Pursuing a career as a musician can be both exciting and challenging. While working on new content everyday is a very exciting venture, combining that task with all your other responsibilities as a musician can be taxing, especially if you are not taking care of yourself outside of your career. Many musicians fall in the pattern of not resting until they reach their goals, which sometimes leads to burnout. However, you need to ensure that you are doing all you can throughout your journey of musicianship to stay on a healthy path. Avoiding burnout as a musician is possible if you put specific measures in place.
Take Time Off
Whether music is your full-time job or a part-time endeavor, you need to ensure you are giving yourself adequate time off. Since being a musician does not fall into a typical career category, many musicians do not realize they too have a desperate need to vacation. Especially if music is your part-time job, you may feel guilty for having to take time off of it. But there is no shame in doing so. Oftentimes, taking some well-deserved time off can actually inspire musicians even further. You may come back from your time off with a new mindset that inspires you to dig deeper into your musical capabilities and create music unlike anything you’ve released in the past.
Get Outside More Frequently
If you’ve been holding yourself up in the recording studio for weeks, it’s possible that you may have even forgotten what sunlight looks like. Confining yourself in a tiny indoor space for hours at a time might be negatively impacting your creativity and outlook on life. To avoid feeling burnt out in your career, be sure to intentionally set aside time to go outside. Even in the dead of winter, take a brisk walk before the sun goes down so you can reconnect with yourself and with nature.
Go to a Live Show
Nothing will help you avoid burnout more than reminding yourself of why you pursued a career as a musician in the first place. The best way to remind yourself of your passion is to attend a live performance. Whether it is a well-known pop star or a small indie band playing at a local venue, attending these concerts will undoubtedly reinvigorate your passion and inspire you to continue honing your craft and participating in concerts as such. Even better yet? You may be able to talk to the performers after the show or make some connections with attendees that could open some doors for you.