I burned out. Here's how I recovered.

Summary

In this candid video, the creator discusses his personal experience with burnout, detailing the creative exhaustion and cynicism that led to his professional and personal decline in 2019. He shares the strategies that helped him recover, including taking a break, reducing commitments, and reevaluating his priorities. The video emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and the acceptance of a slower pace for a healthier work-life balance, offering practical advice for those facing similar challenges.

Takeaways

• 🎬 The video is sponsored by Audible, offering a discount for new subscribers.
• 🔥 The creator discusses personal experiences with burnout, which he defines as a period of creative exhaustion and cynicism towards work and life.
• 📅 Burnout was triggered by an unsustainable content schedule and feeling trapped by self-imposed commitments.
• 🤝 With the help of others and better decision-making, the creator was able to overcome burnout and regain creative energy.
• 🚫 The creator emphasizes the importance of not needing a 'bombastic approach' to discuss serious topics like burnout.
• 📉 The creator felt the pressure from sponsors and a pre-planned content schedule, which contributed to his burnout.
• 💡 A realization that not every piece of content needs to be at the same high level of innovation or effort helped alleviate the pressure.
• 📊 Analyzing finances and commitments with data and spreadsheets provided clarity and a path to reducing workload without dire consequences.
• ✂️ Cutting back on commitments and taking a break, like a vacation, was crucial in the creator's recovery from burnout.
• 💡 The anticipation of a lighter schedule in the future, even with a full month of work ahead, provided relief and renewed interest in new projects.
• 🎶 The creator has rediscovered his interest in music and is setting up a studio for music production as part of his recovery process.
• 📚 The video recommends 'How Music Works' by David Byrne as a resource for those interested in music and creativity.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is burnout, specifically the creator's personal experience with it and how he overcame it.

Why did the video creator feel trapped in his work?

The video creator felt trapped because he had a packed schedule with multiple video commitments months in advance, and he felt responsible for his team's livelihoods.

What was the turning point for the creator that led to the realization of burnout?

The turning point was in 2019 when he started to take a cynical approach to his work and life, and felt creatively exhausted.

What strategies did the creator use to recover from burnout?

The creator took a vacation, cut back on commitments, reassessed his schedule, and had a conversation with his agent to rearrange his workload.

How did the creator's approach to his work change after recovering from burnout?

After recovering, the creator started to have ideas again and became interested in projects that he previously would have found agitating due to time constraints.

What practical advice does the creator give for dealing with burnout?

The creator suggests writing down all commitments, understanding what sacrifices would be made by reducing them, and using data to make informed decisions about workload.

What role did the creator's team play in his experience with burnout?

The team helped cover some of the work during the creator's vacation, allowing him to relax and reset, and their involvement also added to the pressure he felt to maintain a high level of output.

How did the creator's perspective on the quality of his content change after his burnout experience?

He realized that not every piece of content has to be at the same high level of complexity and effort, and that it's okay to have an ebb and flow in the amount of work put into each project.

What philosophical realization did the creator come to regarding his work and success?

The creator realized that there is no magical moment of success that would allow him to slow down, and that he needs to be okay with slower progress for a better work-life balance.

How does the creator's interest in music relate to his recovery from burnout?

After recovering from burnout, the creator found his interest in music again, which led him to build a new studio and engage in music production and practice.

What is the promotional offer mentioned in the video for Audible, and how can viewers take advantage of it?

Audible is offering more than 50% off for three months of service. Viewers can sign up using the link in the description or by texting 'Thomas' to 500-500 to take advantage of this offer.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Overcoming Burnout: A Personal Journey

The speaker opens up about their experience with burnout in 2019, highlighting the creative exhaustion and cynicism that affected their work and life. They describe feeling trapped by their own ambitious schedule and commitments, despite being in control of their business. The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing the root causes of burnout, rather than simply trying to work harder. They share their realization that they needed to reduce commitments and take a break, which helped them regain their creative energy and passion for life.

