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What Burnout Feels Like
151 Plays1 year ago
Burnout feels different for everyone so I thought I could share my experience of burnout as a creator. I think sometimes we hit a hall without even realizing then start pondering what's really going on with us and why nothing doesn't feel the same..
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Transcript
Return to New Episodes
00:00:15
Speaker
Hey guys, so welcome back to Wild and Basic. It's definitely been a minute since I did the newer episodes. I think this past few weeks it's been like archive episodes, which some of them are actually like, I forgot that I even like talked about them, but it's good to show some love to them and
00:00:35
Speaker
find like some new audience to it but I am very happy to make new episodes and come back to this so I honestly wish that like today's topic was more on like a happier note I mean I'm definitely going to try to make it like happier I guess I don't know I just feel like I am in one of those like depressive episodes and sometimes honestly I don't want to make episodes or I don't even want to do
00:01:04
Speaker
or make any content when I'm feeling like that. But I think it's also important to show people the real things that I guess every creator goes through. It's not just rose-colored glasses. There's more to it. There are other things that are going on.
Exploring Burnout
00:01:26
Speaker
And today's topic is burnout.
00:01:32
Speaker
I have definitely talked about this before, but that was probably at least two years ago. I can't speak. I was like, loosed. At least two years ago. So it has been a minute. And I think I learned quite a bit from two years ago versus now. And I don't know, I just feel like there are a few things that I can definitely share from that.
00:02:01
Speaker
Also, if you feel like my voice sounds a little bit different, it's because I got a cold. So that's what my voice sounds like. I hope it doesn't sound as terrible as I feel because I do feel horrible. It's like it goes up and down. Like I feel fine one hour or I feel fine like
00:02:28
Speaker
certain type of the time of the day than the rest of it i just like i want to crawl up into bed and don't do anything uh yeah just very relevant but just letting you guys know it's it's a tough season anyway so i think like last episode that i recorded the video version i talked about travel blues and i did like
00:02:59
Speaker
wanted to be as honest as I can. And this one, I think there's, I mean, there's some correlation to it for sure from traveling because I think one thing I realized more from traveling, at least I had realized before, it's helped me like, I don't know, like find fresh perspective on things overall.
Creative Exhaustion in Content Creation
00:03:23
Speaker
And as a creator, traveling helps a lot in that aspect because I think
00:03:28
Speaker
you get to I don't know like experience new things or sometimes see new things or I don't know like have some fresh new ideas and that kind of connects me to my first point when it comes to burnout is exhaustion and it's about it's more like creative exhaustion this is I'm pretty sure some people experience this depending on
00:03:56
Speaker
I guess like the career that you're at like if you're in marketing or I don't know you're a creative designer or like content creator. There are like so many if you're in a creative field like you're definitely going to experience this but I think as a creative as a content creator you definitely experience this more because I think
00:04:20
Speaker
Like, more and more, sometimes you get to a point and you are like, oh, yeah, like, I have creative ideas and you're doing them, then after a while you're like, I don't know, like, what else is there for me to do? Like, what else is there for me to make? Like, is there anything else there that I haven't talked about or I haven't done?
00:04:47
Speaker
and okay I'm not saying that I am the person that I have done everything I could but I think there's only so much you could do at a capacity as a creator there's obviously if you're a bigger creator you definitely have more flexibility you have staff and like
00:05:10
Speaker
Not just staff, you have even like, you can hire out agencies. It's completely different story. But when you're a small creator, or even in this economy, I know even some bigger creators that has millions of subscribers, they don't even hire out. So there's a lot more pressure on just you. Like you're the only one making your own content. Like it's hard to just be like, how can I be more creative?
00:05:39
Speaker
how can I do more?
Challenges of Sticking to a Niche
00:05:41
Speaker
And that's why sometimes you just stuck at this phase of like, how can I be more creative? Like, how can I make something new? Like, or how can I introduce something that's the same thing, but in a new format? You know, it's like, let's just say you were talking about this new product and it's nothing like extraordinary product, but it's a new product.
