I'd like to take a moment to talk about burnout.
Burnout sucks. Beyond that, it's also incredibly hard to recover from. In the latest edition of 'Marketing on Mondays', I'd like to share my burnout story and how I managed to recover.
Let me start with this… Burnout fucking sucks.
Not only that, but once burnout strikes, it’s incredibly hard to break the cycle.
I recently attended BrightonSEO and saw an incredible talk from Georgia Gadsby March on this topic, and points that Craig Dewart made within his talk also resonated. It’s safe to say I was inspired to share my story, and how I managed to break the cycle.
Hopefully this newsletter will also resonate with you, whoever you are, reading right now. Marketers, SEO professionals, digital PR managers, CMOs or whatever profession you’re in, we’re all working on multiple projects at every time of day and it’s slowly killing us.
How do I know? Well…
My Burnout Story
You might not know this, but I took a short break from marketing to work a sales role.
Well, I say took a break, I didn’t actually stop working in marketing but rather split my time between a commercial interior design company (the sales role) and a local marketing agency. I worked 4 days a week in sales and 1 day a week in marketing, SEO specifically.
I also said “short break” when, in actual fact, this period of time was just under two years and I saw my mental and physical health plummet to record lows in that time.
I was driving around the country completing site visits for sales leads, working on my own projects each evening and on one day per week I’d also have to completely switch my sales head off in order to jump back into my ‘marketing mode’ for the one day a week I was working there.
In actual fact, I was working on marketing more than one day per week. I was checking emails and Slack notifications outside of work time, I was working on things in my spare time and I was contributing to campaigns that I didn’t need to contribute to.
It was a terrible time in my life, but it took me a whole lot longer to figure out the reason for why the time was so terrible.
Burnout is a Mental Health Condition (IMO)
Contrary to what “hustle bro” culture will tell you, I believe in my mind that burnout is a mental health condition and should be registered as such.
Symptoms can include:
Feeling tired or drained most of the time
Feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated
Feeling detached/alone in the world
Having a cynical/negative outlook
Self-doubt
Procrastinating and taking longer to get things done
Feeling overwhelmed
Safe to say I felt all of the above at various points in my life.
It’s also worth noting that burnout can cause more physical symptoms too, including:
Gastrointestinal problems
High blood pressure
Poor immune function
Headaches
Sleep issues
Again, I suffered with all of these at certain points.
Getting Back to 100%
Getting back to 100% following my period of burnout was difficult and took an extremely long time, but there are things that I did and still do today to ensure I never get back to that stage again.
Communication
I don’t want to be one of those people that work lots outside of the standard nine to five, but sometimes it just is not possible to avoid.
In cases like this, I will always ensure people that need to know, namely my girlfriend, are aware of the nights I need to focus on some work.
What I’ve found with this is it helps keep away those feelings of guilt about spending time working and away from the people that mean the most to me.
Physical Wellness is Priority
Like I mentioned a little earlier on in the newsletter, I gained weight during my stint with burnout. It’s actually safe to say I’ve become the most unfit I have in my life. However, I’ve slowly (and I do mean slowly) got back to some regular exercise including a weekly football game, strength training three times per week and ensuring I hit 10,000 steps on rest days.
Took a while to get here, but I’m feeling (physically) as good as I have in years.
Saying “No” to Work is Saying “Yes” to Life
Ryan Serhant
Gary Vaynerchuk
Two of my prime examples of “hustle culture” influencers who preach that, especially when you’re in your 20’s, you need to say “yes” to everything that comes your way in order to progress in life.
I say that’s bullshit. How do I know? I did it between the ages of 18 and 21 and it tore my mental health a new one.
Do I still say yes to things that excite me? Of course! But only when the opportunity really, really excites me and I KNOW I can make a difference without sacrificing my health.
Let me make this clear.
I still apply for jobs that excite me, but only when it’s at a “dream job” level.
I still work freelance in my spare time, but only on projects I love.
I still work out of hours from my 9-5, but only when I want to.
I know, now, that I can enjoy a date night with my girlfriend rather than complete an extra blog post or an extra little bit of keyword research and I still know I’m going to reach the top of the marketing profession sooner or later.
Sound cocky? Probably.
But spending time with the people I love energises me, makes me love what I do even more and I know I’ll win out every time over the “hustle bro” culture we see all too often in marketing.
Burnout’s a Hole, So Climb
Like I said in the very beginning, burnout will only get worse if you do not stop it at the source. Sure, it takes time and it takes a bucket load of mental energy, but you are going to feel so much better when you’re out of the hole.
How do I know? Because I’m out of the hole.
With all this being said, and I know this is now probably long to be considered a newsletter, if you need help with avoiding burnout or climbing back up from a position of burnout. Please reach out to me. I’m always here to help.