05:01

📉 The Impact of Overcommitment and Finding Relief

This paragraph delves into the speaker's realization of the negative impact of overcommitment on their mental health and creativity. They recount how cutting back on commitments rejuvenated their interest in new projects and life in general. The speaker discusses the importance of having a clear understanding of one's commitments and the potential sacrifices involved in reducing them. They share a practical approach to assessing the financial implications of reducing work commitments by using a spreadsheet to analyze the business's financial health with a reduced workload. The speaker also touches on the acceptance of varying levels of content quality and the philosophical realization that there is no 'magical moment' of complete success that justifies slowing down.

10:02

🎶 Embracing a Balanced Life with Music and Learning

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on their journey towards a better work-life balance and the pursuit of personal interests, such as music. They share their excitement about setting up a new music studio and engaging in guitar and piano practice. The speaker also recommends the book 'How Music Works' by David Byrne, which they are enjoying through Audible. They promote a special offer for the Audible service, encouraging viewers to take advantage of the discounted subscription rate and explore the wide selection of audiobooks available on the platform.

Keywords

💡Burnout

Burnout refers to a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, often caused by excessive and prolonged stress. In the video, the creator discusses his personal experience with burnout, which was characterized by creative exhaustion and a negative outlook towards his work. The term is central to the video's theme, as it sets the stage for the creator's reflection on his work-life balance and the steps he took to overcome this state.

💡Creative Energy

Creative energy is the drive and inspiration that fuels the creation of new and original work. The video discusses the loss of this energy during the creator's period of burnout and how regaining it was a significant part of his recovery process. The concept is integral to the narrative as it represents the passion and motivation that was initially depleted but later revitalized.

💡Schedule

A schedule is a plan for carrying out a sequence of activities or tasks over a period of time. In the context of the video, the creator's strict content creation schedule contributed to his burnout, as he felt trapped by the commitments he had made to sponsors and his audience. The term is significant as it highlights the pressure of meeting deadlines and the subsequent impact on the creator's well-being.

💡Commitments

Commitments are obligations or engagements that one has agreed to fulfill. The video script mentions the creator's struggle with an overwhelming number of commitments, which led to his burnout. Reducing these commitments was a key strategy in overcoming his burnout, illustrating the importance of managing one's workload to maintain a healthy balance.

💡Efficiency

Efficiency refers to the ability to do or achieve something without wasting materials, time, or energy. The creator mentions his tendency to blame his struggles on a lack of efficiency and his belief that working harder would solve his problems. This concept is relevant as it reflects a common mindset that can lead to overwork and burnout if not addressed properly.

💡Vacation

A vacation is a period of time spent away from work and daily routine, usually for rest or recreation. In the script, the creator describes taking a meaningful vacation as part of his recovery from burnout, emphasizing the importance of taking a break from work to recharge and regain perspective.

💡Content Creation

Content creation is the process of making or producing various forms of content, such as videos, articles, or other media. The video's creator discusses the pressure of consistently producing innovative content while adhering to a strict schedule, which contributed to his burnout. This concept is central to understanding the pressures of the creator's profession and the challenges he faced.

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the introduction of new ideas, methods, or products. The creator in the video expresses his desire to bring something new and innovative to each piece of content he creates. This keyword is important as it reflects the creator's drive for originality and the potential stress that comes with the pursuit of constant novelty.

💡Prioritization

Prioritization is the act of arranging tasks or objectives in order of importance. The video script discusses the importance of prioritizing and making sacrifices in order to reduce commitments and alleviate burnout. This concept is crucial as it represents a strategy for managing workload and maintaining a healthier work-life balance.

💡Success

Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. The creator reflects on the idea that there will never be a 'magical moment' of success that justifies slowing down, challenging the notion that one must continuously strive for more. This keyword is significant as it touches on the psychological aspects of ambition and the pursuit of a work-life balance.

💡Music Production

Music production is the process of creating, recording, and mixing music. In the video, the creator mentions building a new studio for music production as part of his recovery process, indicating a renewed interest in a creative outlet outside of his usual work. This keyword illustrates the creator's exploration of new creative avenues as a means of overcoming burnout.