00:06:10
Speaker
you're like how can I spend this in a way that I don't know like people get excited about like how can I make this sound so exciting that people want to click on it and people will just want to watch it like people want to
00:06:29
Speaker
see it, you know what I mean? especially this is something I've noticed it's a double-edged sword and many people have mentioned this but at the same time I'm just like so over it at this point like honestly so over it uh you know like how people say oh you should have a niche like you should have a very specific niche fashion lifestyle and not just fashion that's the like
00:06:53
Speaker
you know you need to be more specific I guess like I don't know like street fashion or I don't know like high fashion like stuff like that or are you just skincare or are you makeup you know like very specific niche then it comes to stuff like that especially if you're in that niche yes there is obviously more chance for growth because you can make so many videos that are niche based and that could get you to a point
00:07:23
Speaker
But I think what happens afterwards is like once you gain some momentum Then you're like, okay, what do I do? Like no, seriously, what do I do? Like how many times can you say that like This is my skincare routine. Like how many times can you introduce a new skincare routine? Yes, you can I think the great thing about like you can always Try new products that is for sure but I think
00:07:50
Speaker
that also sometimes gets old because there's so many there's only so many ways that you could introduce a product unless that product has its own unique features or something unique to offer and it's very rare it really is rare so i'm just saying like it's very difficult like you can only
00:08:14
Speaker
mentioned so many times like how great the moisturizer is or how good the moisturizer is.
Frustrations with Content Metrics
00:08:20
Speaker
Yes, you might have one good moisturizer that you use and you love it, but you cannot make a content about that moisturizer over and over and over again. It's just at one point you're gonna hit the wall and you're like, okay, I'm out of fresh ideas. Like I genuinely don't know what to do. Like that's just it.
00:08:44
Speaker
This connects me to my next point. It's about the pressure to perform. There are many times I think
00:08:56
Speaker
Obviously, maybe it might be different for other careers, too. But I think this content creation, it's all about, like, yes, you can have a great content. Your content looks great. Your video is great. Like, it's edited well, filtered. Like, it's not, like, filtered, I don't mean, like, in a bad way, but, like, it's curated. It's, like, edited well. Like, it looks good. Then you have to worry about, like, how it performs.
00:09:22
Speaker
I'm not even talking about like ad versus not ad. I'm just talking about like content overall. Sometimes I think we spent so much effort to create the content then it flops. Like it doesn't do well. Like very honest story. I'm not sure if it is just me, but lately YouTube has been, it's been bad. Like the views on YouTube has been like,
00:09:51
Speaker
down like really really bad like it used to be i don't know like really you would get like a lot of views or like i don't know you would show up more on search and like uh then they keep saying like oh yeah use the shorts and like even youtube shorts it's like getting on my nerves uh maybe this is just me i don't know but i'm just saying like
00:10:14
Speaker
yes you're not supposed to kind of like measure yourself with those things like the performance but as a creator obviously that's a big thing because nine out of ten when you work as a client or when you're working with a brand after you do the collaboration they're gonna ask you for your analytics they're like
00:10:41
Speaker
Give me the impressions, I'm putting a report or give me this, give me that. So obviously it makes sense. And there's this awful feature. The thing is, I see the point. It's like why they made that feature and why it might be useful, but it's also a horrible feature because it makes you feel so shitty about yourself.
Impact of YouTube Analytics on Motivation
00:11:01
Speaker
There's this feature on YouTube's CDO. And if you're not familiar with it, I would definitely recommend going check it out.
00:11:09
Speaker
So whenever you post a content, like it's just a new video or something, YouTube will analyze within the first hour or so and see how it is performing against your previous videos that was posted before. For short, it only compares it with the other shorts, not like real actual videos, I mean long form videos. And for long form videos,
00:11:35
Speaker
performs, it compares against the other long-form videos. So it's very similar. It has to be similar content, that's what I mean. So it cannot be different. So when you look at them and it gives you a number,
00:11:57
Speaker
one to ten that's the scale I guess and like one being like it's doing so well like you're you're killing it ten being the worst uh lately everything I've been posting on my youtube has been ten yeah it has been nine
00:12:21
Speaker
Maybe one time it was 8, when I first posted that it went down to 9, now it's 10. Like, I see... What is the word for it? Like, I see the meaning behind it, that's for sure. Like, oh yeah, like, essentially saying that your content sucks.
00:12:41
Speaker
valid argument like I get that but I think at the same time it also affects you as a creator you're like well I worked on this content and I thought it's gonna do well and some of the content I feel like you can never predict because there are many times I have made content that performed horribly at first but then months or two after it started picking up on search or something then it did well
00:13:10
Speaker
today I'm predictable but what I'm just trying to come up is that like performance or like or just seeing that your performance it affects you a lot then it makes you question your craft then you're like what am I doing this for is it worth it for me to try should I keep going like
00:13:35
Speaker
There are lots of questions that come to your head. It's obviously, it's honestly, it doesn't take, like sometimes I don't care for it if I really, really like my content and I think.
