Ep. 18 FMF How to not suffer from burnout and overwhelm

Episode 018 Fan Mail Friday Burnout  

Roberto from Laguna Beach:

  "Sonya I am very happy for you that you are back doing the art marketing workshops! Your energy and enthusiasm is admirable! I've always wanted to attend but could never get up to the San Jose area.  We met a number of years ago  in LB while I had an art show here and I'm hoping you can help me. I feel like I am burning out from all the shows, did you ever experienced this burnout and how did you get over it."  Warmly, Roberto T.    First of all, Roberto! I am so excited to hear from you and I am thrilled to know that you're still exhibiting. I do recall us meeting probably 10 years ago and having a conversation about art marketing.    I knew at the time you were only creating originals and very small prints, and they were absolutely amazing!   So for the question of burnout, have I ever experienced it? Absolutely, time and time again! There were times where I felt so burned out that I needed to step back and almost threw in the towel a few times, but my commitment to myself and to others was on the line and I wasn't going to let a little burnout get me down.    Now burnout can come in many ways shapes and forms, it can cause you to be so overwhelmed with work and projects that you feel as though you can't even produce, or create anything.  Burnout can be from doing way too many shows in a short period of time or overcommitting on shows in any length of time.    Now I've been an artist for over 20 years and I will be the first want to tell you that the moment you try to take any downtime even if it's staying at home doing nothing but watching old movies on the TV or reading, the guilt factor starts to creep in at full force and it's quite a monster  to wrangle.    I'm not exactly sure what burnout you're experiencing would like to think that it's too much work on your plate right now which is a good thing or perhaps not. Everyone works through these things so differently, there was a point I had about 12 commissions on the calendar and I didn't know which end was up. I was trying to be so accurate and completing the commissions based on how they were scheduled in and that was really stifling to me so instead I ended up taking and sorting them out so that I could manage an easier, with the smaller pieces and the simpler designs I would do those first and worked myself up towards the larger detailed works.      I also know that when doing the art shows it's important to spread them out so that they're not every single weekend, that is the most quickest way to get instant burnout. And I know that a lot of us want to take on those dates of the shows because we need because this is our livelihood and this is what we do for a living, but the reality is you won't be your best at the show you won't be the best you that you can be and that could cause your presence at an event or at an art show to be jeopardized.    The most important thing as an artist is when you're inspired act on it when you're tired and you don't feel like anything fresh is coming to surface, take a break, take a walk, take the dog for a walk have some downtime and just chill chilax. We're human and we need some downtime, I am on the go go go 24/7 and sometimes I just need a day to reflect and re-collect my thoughts and my energy.   I hope that these words for you Roberto and for anyone else that's in countering the same type of burnout that this will help you and allow you to take care of yourself.  

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