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I remember when I started #TTRPG publishing and I told my grandfather about it. I went on a long speech to explain it all but he only asked me one thing. He asked me if I liked the work. I said yes.
He answered, "Let's hope it stays that way."
This is a thread about burnout.
He answered, "Let's hope it stays that way."
This is a thread about burnout.
My grandfather was a professional handball player in the 60s. He played on Denmark's national team for almost a decade, but he quit in 1972 because of a very simple reason.
He didn't think it was fun anymore.
He didn't think it was fun anymore.
He was constantly berated with high expectations. From his teammates to his trainer to public opinion, all yelling at him to do one thing or another. He took a break when my mother was born, and people were cursing him out because he wasn't doing his job.
He said, when you're told you're good at something, you can end up feeling almost obligated to continue doing it, simply because it's expected of you. You're so good at it after all so you should keep going. If you don't keep going, if you don't keep training, you lose relevancy.
So you bend over backwards to stay relevant. You work 12-hour days because you think doing anything less means you're not taking it seriously.
You're not being thankful enough. You're not doing enough. Others don't have this opportunity and you're wasting it being lazy.
You're not being thankful enough. You're not doing enough. Others don't have this opportunity and you're wasting it being lazy.
My grandfather quit his career as a professional athlete because he started hating all the things he used to love about it. He burned himself out, trying to live up to other people's expectations and to the impossible ideal he had set for himself.
He told me that he saw the same passion in my eyes when I talked about writing that he'd had when he was first starting out on the national team. The difference was that he ended up resenting the industry he had once been in love with, while I was still enamored by it.
One of the main things that keep you "relevant" in this sort of industry is passion. Passion in creating, in being helpful, in being kind, in being loud about what excites you. In having fun with and LIKING what you're doing.
It can also burn you out because you don't stop.
It can also burn you out because you don't stop.
You have to ask yourself if you still enjoy the work you're doing. And if the answer is no, something has to change.
If you curl up with anxiety at night, wondering if you've done enough to warrant your place in the community, that's not happiness keeping you awake.
If you curl up with anxiety at night, wondering if you've done enough to warrant your place in the community, that's not happiness keeping you awake.
I don't want my love for this hobby to wane, ever. And to keep that from happening, I have to learn that it's okay not to work all the time. I have to stop comparing myself to everything I think I should be, which I wouldn't expect anyone else to live up to.
I don't know if I'm at all making sense. I just hope that maybe, if someone is struggling with similar things, they know they aren't alone in feeling how they feel.
Your worth does not equal your productivity or efficiency. Remember that.
Stay safe y'all
Your worth does not equal your productivity or efficiency. Remember that.
Stay safe y'all
