Fighting Burn Out | Whitney Beth Photography | Utah Family + Senior Photographer
 

     I'm going to be frank, I am burnt out. 

     January is my slow season - thank goodness. But after my busy months from family picture season, the craziness of the holidays, getting the actual FLU and being out of commission for 13 days, while Fields + Jones were sick with some virus, and having Indy blow her ACL and having to have surgery which is rendering her pretty dependent on me (it's like I have a puppy all over again - keeping her in sight at all times and taking her out on a leash for potty breaks.) Not to mention the mountain of laundry that awaited me, Christmas to put away, and the overall state of my house + having dogs in the winter (hello vacuum and mopping!) I am fried. I realized today that it was Monday. Mondays are when I usually have blog posts scheduled, but I had completely forgotten to write anything.

     This is not like me.

     I'm the first to admit that I'm the queen of procrastination, but I don't miss deadlines. And today I did, and last week I did too.  

     Today it started to sink in just how burnt out I was. The thought of reaching out to leads and scheduling shoots just didn't sound fun. The whole reason I got into this business was because it is my passion and I LOVE it. 

     So how was I going to get myself out of this funk? By some miracle this afternoon, Fields took a looong (for him) nap on my bed while Jones watched Mickey Mouse and the dogs cuddled around their feet. All my babies in one place, contained.

      I took my calendar and snuck away to Fields' room and settled into the recliner. I stared at the empty days and pulled out my list of potential blog post ideas and got to work. I filled in the rest of January. From there I started planning the content for February and March. Before I knew it, I had blogs planned for parts of April and into May. There were still open slots that needed content, but my hour to myself of planning was just the boost of inspiration and motivation I needed to start to pull out of this slump.

     I'm not there yet, I still feel the urge to up and quit. To stop blogging, photographing for a profession and just slink into a blissfully uncommitted and deadline free life. But I also know myself well enough to to know, that while that sounds appealing now, I would drive myself crazy! I thrive on staying busy and working on projects. Just look at my maternity leave with Fields, I couldn't even last the whole six weeks without planning a shoot! 

     So, while I'm not "cured," I'm not giving up. Content planning and figuring out what and when to do things is an excellent first step into pulling myself out of this slump. Getting burnt out comes with the trade of a creative - heck, any job is open for becoming burnt out. But it's all about how you fight it that defines you. 

     So to all those out there in similar shoes; you can do it! It won't be like this forever! Find your groove, do a shoot for you, plan out your days, whatever it takes for you to beat the slump and get back to doing what you love. You got this.