00:13:48
Speaker
sometimes also like I mean even look at some of the creators too like I don't think we expect that like oh my god you're gonna get so many views for one video but I think sometimes for the video that we spend so much effort or maybe we like it so much we expect it to perform okay but sometimes it performs like horrible
00:14:11
Speaker
like horribly like so so bad like worse than usual and that's when you start to question your craft and you're like um like what did i do like am i on their own path like what is exactly going on
00:14:29
Speaker
one thing. And this leads me to my next point. Question your craft that comes to self-doubt, then you start to compare yourself. Comparison is awful. At some capacity, I think we always compare ourselves, but I think sometimes I
Content Creation vs. Personal Time
00:14:50
Speaker
feel like our battery, like
00:14:56
Speaker
We only have so much to give sometimes and we have to recharge our battery, then come back and do this again. I think like for corporate or different jobs, it's obviously a different story because I think you work, then always like, you know, after a while you take your vacation, then you come back, you know, that's kind of it. But I think as a creator, you work,
00:15:26
Speaker
pretty much all the time and I'm not trying to say this in a bad like that like it's a bad thing but it's like you're working most of the time you don't necessarily have like off hours and then when you even go on a vacation you try to make content out of that because if you've gone somewhere that's nice you know you're like oh this is gonna get clicks that's gonna get views so obviously you want to make content out of that or
00:15:53
Speaker
even when you're moving, you know, you're like, Oh, like moving content does so well. So that I'm just saying like, obviously you're not going to miss that opportunity. Or like when you get something new or when you do something, you obviously there's almost every other opportunity. There's always a chance for content. So it is sometimes so hard to just turn that off or
00:16:19
Speaker
turn that mindset off so that you can do something for yourself without thinking about content. Today's episode is brought to you by Liquid Ivy. Liquid Ivy is a category-vening hydration brand fueling your well-being and their hydration multiplier is the one product you're missing in your daily routine.
00:16:40
Speaker
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00:17:09
Speaker
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00:17:38
Speaker
that is 20% off anything you order when you shop better hydration today using promo code WB at liquidiv.com. It's just so hard to not think about content sometimes because as much as we say it, and I think you can go for a certain amount of time, not
00:18:02
Speaker
like making content or just like not posting anything on social media but that's just not always smart even as an established creator that's what i have noticed that like yes you can you could have like millions of followers or you could have very engaged audience but
00:18:23
Speaker
less you start posting, less connected you are with your audience, then you start to lose that momentum. And once you start to lose that momentum, yes you can get it back and I'm sure you're going to have some loyal fans, loyal people, loyal followers that you have that are always going to find your content.
00:18:46
Speaker
like your content commented, but it is tricky. It's very tricky. So that's what I'm saying. It's very similar like how celebrities, you know, like once they have movies at the time, like they do PR and everything. And if you don't do anything at the time or don't release something at the time, later on it's just kind of irrelevant. People are like, okay, who cares, right? It's similar in that aspect that like you kind of have to
00:19:14
Speaker
use that momentum for yourself that's why it's sometimes super hard to just be like not I don't know like not do anything or not post anything so you constantly have to like use your brain for new ideas for new content and that's why I say that like it's very hard to just not think about it and be like oh like
00:19:40
Speaker
Do I make a content of this? Do I not make a content of this? And that brings me to my next point that like being always connected.
Understanding Burnout vs. Laziness
00:19:50
Speaker
And that's almost like, I think I have used this in my previous episode that I was talking about this. It's like being on a hamster wheel. It's just you're constantly going.
00:20:03
Speaker
And there's no end on site. You're just constantly working. The wheel is constantly going. There's just nowhere. You just don't know when it's going to end.
