Whether we’ve recently seen the bold headlines about creator burnout in the news or have experienced it ourselves, this phenomenon is becoming increasingly prevalent in the influencer industry. It’s an issue that deserves our serious attention for many compelling reasons we’ll explore in this comprehensive guide.
At Sidewalker Daily, we work closely with creators and influencers to build their businesses while also collaborating with brands on their influencer campaigns. Throughout our years in the influencer industry, we’ve witnessed creators grow their businesses and followings to remarkable heights, only to crash and burn dramatically. Sometimes, creator burnout destroys everything they’ve worked for. We’ve also heard countless creators in our community share how overwhelmed they feel from the pressures of being a creator, and we recognize this is something everyone in the influencer industry faces more frequently.
The mental health and well-being of the creators we work with is extremely important to us. In this post, we want to thoroughly cover what creator burnout is, how to prevent it, and provide six practical solutions you can use to deal with burnout if you’re facing it now or encounter it in the future.
Understanding Creator Burnout
Let’s start by identifying what creator burnout actually is and how you can recognize when you’re experiencing it. Most simply, you might be experiencing burnout if actions or tasks that you once genuinely enjoyed doing no longer feel like something you want to do. Creators experiencing burnout often feel highly unmotivated, uncharacteristically tired, and experience a general lack of energy or interest for things that are typically enjoyable.
Essentially, the creator feels like they have nothing left to give, and the pressure of constantly showing up socially, running a business, and having to be creative all the time catches up to them. Creator burnout has even been linked to depression, which is why this topic is so crucial to discuss openly.
The Myth of the Quick Fix
Unfortunately, we don’t believe that taking just one day off is going to relieve you from burnout as a creator. Of course, it’s always important to take breaks and days off when you need them to recharge. Creators and influencers face this constant pressure to be perpetually showing up online. This causes the line between real life and social media to blur significantly, and there’s often added pressure to show only the best sides of yourself.
That said, a day off from showing up online can be beneficial and give you a brief respite. If you’re concerned everyone will forget about you, there’s no need to worry. Even the biggest creators take time off, and their followers and community are always waiting for them when they return.
The true fix for influencer burnout often requires digging into the symptoms and analyzing the causes in your creator business that may be contributing to this sense of overwhelm and lack of motivation. You really need to take time for self-analysis about why you’re feeling this way and develop a comprehensive plan to address what you’re going through, hopefully preventing it from happening again in the future.
Recognizing the Warning Signs
The biggest sign of burnout is when you start feeling like you don’t want to do something that you used to love doing. For example, if you absolutely loved creating TikTok videos and now you don’t even want to open the app and post another video, this is a clear sign that you’re feeling burnt out. While everyone has days when they don’t want to work regardless of their job, frequently feeling this way could indicate that you’re burning out and something needs to change.
Having a feeling of dread associated with posting new content or other typical creator tasks is another significant sign that you’re experiencing burnout. As an influencer or creator, there’s tremendous pressure to put your best foot forward online and create stunning content. While it’s natural that a creator would want to post their best work, feeling overwhelmed and full of dread about each and every post is a sign that something isn’t quite right.
For instance, if Instagram is bringing you very little joy even though you spend considerable time on it, this can lead straight to Instagram burnout. We’ve seen creators with hundreds of thousands of followers who even do brand partnerships on Instagram simply delete the app because it became too overwhelming for them. We don’t want you to reach this point. Feeling depressed and lacking motivation to do daily creator tasks and run your business are also major symptoms of influencer burnout.
Understanding the Root Causes
From an outside perspective, creator life looks pretty glamorous. It’s incredibly common to hear people say things like, “Oh how fun it must be to post content for a living!” But if you’re a creator or an influencer, you know that while this job can be enjoyable, it’s far more than just taking pictures and posting them. There’s so much more than what meets the eye, from coming up with concepts to shooting and editing, re-shooting because something didn’t work, and countless other tasks.
Producing content is really just the tip of the iceberg! Outside of content creation, influencers also have to deal with the entire list of tasks and responsibilities that come with being an entrepreneur and business owner. We remind our creators all the time that they’re not just being creative; they’re building a business!
There’s a huge amount of work to be done, combined with constant content output, so it’s really no surprise that creators are feeling overwhelmed. Let’s examine four major reasons creators are facing burnout:
Unrealistic Expectations
There’s an unrealistic expectation to produce content on every single platform. Showing up consistently on one or two platforms is already substantial work. Imagine having to produce content for all of them constantly. The content you publish also needs to fit into your content strategy, showcase brands and products, and generally be appealing to your audience.
We understand it’s a tremendous amount of work, and we want you to know you’re not alone! Feeling the pressure to keep up with each platform can lead to creators working well over traditional full-time hours and taking on too much simply because they feel obligated to do so.
Fear of the Algorithm
There’s so much mystery surrounding the algorithm, and many creators believe it will “punish” them if they don’t post regularly. Because the algorithm is notorious for pushing out content for those who are active, it’s easy to start thinking that you’ll be forgotten if you stop posting for even a moment.
As a creator, it’s extremely important that your content is seen. To keep up with the algorithm and lower the risk of it limiting reach, creators push themselves to create even when they’re feeling tired or overwhelmed.
Fear of Missing Out
The fear of missing out affects everyone at some point, and creators are no exception. In the creator and influencer industry, there’s a general sense that you have to be posting constantly if you want to be remembered.
Additionally, every time you visit a platform, you see countless creators posting content, which can make you feel really behind and start playing the comparison game.
Sense of Competition
Along similar lines, there’s significant competition on social media. With so much content being pushed out on each platform daily, it’s easy to feel like you aren’t doing enough and that others are doing more and doing it better than you.
