How Different Creative Formats Stop My Burnout

The above video took me roughly 2-3 hours to make. That's the entire process - setting up, blocking the action, filming various takes, visual effects editing, and then posting it online.

It's magical and might make you want to figure it out. It promotes me as a skilled editor. And most importantly, it scratches the itch to create something without pressuring myself that I need to make a viral video or my next greatest hit.

Algorithms and analytics have tricked us into thinking we need to keep pace with an unsustainable output or always one-up ourselves in quality, but the creative brain doesn't thrive under those conditions. It often needs to rest. Or suddenly burst. Or completely improvise. Or stop.

I've created a healthy balance of being an unpredictable artist with a career on social media by having different 'formats' for my video content. I went corporate-business-world-mode and visualized them as quadrants on a graph spread across time needed to create and size of target audience:

For me, this simplifies my creative focus. I only need to create within four categories to have a fairly robust, ongoing body of work that both advertises me to a new audience and lets true fans dive deeper into my more niche work.

It also makes my schedule be more flexible, my creativity more adaptable, and relieves self-inflicted pressure. Have an entirely free week? Let's tackle something in the lengthier quadrant. A single free day between jobs? Let's make something quick and general (like the video posted at the top).

Here are my current formats:

Last year at this time, I was experimenting with stop-motion live streams (quick/niche) and courses (lengthy/niche), but have since changed focus to blog/newsletter writing and behind-the-scenes content. It feels healthier to let things come and go as they fit my life. Instead of attempting to do it all, I mentally replace that quadrant with something new.

One final note is that each format needs to contribute to the bigger picture. For me, everything must be magical! My quicker videos are technically 'lazier' to produce but they're really just a more snackable version of my more involved edits. Being able to creatively let myself off the hook like that is key.

And that's it. I focus on four formats. It creates an excellent funnel from discovery to fan. It keeps things simple in my brain and provides schedule flexibility for my creativity. Most importantly, I feel at peace with what I'm creating is enough for me and enough for my audience.