If you start feeling burned out.... cut off an arm. Got it.
JerryRigEverything
I relate so hard to what you said about not being able to review all three phones in front of you - I used to want to try and cover every single new thing that I could buy or that arrived with me. I felt like each was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I'd feel stupid to let pass me by
But when your content becomes better, and the time required for every single part of the process goes up, not to mention your standards get higher, it becomes completely unfeasible and you have to pick and choose.
Here's to making more things just because we enjoy them!
Mrwhosetheboss
Nearly 20 years doing this now, ive resisted having a cameraman/editor/ team etc as the thing that made youtube so good back in the day was it was normal people and there mates doing awesome stuff and i've always felt if i get a team of people behind the scenes i start to become a TV show or a manager so my work process today is the same as back in 2006 lol. Its put a limit on the amount of content but thats all. My only tip at present is KEEP ON DIGGING. Great vid Marques as usual.
colinfurze
Great video! Very well said. Having been on this platform now for 18 years - I totally feel every single word you said. I "left" YouTube as my full-time job almost six years ago now, and it was such a good decision for me. I don't have to focus on maintaining all 8 of my octopus tentacles, but instead can work with a larger team and just stick to my core competences and "heart."
Loved all the disparate analogies here - you get it.
Jogwheel
Marques can you not scare us with a title like this
EthanBeer
What's weird is... even if you never cater to the algorithm, ignore pressure to post frequently, don't sell any merch, and avoid management headaches by never expanding to a team, continuing to make videos the same way you always have... you can experience burnout. I've heard.
CaptainDisillusion
Didn’t think I’d be getting a MKBHD shout out for quitting YouTube 😂 great insights! For me I don’t feel burnt out but I do feel the need to stop the machine for a bit, slow down, learn, recalibrate and give myself time to figure out what the next phase is. Whether that’s coming back to YouTube but doing it differently or doing something completely different. It’s just very hard to do that figuring out while keeping the machine going. Anyways thanks man 🙏🏻
mattih
I really needed this right now. I'm by no means a big creator, but the pressure still mounts at times. Thank you for putting this so eloquently and for the great insights.
AutumnCozy
Not growing is always an option. I want to keep things small.
smartereveryday
"You are making stuff. And that's the fun." You've kept focused on that and it's inspiring. Thanks for showing the way!
CleoAbram
"A dream job, is still a job" is very well said. Work-life balance is very important.
乂
I'm not a content creator by any means, but I cannot express how much this video has helped me come to understand what I'm feeling and why something needs to change. Thank you for all you do, and for all the greats who are putting themselves first!
hashtagmoniz
I totally resonate with what you've expressed here. The YouTuber job is more multifaceted than most people understand and the burnout is real. Keep your passion at the core of everything you do and remember why you started.
RILDIGITAL
Tom Scott did it best. He told us a year in advance what was going to happen and he followed through. He is an awesome person and I wish him the best.
chuggernaut
My answer has been to save some videos for myself. Just make something for me, without help. It may not even be for YouTube. Use the scale to keep the machine going. To pay the bills. The trap is chasing money. Creativity is always at arms reach if we ignore the game
RealEngineering
The octopus analogy is actually so accurate
Kable
Extremely well said. Watched this from start to finish and agreed with every word.
NickDiGiovanni
Great video (as always). I went through this as a writer before I experienced it as a YouTuber. I always dreamt of being a published novelist (and with good reason; it's a wonderful job), and I spent a lot of time doing it for free before anyone ever paid me. But the creativity part of writing, while of course it's at the center of the work, is only part of the story. You also have to think about invoicing and net-45 payment schedules and marketing your books effectively and collaborate with designers and editors and audiobook producers and foreign language agents and so on. All of this is great work, of course--it's inherent to your dreams coming true, which is of course an amazing experience--but it's very difficult to remain creative while also doing a good job of the other stuff, and "the other stuff" becomes a bigger and bigger part of your job. This is one reason why I used to publish a book every other year and now it's every four or five. With YouTube, it's even more extreme, because there is even less support, and the business models aren't as mature. And when people feel like they've lived the dream, and now they're ready to go on and live another life, I think we should thank and congratulate them.
Thanks as always for using your voice with such care and thoughtfulness. -John
vlogbrothers
Very well said. Even outside of Youtube, starting a business of any kind can be very difficult. Especially when it starts to grow and you begin the process of adding different levels of responsibility to your team in order to maintain it. This video definitely makes all of the sense in the world to me and it is very helpful. Thank you for it.
pillowjones
In summary: become a comfortably jogging two-legged octopus and buy six more treadmills for each of the other 6 legs and make sure to keep your three hearts intact