Highlights

The video discusses the creator's personal experience with burnout, emphasizing its severity in comparison to previous stressful periods.

The creator felt trapped by the work they had self-imposed, despite running their own business and having autonomy in decision-making.

With the help of others and better decisions, the creator managed to overcome burnout and regain creative energy.

The video aims to share how the creator burned out and, more importantly, how they recovered, which is relevant to many facing societal pressures.

The creator's burnout was exacerbated by a demanding content schedule and the feeling of being unable to reduce commitments without letting down their team.

The creator's approach to overcoming burnout included taking a real vacation and delegating work to a capable team.

Cutting back on commitments led to a resurgence of ideas and interest in projects that were previously sources of agitation.

Having a lighter schedule ahead, even with a full month of work, relieved pressure and allowed the creator to breathe.

The creator advises identifying and reducing life commitments to combat burnout, a difficult but necessary step.

The creator used a spreadsheet to analyze the financial impact of reducing commitments, dispelling fears of financial ruin.

Accepting that not every piece of content needs to be at the same high level was crucial for the creator's recovery.

The creator learned to embrace a slower pace of progress in exchange for a better work-life balance and less stress.

The video mentions the book 'How Music Works' by David Byrne as a source of inspiration during the creator's recovery.

Audible is offering a promotion for new subscribers, with a significant discount on their service for a limited time.

The creator encourages viewers to subscribe for updates on new videos and shares personal struggles with burnout, offering hope and relatability.

Transcripts

- This video is sponsored by Audible.

And for a limited time,

you can get more than 50% off three months of Audible

by using the link in the description below to sign up.

So just to let you know up front,

this is gonna be a bit more of a strip down video,

especially in comparison to the last video.

But I think we're gonna talk about today

doesn't need a super bombastic approach

and it certainly doesn't need

a thousand different camera angles.

So, what I wanna talk about today is burnout.

And the reason I wanna talk about it is that,

in 2019, I went through a period of true burnout.

I was creatively exhausted,

I started to take a very cynical approach

to how I looked at my work,

and how I looked at my life in some cases.

And it was different than any year before that.

I've definitely gone through stressful periods before

but this year, around May, maybe April,

I got to a point where things just were not good.

I was looking very negatively towards my work,

and part of the reason was that I sort of felt

trapped by the work that I had built for myself.

And it was kind of funny because nobody was telling me

to do what I was doing.

Everything that I do on a daily basis

is something that I decided to do

since I run my own business,

and yet, I felt like there wasn't a way out.

But, with the help of some other people

and with some better decisions

that I've made since those months,

I've actually been able to come out of that burnout

and get back a to of that creative energy

and just that fire for life and for my work

that I used to have.

So what I wanna talk about in this video is,

number one, how I burned out,

but number two and more importantly,

how I got passed that burnout.

Because I think a lot of people go through this.

Especially as we constantly put more and more

expectations on ourselves.

And I think this is partly due

to the influences we all have,

the internet and social media.

We often feel a lot of pressure

and that can lead to burnout.

But I think it's something that we can definitely get over.

So in my case, I felt burned out because of my schedule.

I was putting out so much content and,

as you probably know if you've watched a lot of my content,

I'm really not content to do

the same kind of video over and over again.

I like to find something new and innovative that I can do

with every piece of content that I create.

But I also have a schedule to stick to.

And to pull back the curtain a little bit

on how my business works,

as you probably know,

I have sponsors on most videos that I do.

And things have gotten to the point

over the past couple of years

where sponsors would book out several months in advance,

meaning that I had deadlines

and I had kind of a schedule that I would stick to.

And I am a person who tends to bite off

more than I can chew.

I get overly ambitious especially when it comes to

what future Tom can do,

because in my head, future Tom is not burdened

by all of the myriad to-do items

that present Tom has to do.

So I will happily saddle future Tom

with many many many commitments.

And it got to the point where I had

four videos a month, sometimes five,

scheduled out months and months and months in advance.

