Tech burnout recovery - What's working (and what isn't)

a few months ago I uploaded this video here sharing with you all that I was going through a period of burnout and I thought it was about time that I sat down and updated you on what's been going well and what hasn't been going so well with burnout recovery so let's start with an obvious one what hasn't been going so well is uploading content I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who left such kind sort of comments on that burnout video you know it's like I don't know a scary thing as a content creator to take a break for such a long time and I know I just like disappeared for a few months on there at the end of last year so to be able to come back and have people watch the video and like care enough about the content to actually comment on it as well that just meant a whole lot to me so thank you very much for all of your support and I'm sorry that I've left you hanging with another long gap between content and to be honest this is probably going to continue to happen this year as I figure myself out I knew that I was going to have to approach my content business a little bit differently this year and I even sat down at the beginning of the year and like mapped out like okay what is like a scale back more focused version of this look like how do I optimize my schedule for producing just one video a month you know like that seems like a goal I could aim for clearly not a goal that I've hit and the honest truth is that there's been so many times that I've thought about making content I've thought about getting back to work on my business and just felt this like sense of dread around it which is kind of horrible to say so bear with me here I know that it's irrational but I think the part of me feels like by restarting that again by like working my business and doing tasks similar to what I did before I'm getting back on the hamster wheel and I know that's not true I know that I am in complete control of whatever I want my business to look like I don't have any investors any team like anyone really to stay accountable to except for you my love you viewers and the audience who's been supporting me for so long and I know that you have told me you don't care if you're not seeing content every single week and like you know to go easy on myself or whatever but there's definitely something there where it feels like getting into work on content again there's this like fear that it's going to feel like it did before or there's this fear that it will put me back on that hamster wheel of like striving for more more and that is a me issue that is not a you issue like I said you've been very supportive so really what I've been doing with my business is just kind of like waiting for it to feel right a couple of weeks ago I like had the sudden urge to work on some writing for my marketing design book that is definitely been put like you know on the back burner so I went with that did some writing and it felt great I'm filming this video today because today I felt like sitting down talking to the camera and making some content and if you are seeing this video it means I also managed to feel like editing it too because it has been some videos that I've filmed in the past few months that I just like gave up on editing so yeah it's a tricky thing when I uploaded that bone out video I truly thought okay this is me coming back I'm going to like commit to a very light schedule of just one video a month since then and I mean yeah by the time you see this it's probably June or even later to Su all this up I guess what's not been going so well is my business in general and we will definitely see that reflected in the income report that I will be publishing soon that is one piece of content that I love making every single year so I am definitely looking forward to my accounting year wrapping up and putting that video together for you and yeah it's going to be interesting something that has been going well for me though is been prioritizing some form of movement every single day um I've had this like I don't know I guess mindset shift where I'm working out as much for my mental health as I am for my physical health I know that probably sounds pretty obvious but for me this has helped me I don't know find more freedom in working out it helps me enjoy it more too and that's partially because I've also found the types of workouts that I really do enjoy and that do make me happy um twice a week I go to a yoga class in the Park which is where I'm on my way to now and then another twice a week I go to a like hit training class also in the park so it's been fun to do like these group workouts Outdoors which in Spain you can do pretty much all year around I think part of it is the social aspect of those classes as well like it's allowed me to meet a bunch of people who know me entirely outside of work and business you know um and so we go for coffee after workout sometimes we have chats and we rarely talk about work and that is nice so yeah four times a week I'm at classes in the park and then I also have a weekend gym membership where I go and like do an apple Fitness Plus run on the treadmill I really like the like guided runs um or lift weights whatever it is that I feel like and then on any day that I'm not doing an actual like workout I make sure I'm going for a walk so I guess while I may be struggling to find some sort of routine for working on my business at least I'm finding a good routine that's working well for me in my mornings for my health and um honestly that's more important something else that's been going well is sewing welcome to my very messy sewing table this is a hobby that I shared with you all that I picked up in that burnout video and I'm pleased to say that it has still been going strong still been bringing me a ton of Joy I've made several dresses now

