Preventing burnout after going full time
Hi everyone!
Thank you in advance to anyone who reads this as I know it's a bit long, I've been putting off posting this but it's becoming more of an issue as I go along so I'm hoping maybe someone can advise and point me in the right direction or maybe at least relate.
I started camming earlier this year and went full time in October. Since then, over the past 4-6 weeks I've started to progressively do miles better, my earnings are increasing, I'm getting loads busier, I'm getting loads more shows and sometimes much longer shows but it's all sort of progressing at a rate that I wasn't really prepared for and certainly wasn't expecting.
Obviously it's a good thing that I'm doing better and I'm so grateful, but on the other hand I'm finding the busier I'm getting, the more exhausted I'm getting. This is to the point that I'm working 3 days, smashing it and then I well and truly CRASH. Last week I was so mentally wiped out that it took me 3-4 days to recover.
This week, I worked again Fri-Sun, then same again happened on Monday, I managed to get some hours in on Tuesday fine but yesterday I crashed again and now I feel like I'm borderline burning out. It sounds dramatic but twice this week I've literally started crying for no reason lol!! Which isn't like me and I know it's cause I'm just so mentally wiped out. I can barely function!
The way I'm working right now doesn't feel sustainable and I don't know what to do to start getting the situation under control. I actually really love this work, so the worst thing for me would be to end up making myself poorly through it or driving myself to hating/dreading what I'm doing.
I nearly always work on 4 sites at once, 3 PPM and 1 token site, so I'm always in free chat on two.
Should I maybe increase my rates somewhere? Should I alter my hours? Should I drop a site, or maybe work the token site separately? Should I put more time into creating passive income so I can relieve some pressure?
I'm sure this will all become more natural and routine to me as I become less new but at this moment my brain is fried. I feel like it's finally gotten on top of me and I'm at a major loss at what to do next.
Thank you again for reading x
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
This was me last year. I made a hard and fast schedule. I don’t cater to clients’ requests to log on when I’m already offline or on my scheduled days off. I got a separate phone so when I’m logged off it stays on silent. I’ll answer emails and social media again when I’m logged on during my schedule. Just like any job it sucks. Even on my schedule I dread working sometimes but I don’t have that crash fatigue anymore. Also do a solid wind down after each shift. For me it’s a hot bath, a face mask, and comfy baggy house clothes.
I notice I feel more burned out when I’m doing multi sites and free chat so literally every minute I’m on. I’d suggest just working free chat sites during peak times instead of all the time when you’re on.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gbjenna
The way I'm working right now doesn't feel sustainable and I don't know what to do to start getting the situation under control. I actually really love this work, so the worst thing for me would be to end up making myself poorly through it or driving myself to hating/dreading what I'm doing.
I nearly always work on 4 sites at once, 3 PPM and 1 token site, so I'm always in free chat on two.
Should I maybe increase my rates somewhere? Should I alter my hours? Should I drop a site, or maybe work the token site separately? Should I put more time into creating passive income so I can relieve some pressure?
I'm sure this will all become more natural and routine to me as I become less new but at this moment my brain is fried. I feel like it's finally gotten on top of me and I'm at a major loss at what to do next.
Thank you again for reading x
Whoa girl! Just reading that makes me want to lay down for a nap!! No wonder you are burning out after such a short time. I would say drop a site or two and raise your rates up! Im personally not a fan of token sites so I cant advise anything regarding this but its always a good idea to put your prices up especially if you are killing it because you want to work smarter not harder.
The one thing I like to do is set a Time/Financial Goal. What that means is I set an amount I want to make every day. Lets say $500 and I set a number of hours I want to work everyday say 5 hours and then I stop when I reach one of those. So if I make $500 in 2 hours I stop for the day and if I work the full 5 hours but I dont make $500 I still stop. These dont have to be your numbers. You plug in whatever you think you can manage and still feel sane at the end of the day. Having this sort of goal has really helped me to stay disciplined at getting on line and keeps me looking forward to what Im going to do in my free time.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Loading some videos on clips sites may relieve pressure for you. I'm friends with a girl who seemingly signed up for every clip site, it's been less work for her than only working on a site/dealing with free chat. She loads the same videos on each site. Her prices range from $8.99 to $49.99. She'll do a video of almost anything. I think she even has one clipping her toenails. There's something for everyone. I think I may take her advice and do some videos myself. It's great passive income!
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Don't feel bad! It sounds like you are doing a great job.
I recently started camming full time again after some time only doing it sporadically. The tips given here are excellent. I agree; only work free chats sites when it's a peak time (unless of course that's your main site and you are always in private anyway) and respect your time off. I think it can be a good idea to set a goal and work towards that. But some days it can be good to stay on a little longer and surpass that goal if you've made it quickly! The key is not to overdo it though; it can be really easy to fall in to the trap of staying on way to long.
I find camming addictive. I have a tendency to think I've got to be on ALL the time as there's so much money to make and I don't want to miss out. But the customers will find you, even if you're not on all day every day!
