If most of your time is spent working on your career as a TikTok influencer, you may be at risk of feeling burned out. Being a full-time content creator on TikTok can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it can be creatively fulfilling, which is something that not many people can say about their jobs. On the other hand, it can lead to a complete lack of work-life balance, which is one of the surest ways to end up struggling with burnout.
Why do influencers get burned out when they love what they do? A lot of it boils down to the fact that they have to be “on” for every waking moment. If they aren’t filming videos, they’re checking engagement rates. If they aren’t doing that, they’re editing footage so it’ll be ready to upload in time. And of course, there are always endless comments to read and reply to.
The driving force behind these activities is hopefully a positive form of motivation, but for some creators, it can turn into an obsession with proving that they’re successful. It can feel great to reach 10,000 followers, but there are so many other creators with even more followers. Maybe the 100,000-follower mark is reached, which is a huge milestone – but what if people stop taking interest, and that number stays stagnant or even drops? It can seem like there’s constant pressure to always do more, which can also contribute to burnout.
Whether or not you’re currently dealing with burnout as a TikTok influencer, you should keep the following tips in mind. They can help with feelings of burnout, but they’re also recommended for any TikTok creator who wants to turn their efforts into a career, not just a hobby.
Learn how to delegate
If you started out as a one-person show, it can be tricky to know when it’s time to outsource some of your tasks. However, this is an essential part of promoting sustainable growth. You could actually end up stunting your channel, simply because you insisted that you could handle everything yourself.
You don’t have to offload everything on other people; start by choosing one significant task that takes up a lot of your time. A lot of people decide to hire an editor, which can free up a ton of time for other worthwhile activities. Others end up hiring someone to respond to comments, which is crucial to maintain good engagement rates.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure you feel good about the decision. Find someone you trust to do a great job, and build a strong working relationship with them. Eventually, you could end up with a team of people who all work together to keep your account growing.
Start journaling about your intentions and goals
It’s way too easy to get caught up in the small details, and lose sight of the big picture. A vacation is an excellent way to reset your perspective, but that isn’t always possible if you’re hustling to grow your TikTok following.
Journaling may not be as restful as a vacation, but it can help refocus your thoughts on why you’re doing everything in the first place. What are you doing to accomplish your goals, and how can you do even better? Why did you start this in the first place – and do those dreams still seem achievable? Questions like these can give you a realistic view of where you’re at, as well as where you’re going. Once you’ve figured that out, you may feel a bit more relaxed when attending to all the little details.
Create a detailed content schedule
One major contributor to burnout could be the feeling that you’re constantly trying to keep up. The latest video gets uploaded, and you immediately feel like you have to start on the next one. This might seem like an efficient way to do things, but it actually causes more stress than it needs to.
A much better way to handle this is to make a content schedule. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; the main thing is that you know which videos you’ll be making, and when they need to be completed. Even if you just come up with the topics and nothing else, it can help you turn your content creation brain off for a while between uploads.
Set boundaries
Even if you haven’t heard of parasocial relationships, you may be in one. A parasocial relationship is what sometimes happens between content creators and their audiences. Even though they’ve never met each other, and have barely even interacted on an individual basis, there’s a feeling that they know each other. It’s even common for the followers to feel a kind of ownership over the influencer, communicating their expectations to a complete stranger like the influencer is supposed to accommodate their wishes.
This can be a very confusing and invasive experience for an influencer, especially if they have a hard time saying no. They might feel obligated to change their content based on negative feedback, respond to every comment and DM, or defend themselves against off-hand criticisms. In a nutshell, a lack of boundaries can result in a ton of stress and wasted energy.
The best way to start setting boundaries is to realize that you’re just there to provide entertainment. If some of your followers think that you should be doing more, better, or differently, that isn’t your problem. Reserve time for yourself when you aren’t available to respond to comments or DMs, and limit the total time per day you spend on these activities. Don’t feel like you have to share every detail of your life; privacy is important! Your real fans will understand why you’re doing these things, and respect the limits you’re setting. Best of all, you’ll hopefully feel more in control and confident when interacting with your followers.
Burnout is a real problem among TikTok influencers, but there are plenty of practical ways to prevent or reverse it. By following these tips, you can avoid burnout and ensure a much better experience as a TikTok creator.