How We Let Ourselves Get Burned Out As Artists And How To Stop It
Oh burnout. If you’re a business owner, a mom, or simply the over-achiever type (I, coincidentally, am all three), you are familiar with burnout. In fact, you’ve probably reached this state several times at some point in your life by now. The place where you will literally just start crying if you have to look at one more customer email, the place where simply getting out of bed feels like an Iron Man marathon, or the place where you find yourself simply just wanting to sit in a quiet room and stare at the walls for… well, as long as it takes for your brain to clear (maybe weeks?)
I, myself, have experienced burnout quite a few times in the last few years and, the other day, I got to thinking, “why does this keep happening to me?! I try to be mindful of how I’m feeling, I try to take time for myself, I’ve stopped going to bed at 2:30 in the morning most nights… what is the deal?!”
Then it hit me…
Why we let ourselves get burned out:
Gratitude - I know, this sounds crazy, but hear me out. Gratitude is an amazingly powerful thing. It can stop you from feeling stressed, improve your health, help you get better sleep, lower blood pressure, and even increase your immunity, some say. However, when we’re on the verge of burnout and ready to fall off the cliff, instead of taking the really deep break from what we’re doing that we need, we stop and think, “you know what, I’m grateful I’ve come as far as I have, let’s not lose momentum now.” Or we think, “others don’t have an opportunity like this, I shouldn’t let mine go to waste.” Now while this might sound like a positive, motivating thought, it stops us from recognizing how tired we actually are and doesn’t allow our body and mind to rest so that we can conquer the world anew tomorrow.
Guilt - Have you ever felt tired and then start scrolling on social media for inspiration to keep you going but all you can do is see other people being successful? (I have and it freaking sucks.) I’ve been at my wit’s end, trying to think of one more idea, one more strategy, or one more design and, instead of feeling inspired, I feel guilty that I don’t think I’m as successful as these other people I’m seeing. News flash: the people you’re seeing that show up every day with lots of energy oftentimes have entire teams (like 5-50 people) helping them, not to mention if they don’t have any kids to take care of at the same time. But this guilt of not being exactly like them will force us to keep going and get another step closer to hitting your head against a wall, trying to knock some sense into yourself. (Anyone else done that? That’s definitely a sign to take a break.)
Hustle-culture - Ever heard the phrase, “every day I’m hustlin’”? This idea of “hustling” started in the 1970’s but really became widely accepted in the tech industry in 1990. During this time a tech revolution happened and it was all because of “hustle culture”. Did great things come from it? Some might say yes. Is it sustainable for a long time? Absolutely not. However, it became a new standard of work ethic amongst that younger generation and now many of us think, “if i’m not hustling, I won’t be successful!” so when we stop to take a break for even just an hour to have lunch and allow new ideas come into our minds, we still feel like we could be doing more. For artists, this strategy doesn’t work. You have to have down time to let your creativity cultivate. You can’t create a masterpiece or something someone is going to fall in love with when you’re so tired you can barely keep your eyes open and it’s only 8:30 in the morning.
DIY-culture - DIY has become a huge way of thinking ever since the 1950’s. Especially if you’re into home renovation shows but woman business owners seem to think that it applies to business as well. The phrases “I’m a one-woman show” and “I built this all by myself” and “self-made” have become so commonly used that I think a lot of women think they have to do everything by themselves in order to gain any kind of credit for something, even in their businesses, and it’s simply no true! And the celebrities who say that’s how they got to where they are, are full of s***. Someone, often-times multiple someones, had to help them along the way. While “self made” means becoming successful from one’s own efforts, the people who claim to be “self made” still had help in smaller ways. Maybe a famous singer didn’t have help with their lyrics but they probably had someone cover their shift at the diner they were working at so they could go audition. As an artist, you may not want help creating your work or even marketing it, but you can still ask for help with housework or babysitting if want time to do those other things that are part of your specific, unique skill set.
Empathy for others - Have you ever done this? When you start feeling overwhelmed about what to make for dinner, you think, “there are starving children in Africa, I have nothing to complain about.” Or, when you’ve just stayed up till 1am working on fulfilling orders, you think, “at least I’m able to do something that I love, others have jobs they hate doing every day, those are the people we should feel sorry for.” Or how about, when you’ve just finally collapsed on the couch after putting the kids to bed and think, “well there are moms out there who have 5-10 kids, I only have two, I shouldn’t be tired.” When you find yourself getting burned out, do you often think of others who are worse off than you are and push yourself just a little bit more and a little bit more after that? If so, this is a perfect way to run yourself into the ground. You are you. YOUR feelings and YOUR life are what needs your focus. You can’t help save the world when you’re exhausted.
Information overload - How long is your to-do list? How long is your “could-do” list? Do you have so many notes on your phone from one idea here, another idea there, another idea from your sister-in-law’s friend about your next design, another ten different ideas from influencers on social media about what to focus on when creating content? There are SO many people out there trying to help you and push you along towards your goals but, at some point, it becomes information overload, and if we don’t learn how to sort out our “must do’s” from our “could do’s”, you’re in trouble.
Perfectionism - this one’s simple. Just go re-read the last 5 reasons and multiply them x10. This is what perfectionists do to themselves… and then feel the need to clean the whole house, bake a cake, run a marathon, and do it all without sweat and with a smile on our face.
Finally, sometimes our minds are simply too amazing for our own good - Many of us in the Made By Her community are achievers. We want to create beautiful, amazing things, have memorable moments with our family, write books, teach classes, and help the needy. I know I have a looong list of things I want to do in my lifetime and, even when I take a break from coaching women artists, I’m either thinking of the next hat design I want to do, the next recipe I want to try and make for my family, or work on the book series I want to finish one day (and that’s only a few things!) When we try to unplug from one thing, another area takes over.
Okay, now that I’ve give you the list of things that CAUSE burnout, let’s talk about some ways to prevent it from happening… there are really only two things.
How to prevent burnout from happening in the first place:
Let yourself feel the small moments - If you’re constantly pushing down how you’re actually feeling, you’re going to explode like a volcano one day, and there’s no telling when or where it will happen. Ever get a panic attack in the snack aisle at Target? It’s not pretty. Instead, when you start feeling something, even if it’s just a small one, let yourself feel it. If you feel tired because you had four loads of laundry to do today instead of the usual one or two, let yourself take a little longer to eat lunch or read a fun book. If you’ve had something personal happen, a loved one getting diagnosed with something or your kid having trouble in school, let yourself slow down to let those feelings happen. If you feel tired after a day of cleaning, whether you have 5 kids, 2 kids, or no kids, let yourself feel tired, don’t push those feelings down. Give yourself permission to feel however you’re feeling.
You need to fill your own cup to be successful - Think of this as part of the recipe for success. If you make a list of all the tools you’ve so excellently put together in order to be successful in life - creating automated email systems, posting on social media, getting good product photos - you need to add “down time for rest” to the list. For example, if you’ve ever baked something, think of “down time for rest” as the baking soda. Yes you can add the butter, sugar, and salt to make a cake but, if you don’t add the baking soda, it’s not going to turn out very good.
I hope this has shed some light on how you might be letting yourself get burned out in your handmade art business or simply in life in general and I hope it prevents another onset of burnout so you can keep creating the amazing things you do, especially with the upcoming holiday season.
Want more strategies for growing your handmade art business online so you can make more art, money, and memories with your family? Join my Artisan Coaching Studio and start increasing your income today!
