How to prevent burnout as a content creator

Burnout is a real problem for content creators. For many of us, the content we make and the work we do is our primary source of income. But online creators make so little money relative to the amount of work that goes into the job that many end up having to work themselves to exhaustion just to support themselves and their families.

You don't have to stop making content to prevent burnout. But it is important to take a look at how you are scheduling your work and how that impacts your workload.

Set 'office hours' for yourself

The quickest way to burn out as a content creator is to be "chronically online." In this context, that means you never stop working. You're answering comments when you first wake up and are checking your analytics before you go to sleep. You are always "on." And that's not healthy. Especially in the long-term.

Treat your content creation, when you can, like a typical workday. Set a time to "clock in" and "clock out." Your brain and body need time to rest and recover from your work, and the only one who is going to set healthy boundaries to ensure work-life balance for yourself is you.

Schedule days off

This is a tough one, especially if you are depending on content creation for financial stability. Bills need to be paid, groceries need to be bought. Any day that you do not spend working might be time you are not getting paid for.

If this is the case for you, try to take at least one day or one half day off every few weeks. You can't work all day every day for too long or you're not going to be able to get any substantial amount of work done anyway.

Try not to compare yourself to everyone else

The reality is, there will be creators who seem to always be doing more than you are. They're uploading more, promoting more products, seemingly always doing the amount of things you wish you could be doing.

The worst thing you can do in this situation is to try to be "like them." It's tempting to want to make and post as much content as possible, but that's how burnout happens. Focus on setting and achieving your own goals based on what you know you are capable of. Stop trying to do it the way you see others doing it -- it just may not be sustainable for you, and that's OK.