I've burned out more times than I care to admit.
As a solopreneur, during my marketing career, and on personal projects.
But what's funny is that my burnout never came from working on something I hated.
It was the opposite.
It came from excitement.
From being so damn excited about what I was building that it'd consume me.
I'd get an idea and visualise the outcome, and it'd become my entire personality.
Forget hobbies.
Friends.
Family.
Anything else.
It's horrible.
But after learning to control this and understand how to avoid burnout, I learnt that I'm not the only one.
In fact, it's common, especially for solo operators. Yet so many of us are quiet about it, and it's treated like a weakness.
That needs to change. It should be discussed more.
6 Warning Signs You're Heading For Burnout (and how to avoid it)
Whether any of that sounds familiar or you just want to kick it to the curb before it strikes, these are 6 of the warning signs that have indicated to me, and others I've spoken to, that burnout is just around the corner. Though we're all different, some of these might ring home for you, while others might seem a little silly.
1. You love the chase, but hate the execution.
When you find yourself thriving for the dopamine hit that comes with landing a new customer, but no longer have the drive to execute on the work. The excitement of possibility gets replaced by the weight of reality.
How to catch it: Make an effort to take note of your energy levels throughout different parts of work. If you find yourself drained by execution, when this was never previously a problem, but high from acquisition, there might be something there.
What helps: For me personally, it's a combination. I like to get back to why the work matters in the first place by talking to my customers and see the impact that the work has on them. And also time blocking for some reset time, no calls, no sales, no acquisitions. Just time blocked out on execution and delivery.
2. You find yourself avoiding things you loved.
I don't mean you avoiding them because you no longer enjoy them. I mean because you've allowed your work to consume you to the point that you find yourself unable to take a break for them.
The guitar begins collecting dust and friends get used to "I can't make it", or even something as simple as reading a book begins to feel like you're wasting time. For me, it was missing out on my regular gym time and no longer travelling around with my camera to capture epic landscapes.
This one is dangerous because it really does creep up on you. It's easy to ignore because you think you're being disciplined and productive towards work.
How to catch it: Look back at your calendar over the last couple of months. What were the things you'd usually do for fun and when was the last time you did them.
What helps: Schedule non-negotiable personal time. Block it out in your calendar 1, 2 even 3 months in advance at a time so that you can't book that time with anything else. For me, it's scheduling daily time in the gym, blocking out the same time every morning and afternoon to do school drop offs and pick ups, and bingeing on the latest good Netflix or Prime series each night with my Wife, instead of working through the evening like I once did.
3. You begin to sound like everyone else.
Similarly to above, this one creeps up on you, and often it's hard to notice until well after the fact. But as you begin to burnout, you get lazy.
Your content and pitches suffer as your output decreases. Subconsciously, you begin defaulting to what's "safe", to things that work for others. And ultimately, your voice gets lost as you begin to sound generic.
How to catch it: Ask someone. Have them compare an older piece of your content with a recent one. Do they both still sound like you?
What helps: Change up your environment. Sit outside with a notebook and pen to write your next piece of content. Try to write it for a family member or friend, not to impress or sound smart, but to be fun and casual. Your personality is more likely to sneak it's way back in.
4. You start avoiding your customers.
You'll do the bare minimum to keep up appearances, but do your best to avoid interacting with customers. You'll stop engaging with and visiting the communities where your ideal audience hang out, and no longer have the conversations that made you passionate about what you do in the first place.
How to catch it: Can you remember when the last time was that you had a real conversation with a customer that wasn't a sales pitch?
What helps: Spend time where your audience does. Whether that's an online community, social media, or even in-person event. Don't sell, just listen. Remember why their problems matter to you.
5. You start obsessing over competitors instead of customers
And I thought this one was just me until I'd heard from others. But the first time I burnt out, over 8 years ago, I started to focus more on competitors than I did my "customer" (which at the time, was an employer).
When I first looked back that, I realised I did it not to see what they were doing, but so that I could use their success as an excuse or justification for my own burnout.
And if that sounds familiar, it might just be the same for you.
How to catch it: It's hard, but try to keep an eye on how many times a day you look at a competitors profile. Or how often you find yourself looking at their reviews or website.
What helps: Remember that you have no "competitors". You're creating an offer and doing something for a specific audience that others can't compete with. The ultimate goal of positioning yourself is to move into a category of your own, one that you own. And, of course, spend more time interacting with your customers. Schedule in non-negotiable time each day/week/month where you'll do this.
It's Deadly For Solopreneurs
Unlike a traditional job where you'll have colleagues and managers to keep you in check, being a solopreneur makes it harder to notice.
You're often working along.
And there's no dramatic collapse.
It's a slow moving process that eventuates over weeks or months. Slow enough that you might not even realise it's happening.
And one of the biggest things I learnt was that burnout is not about working too many hours. You can burn out doing the bare minimum.
What it's truly about is losing connection.
To your customers.
Your work.
Your why.
And most importantly, the parts of yourself that actually exist outside of work.
Beyond trying to catch some of these signs as they happen, another huge win is to surround yourself with others who are doing the same. It helps you to stay connected, on track, held accountable and have others around you who can identify when you might be falling off the wagon.
On that note, I am getting ready to put together a small solopreneur community for this exact reason. If you want in when it's live, let me know. No fee, no strings attached. Just somewhere for all of us to work around each other.
Until next time,
Jye
