mania and burnout cycle

[gelebki]

I've noticed a pattern that's reoccurring my whole life:

1. Mania

Whenever I get very interested in something, I go all out: laser-focus mode, upward of 10 hours researching, contemplating, creating. My mind is completely absorbed, it takes delight in figuring out all the complexities and applying them. I go to sleep in the morning, because the whole night I'm too excited and curious.

I make unreasonably fast progress, build detailed conceptual maps of the field and create systems for efficiency. 

In one way it’s a blessing, but here's the  catch: 

2. Burnout

After a few months/years I encounter a severe burnout. I can't look at it, the thought of the activity/field sickens me. Overall, I have a HUGE negative emotional reaction to doing the work necessary for improvement.

 

• My current obsession:

Exactly one month ago I created a Twitter account about Personal Development/ Psychology/ Spirituality. Those were my main interests for the last 5 years and I want to build a career around them. 

I've never been this consistent with content creation on any platform and I really don't want to fuck it up. It aligns with my top values and my life purpose, I'm able to provide value and I learn a ton.

I even got my first ever deal to co-create a podcast and a course, while having 65 followers! It was done purely through helping people without any expectations and building relationships.

 

The million dollar question is:

How do I avoid burnout?

It's hard to balance it out.

There are insanely powerful forces pulling me towards learning/creation.

Disclaimers:

• I don't have bipolar. Most of the time I'm a very joyful, positive person - even during a burnout.

• My interpersonal relationship are mostly handled, I have a lot of loving people around me. I'm extremely extroverted, but I also love to spend time alone.

/

Thank you for taking your precious time to read it! Any suggestions are more than welcome.

Edited June 7, 2022 by gelebki

[Yarco]

I'm not bipolar either but I go through similar to what you describe. A couple of times per year I become ultra engrossed in my work and go into a mania phase where I can work like crazy for about a month, where the work just seems effortless and enjoyable. Then I might need a break where I do minimal stuff for a month or more afterward.

Listen to your body and intuition and do what feels right. Work when you want to work, and rest when you want to rest. Especially when you're doing your own thing, you don't have to stick to conventional wisdom of consistently working X hours a day. You can do bursts here and there. If you can do a month's worth of work in a week and then chill for the other 3 weeks to recover that's a valid strategy.

I got manic about podcasting and recorded 10+ episodes in advance, now I've been chilling and playing PS5 every night instead and havent touched it for the past month. I'll probably pick it back up soon and research/record another 5 - 10 episodes in a week to schedule out. You can probably do the same with Twitter... write up like 3 months worth of posts now while you have the motivation, set up an app like Hootsuite to automatically schedule them out to post on their own each week, and stop when you need a break.

If you have a few big projects on the go at any given time, you can switch between them to mix things up whenever you start to feel burned out. I need to be doing something new after about a month to keep things fresh. Go ham on your twitter until that gets boring, then record a big batch of podcast episodes, then switch and record a chunk of your course, and repeat. That way you're always being productive but your brain stays stimulated and you're less likely to burn out.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Yarco

[Hello from Russia]

Lol, dude, learn marketing. If you've been putting months of effort and only have 65 subs off of it, anyone would get burn out and depressed

Sounds like you just didn't bother with marketing hence saw no rewards

Edited June 7, 2022 by Hello from Russia

[gelebki]

Thank you @Yarco! That's a solid advice.

Recently, I've been listening to my body much more. It helps me pick up early signs that I need to slow down.

I'm also in preparation mode already. I have a goal to write at least 10 tweets a day (most days I write more without even realizing), post the best 3 and the rest is sitting in drafts for future use and polishing.

Good point about switching between projects. I'll do that.

Interesting perspective overall. Somehow a vision of constant everyday grind seemed more appealing to me, but maybe my energy will be better used to squeeze all the juice out of the mania phase and switch onto something else for some time. I didn't consider it a valid strategy.

I appreciate your help!

[gelebki]

8 hours ago, Hello from Russia said:

Lol, dude, learn marketing. If you've been putting months of effort and only have 65 subs off of it, anyone would get burn out and depressed

Sounds like you just didn't bother with marketing hence saw no rewards

Exactly one month = 30 days 

That’s a valid point. Marketing and improving outreach is definitely on my mind. It's my first month on the platform, so I’m still figuring out what works and what doesn't. Already found some high ROI moves though.

I also created a discord group yesterday for people who write about personal development. The purpose is to interact with each others posts, share strategies and develop systems for quick and effortless content creation.

The snowball just starts rolling.

I'm also not super focused on the numbers. For sure I’d get discouraged. My intention is to help, learn and build relationships. I still pay attention to numbers and strategy but it's secondary, it doesn't fulfill me as much.

Thanks for your input!