Vimm University: How to Handle Streamer Burnout

Hey there! It's @ddrfr33k, talking about...a rough topic. But it's an important topic, so I'm going to talk about it. We're talking about burnout. No, not the racing game kind. That kind of burnout is awesome. This kind isn't.

When you're starting out, those first couple weeks of streaming can be rough. You're a new face in a sea of other people just as awesome as you who are trying to get noticed. You set up a regular schedule, you put your links out on social media, and...

If you're lucky, you might get one person to tune in. So you double down. You stream on more days, you add content, you double your efforts to build your network, and you still don't get anywhere. You feel lost. You feel like you've failed somehow. You wonder where you went wrong.

And you're not wrong! That's a very normal emotion to feel, especially if you're streaming 5 days a week and not going anywhere. A good friend of mine recently confided in me that he's facing that same burnout. And we got to talking about it. This friend is not the first person I've talked to about this. Several others have brought it up over the years. Hell, even I've been there, too. Each person is unique, but I've noticed a couple of patterns:

The streamer is broadcasting most nights (or days) of the week. This is not normally a bad thing, but when you're starting out, streaming for nobody does you no favors.
The streamer is dropping links in a dozen discord servers before going live, on top of tweets, facebook announcements, and other social media blitzes.
The streamer may (or may not) be playing the latest and greatest game to come out.

While this is not an exhaustive list, it is definitely up there. Let's break down why these don't work:

Broadcasting 5 nights (or days) per week is a great thing when you have an established audience. It does, however, take up an exorbitant amount of time, time that can wear you down. Especially if you're streaming for nobody. When you're new, streaming one or two nights per week is a much better use of your time. And your sanity, for that matter!

The social media blast is a great way to get your name out there, to a point. Nobody likes an attention seeker, especially one who only exists to spam their stream links. You gotta be able to balance that. Share a few "I'm going live now" posts on a couple social media sites, but consolidation goes a long way.

This last one is the hardest one, because it's both right and wrong at the same time. There is an ounce of wisdom in playing a hot new game. People are going to be interested in it! They're going to be seeking out streamers who are playing this game, but they're going to be seeking out people they know. Streaming is great for community/content but terrible for discovery. That'll be a post for later. We'll get there. But the short answer is that you need to look at games that you love to play and also draw people to you. We'll talk about that in another post, too.

If you are feeling burnt out on streaming, the best thing you can do is take a break. You might need a day or two to recharge. Maybe more! One of the things that I (@ddrfr33k) do is take a break during the month of December, a little bit before Christmas. I spend that time with my family, play games that I want to play but don't want to stream, and I come back in January excited to stream again. I'm looking forward to it, and that enthusiasm definitely helps.

We touched on this earlier and it's so important that I'm going to bring it up again: DON'T STREAM FIVE NIGHTS A WEEK WHEN YOU'RE STARTING OUT!!! It is, hands down, the most sure fire way to burn yourself out. Start with one night a week, maybe two, and build from there. Get yourself into a comfortable habit before attempting to add more content. You'll feel better about yourself in the long run, and you'll look forward to the next day you stream. It's better for your own health that way!

Remember, your health comes before your stream. Take care of yourself, and your stream will be better for it. If you're feeling down and need to vent, do it. The Vimm discord has lots of awesome people willing to listen. You can always poke @ddrfr33k on the Vimm discord if you need. There are other streamer oriented support groups out there that can help, too. And if worse comes to worst, talk to a doctor. You need to stay healthy, we all want you to stay healthy! And that's true both mentally and physically. That's all for this episode of Vimm University, have a great day, and we'll see you on Vimm!