And as a lot of entrepreneurs do,

I had started to build a team.

So now, not only was my livelihood on the line,

but other people's livelihoods were on the line as well.

I felt that if I were to scale back

the amount of content I was producing,

I will be letting down my team

in a very real tangible way.

So as a result, I kind of felt trapped.

And months and months and months went by

where I would, you know, push up against deadlines,

I would feel creatively exhausted,

and I would always tell myself,

next month, I will just work harder,

next month, I'll just be more efficient.

And this is always my go-to solution for everything.

I just think, you know, if I'm having

a tough time right now, if things are stressful,

it is my fault because I have been inefficient

and I just need to work harder

the next time around the next month.

And there's some truth to that. (chuckling)

I think a lot of these mental prisons

we put ourselves in are built on a foundation

of at least a kernel of truth.

Like I could actually be more efficient.

But that's not always the crux of the problem.

There's often something more fundamental

that needs to be addressed.

And in my case, it was the number of commitments that I had.

Because I have a desire to make everything that I create

high quality and often have different innovative elements

or, you know, because I often learn something new

and want to incorporate it

into everything I make afterwards,

I just can't put out the same amount of content

that certain other YouTubers can.

So here's how I got out of my burnout.

And I know this is not a very highly structured video

but I'm just kind of speaking from the heart here.

So number one, and this may not be as actionable

for some people but I did take a break.

I went on vacation with my girlfriend.

And unlike most of the vacations

I have taken in my life since becoming an adult,

I made this one an actual vacation.

I did as much as I could to cut work out of my life.

I have a great team,

and they were able to take care of some things.

We were able to work ahead

to get things done in advance.

And I was able to actually relax.

But much more importantly,

I cut back on my commitments.

I had a conversation with the guy who runs my agency,

and I asked him if he would help me

move things around so I would get down

to a bit of a sparser schedule.

And when I did that, something really surprising happened.

I immediately started to get ideas again.

I immediately started to become interested in things

that I would normally get agitated about.

Like when a new project came across my plate

or something that I would maybe wanna get interested in,

as part of my burnout, I would just get agitated

because it would feel like that thing

would take too much of my time

and I already had so much going on

I couldn't even pay it any attention.

The moment I committed to cutting back my schedule,

I started to have a more open outlook towards new things.

I had a lot of that interest

for life in general coming back.

And the interesting thing was

the way that my agent had moved things around,

made it so that I still had to do four videos in June,

and the cut down schedule wasn't gonna start until July,

so I still had a full month of the same workload,

but just knowing that my schedule

was going to open up

and I was gonna have more breathing room

in the near future,

it took a lot of pressure off of me,

it took a weight off my shoulders.

So if you're in a place where you are feeling burned out,

I think the number one thing you have to do is

figure out how you can cut down

on the number of commitments in your life.

And this is really really tough.

I put off doing this for so long

because, again, I felt like I literally couldn't.

I felt like I had to keep up my content schedule

because otherwise I wouldn't be able

to pay my team what they deserved.

And the reason I felt this way is

I did not have an accurate concrete picture

of everything that was going on.

I just had this sort of ethereal feeling

that if I stopped working as hard as I was working,

then everything was going to crash and burn.

And I think a lot of people have this fear.

So here's what's probably gonna be the most practical

piece of advice in this video.

When you realize that you need to reduce

the number of commitments in your life,

sit down, write them all out,

and see exactly what you're going to sacrifice.

So in my case, my big fear was that

I was not gonna make enough money to pay my team,

but I hadn't really sat down and done the math.

So I broke out my big spreadsheet that I use

to track my entire business and my finances.

I don't do crazy in-depth budgeting

on a month to month basis on this,

but I do put in average income numbers,

average expense numbers,

and this gets me a pretty accurate estimate

of how much is gonna be left over at the end of the month,

after everything is said and done.

So, I broke that spreadsheet out

and I changed the number of videos

that I was doing per month,

from four to one, to see what it would do.