For me personally, things I need to do to stop myself from burning out are: I must make time to work out and I don't work late nights. I'd rather get up at 4 am that stay up all night. There just comes a point when I'm in "off" mode and I like to wind down. I can't just fall into bed at 2 am and expect to sleep!
Big hugs and good luck! x
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
See camming as a means to an ends . I find when it's all about HAVING to cam to pay bills, it drives me mad. I LOVE getting whales and draining guys though, i just adore the sounds the sites make when a tip or tribute comes in. So i figured out i am ADDICTED to that part of it, it gives me a dopamine high. But it's not sustainable as those guys don't come around every day. So what could i do to leverage my addictive tendencies in order to make camming easier for me? I realised if i camathon for big goals, make a fuck ton of money, then put that towards something i want, then i feel great, I've achieved something and i can relax for a while. Maybe this will work for you too? Whack your rates up accross all sites, make as much as you can as fast as you can, then upgrade your filming equipment and take a week off cam to set up your clip stores and get some content out there. Then camathon again, put some money into professional pictures, a website etc and take the time to set all that up. These 'wins' will keep you motivated, take the focus off the camming itself, and also build a good foundation for future passive income. As your income from clips increases and you start getting more targeted customers from your website you can craft a persona and style of working that suits you and cut down on the type of camming that's been burning you out.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Diversify, diversify, diversify! I have had the worst burnout on multiple occasions. made me loathe getting online at all. what I did was start some phone sex lines, use multiple content sites, make cam profiles on sites I didn't have to do free chat on, raised my rate, and kept to a schedule. The more I focused on those things, the less i've had to do free chat sites and the less I've actually had to work hours wise. I run 3 cam sites & a texting site or two most days. one day per week I make customs and content for the various content sites I use. Oh and I completely disengage at least once per week. Don't answer emails, social, skype requests, nothing! Really helps keep things fresh and simple.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
I feel silly for asking this but what are "peak times" to cam?
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
xxxGothBarbie
I feel silly for asking this but what are "peak times" to cam?
Anytime can be a peak time if you build up regulars. They’re your bread and butter.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
caramelcraze
Anytime can be a peak time if you build up regulars. They’re your bread and butter.
So you mean like if I haven't been streaming much on one site anytime can be can be peak time?
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
xxxGothBarbie
So you mean like if I haven't been streaming much on one site anytime can be can be peak time?
She meant that, for example, you have 2 regulars that come all the time at same hours ( let's say 1 PM and 3 PM). Those times when you know your regulars are coming, are your peak times. So 1 PM and 3 PM are your peak times, because you know someone is going to spend anyway (aka, your regs).
Of course, the more regs you have, the better.
The key is to know when they are coming and what hours. That's why is called peak time. Basically, when you login at that certain time, they are there for you, ready to spend.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cutie101
She meant that, for example, you have 2 regulars that come all the time at same hours ( let's say 1 PM and 3 PM). Those times when you know your regulars are coming, are your peak times. So 1 PM and 3 PM are your peak times, because you know someone is going to spend anyway (aka, your regs).
Of course, the more regs you have, the better.
The key is to know when they are coming and what hours. That's why is called peak time. Basically, when you login at that certain time, they are there for you, ready to spend.
Well I don't have any right now bc I haven't been camming consistently since I started so that's why I was wondering what peak times I should try working.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
xxxGothBarbie
I feel silly for asking this but what are "peak times" to cam?
Although yes you could work any of the 24 hrs a day and potentially make money, personally when I used to work nights and weekends on EST, I made $30 more per hour on average than I do now. Due to my life and preference, I don’t work nights or weekends anymore. I mostly work 3-4 hrs in the afternoon in CST. There are porn watching trends that PornHub publishes. Definitely a trend if you have a wide open schedule to work only when the demand is proven to be higher.
Of course everyone is different! I know models that do great on the graveyard shift. I know models that do well early mornings only. I make a great living in the afternoons. So lots of opportunities.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sexysusie
See camming as a means to an ends . I find when it's all about HAVING to cam to pay bills, it drives me mad. I LOVE getting whales and draining guys though, i just adore the sounds the sites make when a tip or tribute comes in. So i figured out i am ADDICTED to that part of it, it gives me a dopamine high. But it's not sustainable as those guys don't come around every day. So what could i do to leverage my addictive tendencies in order to make camming easier for me? I realised if i camathon for big goals, make a fuck ton of money, then put that towards something i want, then i feel great, I've achieved something and i can relax for a while. Maybe this will work for you too? Whack your rates up accross all sites, make as much as you can as fast as you can, then upgrade your filming equipment and take a week off cam to set up your clip stores and get some content out there. Then camathon again, put some money into professional pictures, a website etc and take the time to set all that up. These 'wins' will keep you motivated, take the focus off the camming itself, and also build a good foundation for future passive income. As your income from clips increases and you start getting more targeted customers from your website you can craft a persona and style of working that suits you and cut down on the type of camming that's been burning you out.
You’ve just described me 100% nailed it. So I’m going to take this advice too.
Re original poster. Raising your rates is a good start and perhaps dropping a site. Passive income is important in this industry, it’ll keep paying even when you take a week or two off.