To keep up with the competition, creators push themselves to participate sometimes beyond their ability, and without having the right systems in place, this can become very difficult to manage and lead to feelings of overwhelm.
Six Practical Solutions for Creator Burnout
Getting to the root of the problem first is important. Now that we understand more about what could be causing these feelings of burnout, let’s examine some tried and true solutions. If you feel like you’re on track to burn out soon or are already burnt out and looking for help, consider these options. We hope they answer your questions about how to deal with burnout and provide some relief.
Recognizing That Burnout Is Happening
The first step to finding a solution for creator burnout is actually acknowledging that it’s happening. Depending on the severity of the burnout, the best approach might be to pause everything until you have clarity and can move forward happily. To do that, you have to take a moment and recognize that something is happening and that you’re feeling burnt out.
Everything you’re feeling, fear of missing out, stress about the algorithm, can wait. Your health has to come first, or you run the risk of breaking down and not being able to maintain your business.
Take a Look at Your Habits
Once you’ve identified that you’re starting to get burnt out, you need to examine your habits closely. Where are you spending most of your time? Can you track how much time you’re spending on your phone? Out of all the things you do each day for your creator business or life in general, which ones are draining your energy?
Sometimes we have certain apps on our phones that immediately put us into a competitive space or require significant energy and brain power. If we never take breaks from those, it can start to feel overwhelming or become an energy drain.
Regarding other habits, look beyond your content creation work. Are you spending time with friends? If you’re constantly thinking about creating content and it’s detracting from other aspects of your life such as relationships or maintaining your health, this could be causing your burnout.
We recommend outlining your day and designating specific time for content creation. Work other activities into your daily routines so you have space to refuel your creative engine and take breaks from work. Here are some ideas: meditation, a morning routine that doesn’t involve work, mid-day workouts, reading, and journaling.
Making time for relaxation is productive in the long run because then you’ll be able to show up as your best self for your business when needed. It’s all about creating routines and systems that allow you to stay organized, accomplish tasks, and build a sustainable business.
Create Space for You and Your Work
If you’re experiencing burnout, this is one of the most important steps you can take to return to normal. Often, creators and influencers are their brand. Their brand is very forward-facing and involves showing online audiences the ins and outs of their lifestyle, so much so that the line between work and actual life starts to blur.
Because of this, it’s easy to become too emotionally attached to the creator version of yourself. It’s crucial that you create space between your physical persona and what you post online. You have to remember that you are not your work!
Focus on the things that bring you joy and excitement, and budget permitting, delegate the rest.
Ask for Help and Delegate Tasks
Getting help regarding your mental health is something you should consider. Talking to someone about what you’re going through can provide clarity about how to move forward in a way that ensures burnout doesn’t happen again.
It’s also important to ask for help with creator business tasks that you might not handle well on your own or that consume too much time. We won’t sugarcoat it; as a creator or influencer, there will be things you have to do that you don’t enjoy. That’s part of running a business! However, if you can get someone to support you with administrative tasks or other tasks that can be outsourced so you can focus on what you’re really good at, this can help reduce your stress levels and get you back to loving your content creator business again.
While delegating tasks to others might cost money, if you can focus on what you’re good at, you’ll be able to generate more income and help your bottom line in the long run. When you hire someone or build your team, you should think with this mindset.
If you want to scale your creator business, looking for an assistant or some kind of help will eventually be necessary. We know you want to be involved in everything you do for your business, but if you want to flourish and avoid spreading yourself too thin, this is the way to go! Make the investment and you’ll be able to grow your business and hopefully avoid burning out.
Join a Community of Like-Minded Creators
Let’s face it, many people don’t understand the influencer and creator business and have difficulty understanding what we do. Having a network and group of people who understand what you’re going through and can relate to your wins, struggles, and everything in between could be the support system you need to keep you motivated and inspired to continue.
We have a creator community called the Inner Circle where creators can access group coaching calls with our influencer and creator coaches to ask questions or get feedback and check in on each other. We also have events throughout the month, a monthly book club, and stay connected through a WhatsApp group in between. The creator life can be isolating sometimes, but having a group of people who want to see you succeed and cheer you on can make a huge impact on your mental health, business, and overall success as a creator.
If you feel like you’re burning out or can’t figure out why you aren’t being productive, having a safe space to turn to for support can make a tremendous difference. Talking it through and hearing from others who may have gone through similar situations is an amazing step to take to overcome burnout.
Think About Your Accomplishments and Other Inspirations
What are the things that excite you most? That make you feel most alive? Take time to think through these things, whether it’s accomplishments in your creator business or external factors that make you feel really inspired and creative. Inspiration doesn’t always just come to you; you have to go and find it!
If you’re inspired when you’re out in nature, make time for this. Maybe you feel really inspired when you’re around other groups of creatives networking. Figure out where inspiration comes to you and write these down. That way, next time you’re feeling down, you can return to these areas that inspire you and revisit those highs.
Moving Forward After Burnout
Creator burnout is a challenging topic to discuss, but it’s crucial that we have these conversations. Your mental health needs to come first if you want to be happy as a creator; otherwise, the alternative may be returning to your corporate job. Major causes of creator burnout include dealing with unrealistic expectations to post constantly, fear of the algorithm, fear of missing out, and a sense of competition around keeping up with other creators.
Remember that there isn’t really a “quick fix” to creator burnout. If you feel like you’re burning out, you need to dig into the symptoms and address your situation to see what’s causing it. The biggest symptom of burnout is feeling dread, anxiety, or lack of interest around things that used to bring you joy.
We hope that if you’re feeling any sense of creator burnout, this post helped answer some of your questions and gave you direction on how to bounce back. Remember that your mental health comes first because without your positive energy and motivation, your creator business cannot thrive. We want to help you build a sustainable business that lasts without getting burned out along the way.
