Medium Malaise: Dealing with Burnout

This story was a blank draft for a week with only the title. When I decided to write about the subject I was deep in the throws of a funk. I wrote the title but couldn’t muster the energy to write the story. This morning I saw the blank draft and recognized the irony.

I hit the wall everyone talks about.

Burnout

All of us think it will never happen. We are passionate about writing and enjoy our time on Medium.

We think,

Burnout only happens to other writers because they are not as dedicated as us.

We couldn’t be more wrong!

My malaise happened a few days ago. My wife, my son, and I woke up early and drove to New Orleans. The goal was for me to retire my Union Book and formally end my career as a Merchant Mariner. The secondary goal was to enjoy New Orleans.

The flood of emotions involved with leaving my beloved career to spend more time with my family took its toll on my mental state.

We left very early in the morning. This meant I could not indulge in my morning ritual of writing.

It’s funny because it felt like the world was passing me by. I’ve developed a compulsion to write every day. When I missed a day It felt like this entire house of cards was crumbling around me.

My son hates car rides so we waited until he went to sleep in New Orleans to leave. That put us back home at one in the morning. I slept in the next day and woke up when Eli did. If he is up, writing is impossible.

Two Days!

I should throw in the towel. You guys have published ten million stories in the two days I missed. I might as well deactivate my account.

Trying to catch up felt like a chore. It’s silly when I look back on it.

I felt the need to produce something, not because I had the inspiration to write but because I didn’t want to get left behind.

I realized I hit the wall.

I didn’t want to reply to comments, read anyone’s stories, or write anything.

Two steps to combat burnout

First, I enjoyed my home and my family. My wife and I went riding on my motorcycles. I tied up some loose ends that I did not take care of before I moved to China, two years ago. I spent quality time with my ninety-year-old grandmother, seventy-five-year-old father, my lovely ageless mother, and my niece and nephew.

Second, I wrote anyway. Once my son went to sleep I put my soundproof headphones on, turned on some instrumental heavy metal, and wrote.

Deep in my malaise, I wrote The Same River Twice and Yesterday I Retired.

Both pieces were introspective and almost too esoteric for my taste.

Something amazing happened.

You all warmly welcomed the stories.

When you get the funk

I recommend two things. Close your laptop or turn off the screen of your desktop.

Go do something you love. Make sure it has nothing to do with writing, content creation, online money-making, or anything related.

Make sure to examine those silly feelings of FOMO and re-calibrate your motivations.

Write because you love to do it. If you don’t, don’t!

Read because you love to do it. If you don’t, don’t!

There are better ways to make money online and any fast food job will pay more than trying to make money on Medium if you do not enjoy the above two things.

Muscle through malaise

When it hits you and you have taken sufficient time off from writing and doing anything online. The next best thing to do is roll up your sleeves and put in the work.

Writing, editing, and maintaining your Medium account is a lot of work.

Sometimes we need to work our way through the ruts we find ourselves in.

I hope you never experience it, but that is a naive wish. We all experience some form of malaise or loss of interest.

Steer into it

Examine your emotions for what they are. Your subconscious is telling you to take a step back. Be kind to yourself and embrace your feelings. They too will pass.

Click Here to Subscribe to My Email List