00:20:18
Speaker
And I know that I don't say this in a bad way because I think it might sound like I'm grateful. Like I love my career. I love what I do. I love using social media. I love posting on social media. I love working with brands, but I think there's a point that happens. This happens and this can happen more than once. And I think this is why I say this is like, I think once you start to
00:20:46
Speaker
have this as a career for an extended period of time. It's just after a few years. Probably I feel like year three or something, you're gonna feel it. Three, four, I don't know, it depends. Maybe some people feel it earlier, because I remember at first I felt it on my year three. Now I think I'm in my
00:21:13
Speaker
six here? Is it the six here or something? Yeah, I think it's been like, hold on, I'm trying to think of like three, three. Yeah, it's my sixth year. So I'm definitely feeling it again. I think it goes up and down for sure. But I'm just saying like, once you have this career for a long period of time, you are going to have these kind of feelings. And that's not just just to say that like, you don't love your career, you don't love what you do. But I think that just shows that sometimes
00:21:45
Speaker
what i'm trying to say here is like you burned out it doesn't mean you're lazy i think there's definitely a bigger difference between being lazy and burned out and there was this episode i think emma tremberlin made about like what's like the difference between burnout and lazy and i think that's like
00:22:03
Speaker
very very different and i don't necessarily want to be like that's what it is if you do want to listen to that she explains it so well in there but that's not what this episode about but what i tried to say is that like i think this is more about like sometimes it's just like you have nothing else to give at that time which is okay i think that just shows that you need to take a break you need to focus on yourself for a bit
00:22:33
Speaker
and see what else you can do and that's what I see sometimes at this stage of my like career right now but like I feel like I was feeling so inspired in the beginning of the year and even maybe like towards like the summer I was fine then after the summer I think things have been
00:22:54
Speaker
not slowing down per se, career wise but I think content wise I'm just like not super excited about making new things and I'm just like oh like I don't know what more that I could give that my audience is excited about or also I am excited about you know that I can talk about that's what I'm saying it's very very tricky honestly it's very difficult question to answer sometimes I feel like there are certain things that I
00:23:24
Speaker
post and I'm like, I think people are going to be excited. Sometimes they, they get excited. Sometimes they don't. So, and that's something, it's very hard to make that balance between like, Oh, like I want my followers to be excited about what I'm posting, but I also want to enjoy myself too, like by posting what I want to post.
Link Between Performance and Burnout
00:23:48
Speaker
It's very difficult at this stage after a while. And that's what I try to figure out these days that I'm like, I really want to make sure I'm here for myself, but I'm also here for the audience that I have established and those audience that I'm trying to grow.
00:24:07
Speaker
It is tricky. It is very, very tricky. And I think back to what I was just mentioning is like, that's why a lot of this is connective performance. And burnout happens a lot. Usually from my experience is the time when my content starts to not perform as what I was expecting, or sometimes it even performs
00:24:34
Speaker
worse than I was expecting it. And that's when it starts to like, makes me question. Because usually, at least it's just me. Usually when my content does well, or most of the time it's like performing well, I don't feel as burned out. Because I'm like, oh, like, that's fine. Like I'm posting this, everything is doing well, like it's going well. This is great.
00:25:01
Speaker
but then I think when I try new things or don't even try new things but
00:25:07
Speaker
I post what I was thinking posting, then it performs poorly. That's when I'm like, oh, what's going on? And usually I would say just to also like, it's not just like one video or one picture that is like performing bad. Sometimes it's like group of pictures, group of videos that is performing poorly. Then I'm just like, oh, like something is wrong.
00:25:34
Speaker
of what is going on, right? Like that is what it's like. I'm like, I need to change something or do I need to keep going? Maybe it's just the time of the time. It's the time of the year or something. That's what I'm saying. There are so many factors that associate with that, but this also shows that sometimes I think it is so difficult to give that, be like, Oh, I'm not burned out. Like how that mindset, but no, I can like, I'm okay. Like I,
00:26:04
Speaker
I'm putting another video, like another one, another one. Sometimes you're just like, no, like put that down and don't make content. Like this is what I have noticed to solution to some of the burnout is that like, yes, we say recycling content is not necessarily a good idea, but more and more I realized recycling older content that you're so proud about.
00:26:31
Speaker
or you're so proud about, you're so proud of is really, really good for you actually, because most of the time actually your audience is not going to remember what you have posted before, unless it's like very, like recently, like that you posted and you're posting it again. But if it's like from a year ago or two years ago, no one's going to remember that. So you can definitely repost that while you're recharging and thinking about what you're going to do next.
00:27:00
Speaker
I have noticed that that's actually a good thing to go back to those content because maybe that content will help you, I don't know, recharge or help you find a new perspective while you think about all the ways that you can improve or you can do better.
00:27:20
Speaker
Because burnout is so hard because sometimes there's no solution. There's literally nothing you could do but wait it out and take time for yourself and just be like, okay, I need to sit down and think about what is something that inspires me today that I can focus on and more and create more content for it. Super tricky, very, very tricky.