like this one here that I'm wearing and a few more that I'll pop up on the screen this is currently a skirt that I'm making um for the summer it's all lined and very fancy what I have loved about sewing is not only like you know doing something physical with my hands off a screen which is something I've needed to have like a hobby in for a very long time honestly I spend way too much time on screens normally but also what sewing has done for me is remind me that I am still a highly motivated creative person the fact that completed so many projects since I first started learning how to sew the fact that I find enjoyment in like learning new techniques and trying to get something new right and being a beginner again that was definitely a fear I felt when I realized that my business was exhausting me so much to do alongside my full-time job is it's like okay well am I someone who does side projects anymore can I get motivated to work on a project to complete something and sowing has told me the answer is absolutely yes and that's how I know that when the time is right for me to like go fall in on my business again I will hello editing Charlie popping in here to say that this was a really big point for me and I feel like it's kind of understated in this clip which is why I wanted to come on here and talk about it I tied so much of my identity up in being a person who ran a business alongside a full-time job and being able to like do it all find ways to make it happen and so when I couldn't do that anymore I honestly felt like I lost part of my personality which is sad to say but it's just the honest truth and so yeah getting into sewing and like being able to feel that motivation and creativity G and remind myself that those are still parts of my personality that is still who I am and it's just that in different phases of life I might apply those to different things so there we go back to the video it's also nice to like Express creativity in a different way I've been a designer for many years and uh since becoming creative director and especially over the last year I would say as I've really like level up my career more on that in a second I'm doing less work like INF figma moving pixels around designing a project from start to finish and so having projects that I can complete from start to finish you know with my sewing projects that's been a really nice like creative Outlet I'm enjoying sharing my sewing projects on Instagram so follow me over there if you want to see more and I have a whole cupboard behind me of fabric that I bought on my recent trip to New Zealand that I'm excited to start turning into clothes let's set you up on my desk and we talk about work so something that hasn't been going so well for me in this area is managing work stress I felt like I was starting to get a handle on it like I was you know Finding ways to switch off at the end of the day and yeah just like stress less about the little everyday things at work and then work got a lot busier for reasons that I will be able to share with you all soon but not quite yet there's been more responsibility on my plate over the past few months and we're just in like a busier time in general as a company and that's meant that I need to develop some new coping mechanisms methods to deal with the work stress I have noticed that over the past few weeks especially I've been like checking slack last thing before I go to bed which I know is terrible and you know not effective cuz then I'll like forget to forget that I've read something and forget to address it in the next morning anyway and so I need to stop doing that this is a note to myself because yeah maybe actually I don't need new coping mechanisms it's just that it's harder to stick to the routines that were helping me minimize stress before when things busy oh cool now some drilling is started outside I don't know if you can hear that I'm just going to talk over the drill so I apologies if you can't hear it but related to work there has been a positive side to like the busyness and the responsibility as well and that is that over the past I guess I would say maybe past 6 months I've found myself operating at a higher level I can feel myself like reaching the next level in my career and I'm actually talking to my manager at the moment about going for a promotion so I'll keep you updated on that I think burnout and like trying to manage work stress has forced me to stay out of the Weeds on certain projects and just like trust the team with them and my team are fantastic and so there's been no problems with doing that and that really I didn't need to be as involved in all the details as I was all along this one might warrant a full video at some point talking about how burnout led me to realize some things that I should be doing differently as a creative director but I would say overall I've been leaning more on delegation more on just like assigning outcomes to my team members and just saying like hey I need you to own this and then watching them run with it being there to answer questions when they have it but not like staying involved in that process myself that's left me to be able to focus on the like higher level strategic work that's happening at the moment the bigger responsibilties is on my plate and it's been working out really well and so I'm really pleased that yeah during this period of burnout I am still able to do my job well show up for work and grow in some ways cuz I know that as a generally motivated person it would feel frustrating if I wasn't growing at all

and if I was stagnating in my full-time role as well as with my business and so I'm like cool at least something's going right Edis and Charlie popping in again to say that um I think part of the reason that I hit burnout in the first place was cuz things weren't running as they needed to be at work and my manager made a bunch of changes to our team and how we operate and that has left me feeling more like my work is having an impact that um we do have the resources or like a plan to get the resources that we need to get things done and to get them done effectively and I just felt like it was important to mention that here that changes happened at work that has led to me being able to feel like I'm growing and succeeding again which has been really important for my burnout recovery so thanks Dave if you're watching this but you're probably not clearly I still have issues to work through with self-worth being tied up in my work um especially with how I'm feeling about my content business and feeling like almost a little ashamed of myself honestly that I haven't been able to get into a routine with it gain and the like fear that I've been feeling about getting back on the hamster wheel cuz it's one thing to be proud of your work and it's another to tie up yeah your personal like selfworth in it so I guess it's been a bit of a mixed bag something's going well something's not going so well but I'm still trucking along and like I said if you're seeing this video that means that I felt like editing it and I felt like making this content so you can be rest assured that I truly did enjoy putting this video together for you I am going to continue that approach to content creating quite honestly throughout the rest of this year and so you'll see me when you see me if you didn't see last year's income report definitely go on over and watch that cuz it's going to be very interesting to compare that previous year's income to this year's