a new follower, a comment, or a post getting some traction…
…And crushed by the low of seeing 0 views or a negative comment about how bad my latest video was.
For me?
This is an all-hands-on-deck red alert – “Burnout is coming” – sound the alarm, warning sign.
Recognizing The Warning Signs Of Burnout
As entrepreneurs and content creators, overwork and burnout are often seen as a badge of honor. The trouble is that burnout can result in preventing consistency and left unchecked can become debilitating for some not to mention lead to unhealthy behaviours for others.
Producing content is not something that happens in a silo. Everything else impacts our ability to create content, and the time and energy we put into our businesses affect other areas of our lives. When we surpass our threshold in any area, the resulting effects impact all areas.
Here are a few signs I have learned to recognize burnout for myself, and some ways that you may be able to utilize as a compass indicating things may require a deeper look.
Decreased Motivation: Decreased or a lack of motivation may be a sign you’re approaching burnout. Ideas may have stopped flowing, your passion feels lost, you’re no longer inspired to create content, or maybe you’re procrastinating more than normal, etc.
Lack Of Concentration: This could be linked closely or overlap with decreased motivation. You may find it difficult to complete work the same as you did before, you cannot “get into the zone”, things seem much more difficult when they were once fun and easy, or maybe you’ve got a list of unfinished projects you’ve started but been unable to complete, etc.
Negativity/Mood: Changes in your mood or increasing negativity may be a sign you’re approaching burnout. This can be things such as increased irritability, increased negative self-talk or self-judgment, self-doubt, comparison with others on Instagram, or engaging in activities like checking your stats frequently, etc.
Fatigue/Stress: Fatigue, a reduction in energy, or heightened stress levels can be a sign you’re approaching burnout. This can be a result of doing too much or taking too much on, increased physical, mental, or emotional energy/output, feelings of being overwhelmed with what you’re doing, etc. All of which leads to a decrease in energy or an increase in fatigue.
Difficulty Sleeping: Trouble sleeping is a sign that you may be approaching burnout. This may be tied to fatigue and stress, this could be from racing thoughts or thinking about all the things you should be doing, or we may not know why other than the fact we have started to have trouble sleeping.
Coping: When I find myself in situations or times when fatigue and stress are high, I often find myself seeking energy drinks, caffeine, and sugar (cookies and muffins). This is a very delicate topic and I am not a medical professional but if you find yourself reverting to previous behaviors, bad habits, or unhealthy behaviors it could be a sign that things should be explored.
This is not an all-encompassing list but rather a list of things that I have experienced in my life and in my pursuit of content creation and success in my business.
As I have begun to recognize the earlier warning signs, it has led me to discover the following…
3 Helpful Ways To Keep Burnout At Bay And Maintain Consistency In Content Creation
Simplification: If we’re approaching (or are presently) burnout it requires a re-evaluation of our activities, both in and out of business. We need to simplify and do less in order to keep burnout at bay or to recover. Simplify our content strategy, put new projects on hold, reduce our load, or scale back on certain activities that are pushing us past our thresholds. These are a few examples of how you could begin to simplify and do less.
Rest/Recovery: Rest, recovery, and self-care mean different things to different people. To me, it’s more about recharging the batteries and less about what the activity is. This might be long walks on the beach, spending time playing video games, doing things or spending time with people you love, getting a massage or going for a float, etc. Find things that fill your cup, and incorporate them into your schedule.
Maintain Your Consistency Threshold: We all have a threshold that once we surpass we struggle to maintain our consistency. I encourage you to read my article on The Consistency Threshold for a deeper dive into my theory. As entrepreneurs, we can have a tendency to say yes, want to do more, and get results faster but we must constantly balance that with evaluating if we’re doing too much, finding ways to scale back (simplify), and keeping our motivation high (rest/recovery).
Identify Your Triggers And Your Recovery Plan
It’s important to identify your personal experiences on this journey. As you become aware of what your signs and triggers are, you can become more effective at keeping burnout at bay.
Let’s say you notice yourself falling into comparison as you scroll social media. It might be beneficial to unfollow the people that trigger those feelings. However, over time you will eventually start following more people again. As you become aware of your patterns you can recognize when you’re falling into comparison and know when it’s time to start unfollowing people again.
Over time, work to identify what your signs are, and over time seek to understand the solutions that work best for you. This is a process but it is the foundation to figuring out your unique recovery plan.
A question I often come back to when I feel myself doing too much with content or in business:
“What would it look like if this was easy/easier?”
Or,
“How can I simplify what I’m doing?”
Landon
PS: Here are a couple of other letters you may also like:
The Consistency Threshold
https://landonpoburan.substack.com/p/the-consistency-threshold-pt-1
How To Publish 5 (Or More) Pieces Of Content Every Day
https://landonpoburan.substack.com/p/how-to-publish-5-or-more-pieces-of