How To Nurture Abundance And Prevent Burnout: A Guide For Independent Creative Business Owners
This summer, we’re checking in with our members and friends on the meaning of abundance.
In this journaling guide, licensed therapist and work healing specialist Davia Roberts (our featured Minding Your Business speaker this season) takes us through daily practices for preventing and recovering from burnout as independent creatives and small business owners.
About Davia:
Davia Roberts (she/her) is a licensed therapist with a focus on racial equity, mental health, and well-being. She is a lifelong introvert who managed to make an entire career centered around talking to people. Despite the introvert stereotypes, she comes alive when she gets to engage in meaningful conversations about racial equity, mental health, and well-being. The thing she is most proud of doing was a 12-month sabbatical that prioritized her own well-being. Her sabbatical motivated her to build a business that helps other professionals break through burnout and shame. This work has expanded to therapeutic programming for non-profit organizations, universities, and companies so that mental health and wellness are embedded into the culture of each organization.
Below, Davia shares her top 3 tips on nurturing your mental health—as an independent creative or small business owner.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is a syndrome caused by chronic work stress that has gone unmanaged. Typically, there are three main characteristics:
exhaustion
difficulty to perform at a particular level
feeling checked out/pessimistic about your work
Usually, we associate burnout with 9-to-5 jobs. Due to this association, it’s not a surprise that some people look to self-employment as an escape from unending fatigue. Unfortunately, it’s important to know that creative careers and entrepreneurship aren’t the magical solutions to avoiding burnout. If not careful, creatives and small business owners can recreate the same toxic environments that initially led to their burnout.
Instead, I encourage self-employed professionals to reimagine a career that fits their personal and professional needs with intentional practices and boundary setting.
Here are 3 questions I suggest to every creative and entrepreneur to ponder.
No. 1 — What beliefs do you need to unlearn about your work/career?
Set a timer for two minutes and write down all the beliefs you’ve held about work and your career. Don’t worry about them “making sense.” Just write what comes to mind.
After the two minutes are completed, review your beliefs and identify which ones need to be reshaped so they can benefit your good. It’s possible that some of the beliefs can’t be redeemed and need to be completely replaced. (Ex: My income dictates my worth.)
It’s important to be clear on the beliefs you hold. Our beliefs greatly influence our actions and impact how we see ourselves in relation to work. When we can recognize that we’re making decisions based on unhealthy beliefs, we can make non-judgmental and compassionate choices that better serve us.
Here are some examples on how to revise the beliefs you arrive at within this exercise:
Example No. 1
Original Belief: I’ll know I’m successful when I’ve earned 6 figures and I’m featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List.
Revision: My definition of success is the only one that matters. Each day, I get to define success for myself.
Example No. 2
Original Belief: The only way to be successful is to work 24/7.
Revision: I can be successful without working around the clock.
Example No. 3
Original Belief: If I want to make it big, I have to accept any opportunity that comes my way.
I will not operate from scarcity. I can discern the opportunities that are aligned for me.
No. 2 — What boundaries allow you to show up as your best self?
Boundaries aren’t just for friends, family and romantic relationships. They’re for every element of our lives and they’re especially important when it comes to our career. Here are a few areas to consider, if you’re an independent creative, founder or small business owner.
✰ Personal Boundaries:
How many hours do you want to work per week?
What work hours are the best for your energy levels or lifestyle? You don’t have to work traditional business hours, if that’s not ideal for you.
How will you incorporate breaks into your day? How often will you take vacation time? It’s easy to skip lunch and spend the entire day staring at your screen as you answer emails, complete projects, or research business plans. It’s important to build schedules that prioritize genuine breaks, whether it’s a lunch break or holiday break. Put them on the calendar and honor them.
What are realistic project turnaround times? Word of advice: Consider how much time it would typically take to complete a project and add a week or two to your timeline. Why? In the event you run into a personal or professional issue (illness, late delivery, supply delays, etc), you’ve built in a cushion that allows you to still meet your deadline with little to no delay. Plus, you can always complete the project early and receive kudos from your client.
✰ Client Boundaries:
What type of work are you unwilling to provide to prospective clients?
What are possible boundaries to address payment delays, last minute project changes, or ghosting? It’s always helpful to have solid contracts in place with contingency plans to address late payments or last minute requests that don’t leave you feeling overwhelmed.
How often will I communicate with clients? Booking a client doesn’t mean they have 24/7 access to you. You have the right to format your onboarding process to define the parameters of communication via email, phone, or video.
No. 3 — What practices pour into your cup?
There’s no shame in experiencing burnout. It happens to the most well-intentioned creatives. Once you notice signs of burnout, it’s time to slow down and take stock of what needs to change. Evaluate the decisions that may have led to burnout. Are you skipping meals and not getting enough sleep? Have you taken on a lot of new projects without hiring any assistance? Consider ways you could make shifts that could better support you and lessen the possibility of burnout in the near future.
More importantly, think about the last time you experienced deep rest and joy in your life.
For some of us, it’s easy to think of people and practices that bring us joy. You may experience joy as you build living room forts with your children (or roommate—no judgment). You may experience joy during game night with friends or at your altar as you pray. No matter how you cultivate joy, prioritize more moments in your life.
Rest is not merely mid-day naps and seven hours of sleep. Rest can be found in quiet walks during your lunch break. Rest can be found in conversations with friends that don’t center work and labor. Rest can be found in saying, “no” to personal or professional requests as you protect your energy.
We pour into our cup by centering joy and rest with a fierceness.
While you may not be able to prevent all moments of work-related burnout, you can learn tools and practices that minimize burnout’s duration and intensity so that you never hit rock bottom.
To work with Davia, please head to carrierbradley.com.
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