X
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
To number one thing to help avoiding burn out is routines and less work load. The less you have to remember the better and the less you have to do in a day the better.
8am my alarm goes off, around 9am or 10am depending on what my medication wants to do. I am hungry or need to think about what to eat.
So the 9 am to 1pm is the best time for me to get online and work webcam after I make my cup of tea. Then around 2pm to 5pm I am watching Dave Ramsey and working webcam on the other computer. 5pm ish I am cleaning up the kitchen to cook dinner. I cook meals that are the same all the time . Less thinking, quick prep time and less time in the grocery store.
then I eat chill for an hour or two then if I did not make my daily goal I log on webcam til 1am. It's boring as fuck. my bipolar brain that wants to stir up trouble is wondering why things are so quiet.
Last year I ruined it I got myself a high interest loan stuck myself in monthly payments I can not afford. and now I am looking at the possibility of seeing a bankruptcy trustee. Now I am being thankful for the boring and rinse and repeat and feeling like a cartoon character.
Webcam I work 3 cam sites , PPM sites, I work 2 sites all the time and when one website says there are too many models on try again later. I am working two websites.
so my small minimum payout site is on all the time, then I rotate on the second computer the second smallest payout site every 3 hours with the highest payout site.
So its $20 site, then $25 site, then $50. Then I plan out my blog content, email marketing content, youtube content. play some video games, work my financial plan.
I was finding the world of make money online to be extremely uneventful and boring, but then I realized I don't have to deal with a boss, I don't have to response to co-workers, and I Don't have to worry about if I am going to some Christmas party.
The routine and budget is what keeps things safe and secure.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Hey everyone, thank you soooo much for all your replies! My bills are all paid for the month and I’ve got next months rent waiting to be paid out soon too so I took some proper time away from it to switch off and go back in with a new strategy and a fresh mind.
I’ll reply back to all your replies when I’ve read them properly at some point today :)
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
i am constantly reading from the mighty and bipolar magazine but this might help who are feeling the burn out
https://themighty.com/2019/11/managi...full-time-job/
I use to think it was weird how I was making my to do list less then 10 things and always making appointments after 2pm rarely before 2pm but now I see it's important and it what keeps me stable.
7 pm my alarm goes off to take my medication then 7:05 pm a remind pops up asking did I take them and I have to hit a check box that it's complete or the whole reminder thing is out of schedule.
Pills are in that old people pill box with the days of the week, i have to open a box take out a pill it - it adds in more steps to remind me i did it, sometimes when i am in a phase where i don't remember if i took my pills I change my pill taking system to where I would sign an X on the calendar that I took them or I would change pill boxes.
Less episodes of burn out is vital to staying healthy.
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
I’ve got some chance to reply properly now, thank you again for all of the advice!
I’m definitely dropping my token site now for the time being and I’m going to stick to my PPM sites so I’m only doing one free chat then.
If I do decide to pick the token site back up then I’ll only work that separately and 2-3 times week or something for a couple of hours a time.
The time/financial goal is super helpful too as sometimes when I’m busy I literally work until I physically cannot work any longer which RUINS me for the next day and right through to my days off.
I’m going to set different targets for different days too based on when I’m busier, than trying to push for the same flat figure, daily.
Streamate is the site where I’m the most busiest and happens to be the one where I get a lot more “out there” shows (which is a good thing as it keeps things different) but doing several one after another can be so tiring , especially when they’re really long too. My shows on the other sites are normally just very bog standard and straight forward. So I’m going to up my rate a little on SM too.
I’m not starting back up now until after Christmas and once December is out of the way I’m going to make a solid start on creating some passive income too so I’m not only relying on cam!
Thank you so much all of you for replying, it’s been extremely helpful and it’s definitely given me the direction I was looking for!!
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DeepThoughts
Whoa girl! Just reading that makes me want to lay down for a nap!! No wonder you are burning out after such a short time. I would say drop a site or two and raise your rates up! Im personally not a fan of token sites so I cant advise anything regarding this but its always a good idea to put your prices up especially if you are killing it because you want to work smarter not harder.
The one thing I like to do is set a Time/Financial Goal. What that means is I set an amount I want to make every day. Lets say $500 and I set a number of hours I want to work everyday say 5 hours and then I stop when I reach one of those. So if I make $500 in 2 hours I stop for the day and if I work the full 5 hours but I dont make $500 I still stop. These dont have to be your numbers. You plug in whatever you think you can manage and still feel sane at the end of the day. Having this sort of goal has really helped me to stay disciplined at getting on line and keeps me looking forward to what Im going to do in my free time.
In relation to your daily targets, do you take the same approach say if you were to hit your entire months target early? So if you set a target of X amount for the month with 4 days to go, would you still stick to your schedule and take a couple of extra days off? Or would you keep sticking to your schedule?
Re: Preventing burnout after going full time
any kind of sw or work with a lot of emotional labour (see the book The Managed Heart) is draining. I think the best thing women in our industry can do is have another project going on that you work on. It doesn't even have to be huge but camming can't become your life. You need a side hustle/business or project to keep you sane.