Avoiding Burnout

I don't have a lot of burnout stories, but when I reflect back on myself, I have one instance of musical burnout. It actually marked the last time I was working on a song for my metal channel. It was the Super Mario RPG intro. I had a keyboard. I thought I could use that, plus my other instruments (electric guitar, bass, programmed drums).

But the song was tough to play. There were a ton of tracks since it was a Super Nintendo song. I was again working on it at nights (because I like working out in the morning). Then I finally set it to the side (I might come back one day, who knows).

What led to this? I think there's a few reasons, so you can see if you jive with any of these.

• The project was too complicated for me at that moment of my life. (It may not be for you, but it was for me).

• I had too much pressure on myself. The remake had just released or was releasing soon and I was trying to get it in while the hype was high.

• I was watching other YouTubers jump on the Super Mario RPG train and I felt like I was falling behind.

So I just kept beating my head against a wall until I started to strongly dislike the project, so I stopped. That's pretty sad considering that this is one of my favorite games ever with one of the most banger songs out there.

My mindset was completely off. Music went from something that I loved and loved to create to a chore. We can't just treat our brains like we're robots, giving ourselves a task and expecting output no matter how we feel.

What do we want?

We want to avoid this moment.

We want to be consistent with our creations without burning out.

How?

You have to recover like an Olympian.

Innocent Play = Consistency

When I really started learning guitar back in 2004, I had absolutely zero expectations from myself. "Hey that song is cool, I want to play it!" And I'd repeat that over and over and over and over. (Sorry to my friends who had to hear all those songs). That's why we all started creative things, right?

It's play. It's not a chore. This why you started in the first place. Keep that at the front of your mind.

Now don't get confused, it still takes work, but it shouldn't feel like you have to do the dishes.

Bringing it back to my music in the present day, why did I switch to classical guitar?

It was simpler.

It's still not easy, but it's a lot easier to pick it up, point it at a microphone and hit record than it is to play multiple electronic instruments. To take a page from James Clear and his book "Atomic Habits," habits are easier to build and maintain when there's less friction involved.

Real Self Care

Another thing that I hope more humans understand is that you're still in a physical body. "Duh" you might say, but are you pulling all nighters to work on music? Your body doesn't like that. Are you staying up late just because you want to? Your body doesn't like that. Sitting inside all day? Not walking? Eating junk food? Isn't your body tied to your brain and its ability to work on intellectual tasks? Yes.

I love working out. Would I do a hard workout for 4 hours straight? Would I do that 7 days a week? Sure… for one week. People that train understand the importance of rest, sleep, light days, light weeks and off days. Why not use the same for our brains?

Then I got a hold of a book and a YouTuber. "The Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss and Dan Koe (who also has a book, so I guess they're both authors). Both of them said that how much time you actually need to work is a lot smaller than you think. Dan Koe referenced the books "Rest" and "Deep Work" with the ideas that you need to mentally recover and how long you can actually focus on something is at a max of 4 hours. Hm.

Comparison: The Thief of Joy

Most of the time I talk about releasing music. Right now my focus is on YouTube. You know what's rough? Spending 5 seconds on there and seeing everyone and their mother with a channel, most of which having more views and subs than you. I believe this is why mental health is so bad these days. Back when I was innocently jamming away, I had no reference of other people except for a few educational videos. (YouTube was also brand new so there were fewer people on there).

I was and have been a lot happier when I just pick up my instrument and go to work and almost forget that other content creators are even out there.

Sometimes, the smaller your world is, the happier you are.

Just pretend you're like a cowboy out in the wilderness with your guitar and your horse. You're just playing for you.

Olympic Level Musician Recovery - The End of Burnout

Going back to the workout analogy, what if we changed the idea of being "over trained" or "burned out" to being "under-recovered?" If you're trying to build something, spending 3 hours per day on it and hitting a wall, what if you cut it back to 1 hour and recovered the rest? You could even string together more days if it's easier.

Let's figure out a way to take care of our minds and bodies.

Step 1: Work and Rest Mindset

• I'm going to stop you right here and say that work must come. This isn't going to be something like "yea just watch Netflix and eat ice cream every day to TaKe CaRe Of YoUrSeLf!" You feel fulfilled with work. It brings order to your life. Since you already have your creative work to work on, you're not going to avoid it completely.

• Imagine that you're going to be working on your craft for the rest of your life, which I hope you will because it gives you life. Since you know that, you can calm down and accept that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Think about all those musicians or composers or actors who keep going until they're in their 80s. Be like that.

• On the other end, I don't want you to think that rest is the common notion of "self care." Most people view rest as entertainment, junk food, scrolling, partying and staying up late. Your body and mind aren't actually recovering when you do those things. Be boring and start going to bed early.

Step 2: Big Goal, Small Steps, Head Down

• So you've accepted that you're going to be in this for the long haul. You have goals along the way. The worst thing you can do for your mental health is ONLY focus on the big goal. It may be weeks away or even years. You do, however, have the next few steps to work with. Set the goal. It can be as big as you want, but then hide it and focus on the next few tasks.

• Once you've got that down, ignore other content creators. You can use them as inspiration or learn from them, but once you're starting to doubt your own work, put the blinders on and stay to yourself. Even if you have to take a week long break from watching other content, do it.

Step 3: Physical Recovery

• I wanted to start here because I think the body comes before the mind. As proof, if you're having a rough day and decided to dance to some music, I bet you'd feel better. I want you to find as many was as you can to start taking care of yourself more. I'll give some examples

• Take an off day from music. You can even take a week off. Seriously. If you're hitting a wall, why push it? If you have a musical work or practice session and all you want to do is sit and stare into space, then you probably needed it.

• Sleep more. Take naps. Put the phone down and go to bed. If you're restless at night then start reading fiction. If that wires you then just sip tea and daydream for a bit.

• Go outside more. Go on walks. Do some pushups. Move more. Your body thrives on movement.

Step 4: Mental Recovery

• Treat your mind like you would your body.

• Shorten your work blocks so you can mentally recover longer.

• Meditate more. If anything just sit for 10 minutes and focus on your breathing. Your mind will thank you.

• Digitally detox every once in a while. Don't use your phone for the first hour in the morning and the last hour at night. Read these things called "books." They have them at these places called "libraries."

Take Care of Yourself

I love having big goals, but they stop serving you when you start beating yourself up when you're not there yet.

If you're doing something of your own making, the easiest thing for you to do is to work on it a little bit each day, not go all out with huge expectations and run yourself into the ground.

It should add to your life. Not take away from it.

Thanks for reading!

If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out. I'm always down to get more ideas for content.

Feel free to binge my music.