Episode 132 – 3 Signs That You’re Burning out

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Hey Everyone!

Wow episode 132 I’m really proud of this little podcast and that I’ve been able to bring you some valuable info, suggestions, techniques straight from my coaching vault to you.

Today I want to talk about something that I help Artists deal with a lot due to the nature of what we do. Maybe things have been a little slower not as fast paced since march 2020, but now things are starting up again and that transition is really hard because we are going at a pace that we need to get used to again, or do we?

I was very guilty of going at a pace for many many years that was a little over the top, I found that I was a person who could sleep just a few hours a night and still function well, still get all the things done and in some respects I maybe even got so used to that pace, that I didn’t know how to be productive unless I was going going going all the time, pulling all nighters and trying to hit challenging deadlines.

I had an entire 6 months period where my schedule was the following: up at 6:30am – I was doing a 6 month IT contract to help make ends meet. At work by 7:30am. Home from work by 4pm to meet the kids off the bus. I would start my first guitar lesson at 4:30pm – until 7:30pm and then eat something quickly and from Tues-Sat I would go most weeks and play music from 9:30pm – 1:30am – Home by 2am – up again the next day at 6:30pm. And that 6 month contract was as a Business Analyst so it was brain heavy.

I would never be able to have that schedule now, I know why I was doing it then, but I most certainly felt burned out a lot. Even though I was able to perform well at all jobs, it was a lot.

All I knew – was to hustle hard! That’s the only way I knew how to make enough money was to sacrifice my own time and health.

Now of course I know better.

But many of us do this, simply because we are hard workers, we are taught to work hard and while I was making great money during that 6 months it wasn’t life changing, we weren’t going to retire early for it or anything like that.

So let me ask you are burning out, or currently at risk of getting burned out doing all the things you think you need to, to make ends meet or hit your goals financially?

Have you been there before and maybe right now you have the opportunity to think about doing things a little differently in order to avoid that kind of crash and burn?

The problem with burn out is that sometimes it hits so hard that you wind up dropping everything and loosing so much momentum that you almost have to start again from scratch once you recover. So a better way to do things is to intercept before burn out stage and put some things in place that will certainly help with burn out.

So I’ve written down some of the major indicators that you’re headed towards burn out that I’ve seen in myself and artists that I”ve worked with.

#1 – Complete Overwhelm – Feeling like you are in overwhelm ALL the time. Sometimes we feel it here or there, but are you constantly feeling or saying “I’m overwhelmed, I have too much on my plate.”

#2 – High Level of Anxiety – Are you experiencing a higher than normal level of anxiety about how much you have to do on a regular basis? Anxiety if left unchecked can lead to depression. A smaller level of anxiety in our industry is normal, we get it before interviews, performances, even when making what we feel are BIG career decisions. But a heightened level of anxiety all the time is an indicator that you need a change or that it’s time to intercept some of your activities.

#3 – You Are Medicating in an unhealthy way – I’m not talking about medicating with regards to antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication that has been prescribed to you by a professional. I’m more talking about medicating with alcohol, drugs, or even sex. And maybe those things that increased recently, you are doing that more to counteract the bad feelings or overwhelm or anxiety.

You feel that you can’t handle your emotions linked to your music career and you’re medicating with alcohol or weed or whatever it is in an unhealthy way. I don’t want my weed fans to be calling me up and telling all about the health benefits. I don’t want my wine connoisseurs to be telling me a glass of red each day keeps the doctor away, because come on don’t bullshit yourself if you are in fact overusing those things and it’s not a healthy thing for you it’s time to be honest and ask yourself what you can do NOT over use and usually that means finding healthier ways to counteract. Working out, meditating, walking, hanging out with people who don’t drink all day or smoke all day. 

There are other indicators but those are the most common I see in the music world and maybe they relate to all worlds. Not sure.

It might be time to take a couple of things off your plate that you don’t need.

The best way to figure out what those things are, is to start with anything you are currently doing or tend to do out of obligation. You don’t want to do it, it’s not really benefiting you much. Some of you might say ‘well it is benefiting others and so I’m just that kind of person who puts others first’. That’s great but how useful are you once you’ve burned yourself out helping others. You gotta take care of you first.

The second way is to clearly define your reason for doing what you do and asking yourself what activities fit into that purpose and which ones don’t.

Sometimes we take opportunities in this business because we feel that if we don’t take them they might never come again. But if it’s a detriment to you as a person, then what’s the point really?

So do you know WHY you are doing all the activities you are doing?

Take a look at your schedule this week, check in with how you are feeling and ask yourself if you could be at risk of burning out. You can get in front of that right now. And of course I have many podcasts on great daily habits that you can incorporate for 5-10 mins a day to help with your thoughts as well!

Okay guys, by the time you hear this I will actually be on a one week staycation! Spending some time with my hubby at  home, we might go hiking if that works out, maybe throw up a tent for a night, that’s how we like to unwind sometimes.

Cheers everyone, thanks for listening, it makes me happy to continue to bring you guys some love and support and to talk about things that I think really matter in our lives and our careers.

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