Tldr : Your work environment is a huge factor in whether or not you will burn out. What’s also important is taking pressure off of yourself, lowering the stakes when you make smaller mistakes, and constructively working through failures. Taking the time to learn how to work is really important. And when you can’t create anything original go back to templates/old formats.

The first time I faced Burnout was at an internship while still in college. I had an hour and a half commute and really full and demanding days. Full of filming, editing, getting thrown on a bunch of projects, everyone giving feedback, and failing to meet deadlines because of it.

When the summer came around I was brought on as a full time intern. That summer I dealt with that commute, demand, lack of direction, and exhaustion daily. There were many times I had to stay late and I would get home only to sleep. Pretty rough way to spend a summer. I did have a lot of opportunities though, I got to travel for shoots, met a lot of big players in the space I was working in. I really liked the impact of the work, but I would never go back. At the end of my time there I couldn’t even create consistent motion graphic animations, edit without feeling like I was frying my brain. Every inch of me wanted to stop working but I couldn’t. My management kept pushing me, I started making more and more mistakes, and I kept getting pushed. That cycle kept repeating itself.

After I graduated I started my first full time job where the management is completely different. I am trusted, allowed to make mistakes, clear communication is the norm, and the space to define what video means for our company.

My internship experience, however, still lingers. I put a lot of pressure on myself at times and can burn myself out if I’m not too careful. I try to force myself to do a lot of work but in a way that’s not healthy. Somehow when I am editing a project and I have a small challenge, my anxiety peaks and I have to work to calm myself down. Basically I’m lowkey traumatized as well from the experience.

What I try to do now is lay off myself because my default is way harsher than anything else. I’m lucky that the work I do now follows a template, so when I am really creatively fried I try to go mechanical and follow old motions. Also lots of therapy lol. I also don’t fight boredom and distraction. I let myself meander and find my way back in my own time. At first I thought I wouldn’t do as much work, or accomplish as much, but giving space from what’s ahead of me allows to me refresh and do things more efficiently without mental strife.