As an online content creator, you have a million things to keep track of. Generating content ideas, scheduling social media posts, negotiating brand deals, juggling multiple income streams.
Especially the pressure to keep up content quantity and quality has many creators teetering on the edge of burnout. In the newly-termed creator economy, overwhelming stress seems to be the norm rather than an exception.
However, there are a few strategies to help you thrive without feeling constantly wrung out. If you’re feeling exhausted, frustrated, and uninspired, here are some steps to get back on track.
Focus on What You Enjoy
To begin with, try to re-focus on what you enjoy about your work. After all, most content creators start out with a passion – be it yoga, gaming, cooking, or fashion.
With content schedules and to-do lists piling up, it’s easy to lose sight of this passion. When you feel drained, it’s time to take a step back, breathe, and go back to the start.
In a recent round of interviews on the creator economy, several big influencers came to a consensus: Focus on what you enjoy – what you take a passionate interest in. That’s the basis of staying balanced.
Outsource Routine Tasks to Take Off the Pressure
To find time to focus on what you love, a crucial step is to hand off tedious and repetitive tasks. Outsourcing is key.
Whether it’s video editing, SEO, competitor research, or scheduling posts, there are many elements of your job that you can pass on to a specialist, or even a personal PA.
For one, there are countless freelancers out there who’d love to give you a hand. Places like Upwork and industry-specific job-boards make it easy to find them.
For another, thanks to the booming creator economy, there are more and more creator-focused companies: from video editing services specializing in YouTube and TikTok to talent management agencies that find and negotiate brand deals for budding influencers.
As a disclaimer: Outsourcing is not cheap. But weighed against the time and headspace you gain to be truly creative, it’s absolutely worth it.
Prioritize Self-Care in Your Schedule
When you’re scheduling your week or month, make time for self-care. That could mean blocking off a few hours for workouts, a spa day, time with family, or an outing with friends.
When you’re under a lot of pressure, it’s tempting to ignore time off in favor of getting just one more video cut, or finishing your next Instagram reel.
Keep skipping breaks, though, and you’ll drain yourself too much to do your work properly at all.
That’s why planned self-care is a long-term investment. By taking the time to recharge today, you’ll be more productive tomorrow, and the day after.
Build a Strong Offline Support Network
Many content creators live almost exclusively online. Work is online. Free time is digital as well. Even socializing is often strictly virtual when most of your business associates, colleagues, and friends work remotely.
That’s why it’s crucial for content creators to build a support network offline. Having friends and family to spend time with off the grid is invaluable.
Hanging out with people who don’t care – or even know – about follower counts or influencer rivalries often puts things into perspective. And taking a break from being your online persona will have you breathing a sigh of relief.
Know Your Worth
Finally, one pitfall for many aspiring content creators is settling for less than their worth – and consequently being overwhelmed with work.
Whether it’s writing gigs, brand deals, or speaking engagements, don’t work for exposure or peanuts. Sure, it can make you a few bucks, but it’ll leave you swamped and scrambling in the long run.
Instead, know your worth. Negotiate carefully and don’t be afraid to turn down cut-rate offers. Thanks to the flourishing creator economy, there are brands and clients out there who are happy to pay you fairly.
If you don’t know how much to charge realistically, networking with other creators in forums and groups is invaluable. Recently, a pair of California-based influencers even launched a new platform, F*** You, Pay Me – a Glassdoor-like resource for creators to bring transparency to brand deals.
Conclusion
When you’re under a lot of pressure, many strategies to avoid burnout in the booming creator economy seem counterintuitive.
Taking time for yourself, turning down gigs, or spending money on additional services probably appear extravagant, even irresponsible, in the face of your workload and budget.
Ultimately, though, these are all invaluable investments towards maintaining your creativity and productivity long-term. To thrive as a creator in the long run, you have to set boundaries, and treat yourself as your most valuable resource.