I haven’t posted a new video, or a new photo this week. I may have shared a few posts, commented on a few things and popped a like or two on a few photos. But that is about it. Why? I am burnt out. And I mean crispy like Anakin Skywalker on the shores of a lava river on Mustafar. Too soon?
About 8 months ago I started the Youtube channel, and made a commitment to my photography to see what kind of traction I could get this year. It is going really well, and I think I am learning and making some decent content to be consumed. But that is the problem. I feel like I am just feeding a machine based solely on consumption, and I don’t know if I am putting any value into it. If you think I am, let me know where you have seen value in what I have produced. I want to analyze what I have done in those instances and improve upon it and continue to do it.
Doing all of this while working a full time job has taken its toll on me in a big way. Because I have been trying to learn something new, and stay consistent with it and improve as I go along there are a few things that have fallen off the edge of my radar. And that is where the toll comes in. Because I spend a lot of time producing, filming, editing and scheduling those videos on the weekends I have not spent a lot of time taking the time for myself in my own photography. And to be quite frank about it, I haven’t spent as much time with friends and family because of it too.
This is my problem to solve obviously, but I have a turn of phrase that comes into play here that I think is important for all creators to hear. “You can either be a shining example, or a horrible warning.” With that ominous phrase there is a tip or trick that I need to start considering, but I want to share with everyone else as well. Because I think it is important. Time. You only have a finite amount of time to spend on various things. When you run out of time, you start “borrowing” from other available resources and buckets of time. Which then in turn takes a toll on your mental health, and eventually burnout. Or even worse, problems at home with friends and family.
Taking some time off is important. Taking some time for yourself; is important. I know this, and should have known this and practiced it too. When I worked in the emergency services years ago I used to teach and preach about scene safety, and sizing up your scene to protect yourself and your crew. The reason for this is simple. If you go rushing into a situation that is not safe and get hurt (or worse killed) without taking an accounting of what could have happened, you are of no use to the person you are trying to help. Same thing goes for content creation, sharing and promoting your work as a creative. If you spend all of your time, and all of your resources just creating content you are going to burn out and not do any of it. So, you aren’t helping anyone, you aren’t sharing your work for people to enjoy and you are not taking care of yourself in your outlet of creativity.
Recently, I watched a video that featured Mr Beast on Youtube. He is one of the larger Youtubers on the platform right now with millions of subscribers, and views. They asked him about his personal life and what time he had for that and his response was sad to me. “I don’t have one” was his answer. That concerns me, he has a whole team of people, and himself, creating all of this content for people to enjoy, but he doesn’t take any time out for himself. He’s going to eventually burn out, snap or just drop from the constant pressure and “always on” state of his life.
I would love to have a popular Youtube channel, and other popular social media, but I would not want to sacrifice my life and people in my life to do it. So yeah, I am taking a little break for right now. My full time job has been insane lately, so that has taken priority. But, I am still working on some things on the side. That said, there will be new photography and video next week. And I am going back to my awkward stage of Youtube (not that I ever left it) to try something different. I hope you all enjoy. And if not, let me know where you think I am going wrong! I would love to hear ALLLLL about it.
The moral of the story here is, take care of yourself. Don’t burn yourself out and be the horrible warning. Make sure you do what you can, the best you can, without sacrificing yourself in the process and be the “shining example” to others. We all want to see the photos you take and the tricks you have learned. So, get out and take some great photos and I will see you soon.