By Dan White

Source: DJ TechTools

With any profession, burnout is a real challenge that often crops up when you least want it to. The feeling of not being able to create or wanting to do something that you love can be incredibly frustrating – but it is a challenge that so many creators struggle with. In today’s article, we’ve collected some tips from the DJTT community on how DJs who struggle with burnout can get past it.

Burnout Is A Real DJ Problem

To people who aren’t in a specific creative profession (like producing, DJing, or any art form), the concept that you would get tired of it sounds absurd. Anytime a touring DJ talks about needing to rest, or a superstar producer claims they lack inspiration to make new tunes, it can seem like a bit of a first world problem. But this is very common – and not just in creative fields. Here’s a quick list of feeling that you might have when you’re burnt out:

• low motivation
• a sensation of being “drained”
• low energy to accomplish basic tasks – even ones you love
• loss of appetite and passion

There’s a great article that was in the New York Times last year on recognizing burnout before it happens – take a moment to read it. Even though it is focused on workplaces, almost all the concepts apply to DJs and producers.

We reached out to the DJTT community recently to ask everyone to share their best tips on avoiding burnout in our industry. Here’s some of the best advice we’ve heard (please, add more in the comments on this article!):

Take Breaks To Reflect + Relax

High-paced performance and production  schedules and constant stimulation can make it really hard for your “musical ears” to remember what they like. Your mind needs a healthy balance of time spent creating and time off in order to keep everything sustainable.

Don’t Take On New Gigs When Burnt Out

This advice comes from a great article on Psychology Today on ways to recover from a serious bout of being burnt out – avoid adding new responsibilities when you’re already feeling zapped.

This applies to gigs, production projects, anything that will add an extra feeling of needing to do something instead of wanting to.

Seek Inspiration From Peers

Being able to check out what other DJs and producers are doing is a clever way to kickstart your own creative mindset again. Seeing other creative people achieving success can be very motivating, and break through mental roadblocks.

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