00:27:50
Speaker
And that's why I say that I'm like, it sounds sometimes like, oh, you're just being lazy. But it's like, it's not about that. Sometimes you look at it, you're like, I made a comment about that. I talked about this. I talked about this. I talked about that. Like, what else is there that I can talk about? That is not the same thing that I talked about, or that's not the same thing I created.
00:28:12
Speaker
it's very, very tricky, very, very tricky. And that's why I'm saying that that's why it sometimes connects to multiple factors that like, you're like, I don't know if there is more for me to give anymore or at the stage. And that's why like, I think I see most of the creators these days or the taking a break and stuff. Like perfect example, I mentioned Emma Chamberlain, right?
00:28:39
Speaker
She had a podcast. Well, she still has podcast. I mean, anything goes podcast, right? But she had her YouTube channel and she's supposed to look, she started with YouTube and she's supposed on YouTube all the time. Then she took a break. She came back, but now she doesn't post anymore. I think she posts like once in a while, but she never, she doesn't post like she used to. It's very different because she realized because she was posting blogs most of the time. And that's, that was her content. Like,
00:29:06
Speaker
Get ready with me. Not get ready with me. I mean, it's not Alex Earl, but like going to the grocery store, going to Whole Foods and picking up something, going to the third store, you know, like her daily life. Yes, it sounds like fun and it sounds like you can do this all the time. But I think at one point she realized like, how many times can I go to the grocery store
00:29:31
Speaker
how many times can I go to the thrift store and pick out an outfit and show them the haul and that's it or like make food or like do something like or make coffee like how many times can I do this how many times can I show the like I am not sleeping until 2 a.m or something and like showing them what I'm doing entire night like
00:30:01
Speaker
What can you do? You know, like, it is very, very difficult. And that is something is like also like very easy to do because it's vlogs. It's your life. Comparing to like if it is like a certain topic like cosmetics or like fashion. It's very tricky. Very, very tricky because there is only so much you could show.
00:30:22
Speaker
There's only so much you could do with fashion or with cosmetics or with skincare or like Miss finance like unless there's something new popping up. That's what I'm saying Like you cannot always make new content and I realized why she left it. I really do I mean, yes, she had the big audience but she transferred most of it from from her YouTube to her Like her podcast. I'm sure that's why she has so many podcast listeners and like she got Spotify
00:30:53
Speaker
There are like many other ones I know, like Shay Mitchell, like the girl from Printer Liars, like Emily from Printer Liars. She had a big YouTube channel. She moved on from it too. Like now she's mostly on Instagram and she has TikTok too. I think things have changed, format has changed, that is for sure. But I think also people have realized that they do need to take break for themselves and like,
00:31:23
Speaker
change for themselves I guess understand what works for them better I guess and that's what I'm understanding so far and that's why I'm trying to come up with like I think yes I love creating content I love making videos but sometimes it gets to a point that you're like I don't know what else is there for me to give and that's why I feel like sometimes I want to
Advocating for Breaks to Manage Burnout
00:31:48
Speaker
I don't post for a bit because I'm going to recalibrate, try to figure out what I can post next, what is something I can do that can inspire me or find that inspiration again so I can post.
00:32:02
Speaker
Like, that is honestly the point. That's why I understand, like, why people burn out so quickly. Uh, especially on TikTok as well, because it's very tricky to just, like, post new videos every day. Unless it's, like, it's not just lip syncing, you know what I mean? You can definitely do lip syncing every single day. But at one point, it's just like... You hit a wall. That's the thing that means everything. It's like, at one point, you hit a wall and you're like...
00:32:33
Speaker
I'm lost. And I hope this made sense like that's why I'm at right this moment and I wanted to make this video not to like discourage people to like now make a content or not continue their life but just to show the like this happens you know it's not like
00:32:53
Speaker
Oh, like you're going to be inspired every day or you're going to be like wanting to do what you want to do every day. Sometimes you do need to take a step back. I don't know. Look at like the whole picture and just be like, oh, like this is what's working and it's not working. Or maybe it's not working right now, but it's going to work in the future. That's what I think about sometimes because there are many things that I did. It didn't.
00:33:19
Speaker
pay off in the beginning but six months down the line it started working out for me very tricky i know but that's why you have to take risks but when it comes to burnout i'm realizing that the best thing you could do is to take the moment and see what is something that could work out for you anyways guys so i hope you guys like this episode if you do please don't forget to give a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel and i'll