And I think putting it to a one

would have put me in the red every month,

so I brought it up to two,

and interestingly enough,

at two videos a month,

my business would have started breaking even.

So I wouldn't have been saving any money,

but I would have been able to continue paying my salary

and I wouldn't have had to give anyone a pay cut.

And I would have cut my salary before

giving anyone else a pay cut.

But I wouldn't even have had to do that.

And that was such a different picture

than what I had in my head before.

I thought, if I stopped working

as hard as I'm working right now,

everything is gonna crash and burn.

Not, if I stopped working as hard as I'm working,

then everything is just going to slow down.

Which is a much more palatable future.

And once I had that data,

I realized that I could actually slow down.

The role wasn't gonna end.

I would just grow a little bit more slowly.

So get straight on your priorities.

Be willing to make some sacrifices,

and get as much data as you can on those sacrifices.

A couple more things that I did.

Number one, I had to come to the realization

that not every single piece of content that I create

can be at the exact same level.

And I think a lot of artists struggle with this,

but there are also a lot of artists out there

who completely understand it.

There are bands that do, you know,

crazy albums with entire orchestras,

and then on the next album,

they'll strip it back,

they'll go back to just four people on the band,

the guitar, bass, drums, and a singer and that's it.

And that's fine.

There's this ebb and flow to the amount of craziness

they put into each piece of art.

I struggled with that.

When I make a video like the one on our morning routine,

which took me like five full days of work to make,

I start to feel like every single video

I make in the future has to be that good

and that crazy and technical and effortful,

otherwise, I'm not working to my full potential.

But that's just not how it works.

We don't always have to do the exact same thing

at the exact same level.

Finally, and this is a bit more of a philosophical thing,

but I've taken more seriously

the knowledge that there's never going to be

a magical moment where I have attained

enough success that I will just let myself slow down.

That doesn't exist.

But I believe that I am not alone in having that,

as like a thought in the back of my head,

that if, you know, if I just do this and this and this,

then I'll take a break, then I'll slow down.

But that's not how it works.

You know, when I was 25 I thought that,

but I got to 28 and I have accomplished a lot

of what I wanted to accomplish back when I was 25,

and now there's like a thousand more things

I want to accomplish.

So I've just become, again, okay with slower progress

because in exchange, I get a better work life balance.

I have less chronic stress

and I also have time to pursue things

that are really interesting.

Things that I probably would have found aggravating

because I was so overwhelmed just six months ago.

Now, those things truly are interesting again.

And one of those things is actually music,

which is why I have taken the time

to build this new studio

and set it up for music production.

I've been doing a lot more

guitar practice, piano practice, lately.

And I've also been going through

a really excellent book called,

"How Music Works" by David Byrne,

who was one of the founding members

of the Talking Heads band.

It is a fantastic book, I'm really enjoying it.

And you can listen to it on Audible,

if you go over to Audible.com/thomas,

or by texting Thomas to 500-500 on your phone,

and signing up.

And you might wanna do that soon

because for a limited time,

you can get three months of Audible service

for just $6.95 per month,

which is more than 50% off the normal

monthly subscription price.

Of course, Audible has the best selection

of audio books on the internet.

They have all the best sellers,

lots of really obscure titles,

they have biographies, science fiction books.

They have lots of music science books actually.

And every single month,

you get one credit that is good

for any audio book title in their library,

plus two Audible originals

that you cannot get anywhere else.

So, once again, if you wanna get started

and get three months of Audible for more than 50% off,

go over to Audible.com/thomas,

or text Thomas to 500-500 on your phone to sign up.

Thanks as always for watching.

Hopefully, this kind of rambling video

is helpful for you.

I've honestly had a lot of trouble

getting over this burnout myself

and I had to have a lot of conversations

with friends and people

that I trust and that love me to get over it.

So hopefully some of my experience

is helpful for you to hear about.

If you haven't subscribed yet,

you can do that right there,

to get notifications about new videos

that come out on this channel.

Otherwise, you could check out a couple more videos

right here and right here.

Thanks again for watching

and I will see you in my next video.