Author Topic: Burnt Out  (Read 3204 times)

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Cedes

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Burnt Out
« on: Mar 21, 2010, 07:32 pm »
I have heard this term a lot lately, and have been wondering about SM's being "burnt out" by the business. What are some helpful tips and advice to try to avoid this? I have been warned that my personality could lead to me being burnt out, and I just want some advice as to how to prevent this.  Thank you!

loebtmc

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #1 on: Mar 21, 2010, 07:44 pm »
Plan breaks and actually take them. Go away for a day or an hour. Do things totally unrelated to your show and your job, talk to people about politics and religion and anything that is NOT theater or your play.

Do nice things for yourself at least periodically!

MatthewShiner

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #2 on: Mar 21, 2010, 08:37 pm »
This is a huge career issue for Stage Managers.  I have been working pretty much straight for the past ten years, the longest I have NOT been working on a show was one six-week break I took, the rest of the time, the longest time between shows was ten days.  I have been at my current job for six years, 52 weeks a year, most of the time in rehearsal (doing up to six shows a year).  And I was reaching a breaking point; luckily I know myself pretty well, and started to look for the "next thing" to keep my mind, my body, my soul challenged.  When you get bored, things begin to irritate you – as things begin to irritate more, you are pushed to the burning out mode – at least that is true in my history.  I know about three years in any sort of given circumstance, and I start needing something new in my life . . . part of this is from the fact my parents moved the family every three years as I was growing up.

You have to learn yourself, and know WHY you do this job.  There are two types of burn out - the day to day, and then sort of the more long term "Career" burn out.

As far as the day to day - take care of yourself - eat right, get some sleep, laugh, drink water, learn to delegate, learn to say "no".  Too many people try to be Superman or Superwoman as a stage manager, remember you are human, with all that good that comes with that.

Now, as far as career burn out - take care of yourself on the day to day level, but learn to look ahead - somewhere keep that early career mentality of future plans - where do you want to be in one year?  five years?  ten years?  Don't loose sight of running your career like a business, and make sure that you are taking care of the business.  Figure out WHY you do this job?  Are you getting your needs met?  Are you getting the challenges you need?  Remember, no amount of money makes up for some of the downsides of this career - including the time suck this career can take.  You need to make sure you are getting your intangible needs met. 

My helpful advice to anyone going through the "Am I burnt out?" question - is question what is changeable in your life that can make your career more fun, more stable, more exciting, more challenging . . . are you geographically bound?  Look into moving.  Are you stuck in one theater?  Try working at a new theater.  Do you need to move a level?  Work in a smaller theater?  Work in a larger theater?  Try dance, opera, music, circus . . .

Take a vacation . . . if you are a freelancer, you need to program down time.  If you have a full time position, make sure to take the downtime.  AND REALLY RELAX.  (Learn how to relax . . . a lot of stage managers, myself included, don't know how to relax, disengage.)

Make other things important in your life - date, get a pet, have a hobby, spend time with your family, spend time with strangers outside of theater - whatever.  But, if THEATER isn't the only thing in your life, then when you career gets "irksome" and pushes you to burn out . . . you will have other things that can help stabilize and ground you.

And remember, they may come time when you are “done” stage managing.  There is no rule you need to keep doing this for the rest of your life.  The skill set and experience you gain as a stage manager can easily transfer to other jobs, other careers.  And remember, there is no rule if stop stage managing to do something else that you can’t come back.
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Anything posted here as in my own personal opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my employer - whomever they be at a given moment in time.

missliz

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #3 on: Mar 21, 2010, 10:48 pm »
Once upon a time, I was running a show at night.

Another show was rehearing M-W-F daytime, and asked if I could do it. I said sure.

Then a director I liked asked if I could help with this new work development- they only met Tues-Thurs. Sure!



And then I nearly dropped dead. And I learned- just because I HAVE the time to do everything, doesn't mean I HAVE to do everything.

Breathing room is an acceptable reason to turn down a show.
I personally would like to bring a tortoise onto the stage, turn it into a racehorse, then into a hat, a song, a dragon and a fountain of water. One can dare anything in the theatre and it is the place where one dares the least. -Ionesco

dallas10086

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #4 on: Mar 22, 2010, 08:58 am »
I'll admit that I experienced burnout early on due to several circumstances: I couldn't continue college because of finances, I was moving every year stage managing wherever I could (5 different states in 4 years), and my family was going through crisis. Every time I called my mom on the phone just to catch up and say hi, I ended up in tears. I didn't take care of myself, I kept my health and my needs second; my personality is such that I put undue and unrealistic amounts of stress and pressure on myself. I stopped stage managing for almost four years. While I missed it, I needed to ground myself again before taking the dive back in. I'm certainly more aware of my body's cues - when I come home I relax as soon as possible, if I couldn't sleep the night before I make sure to at least rest during the day, I make sure to do something that makes me laugh...this is the first production where I haven't come down with a illness.

Everything Matthew said is right, including treating your career as a business. I didn't learn that soon enough; I thought my job was to do everything and be everything to everybody. You have to know your limitations and watch out for yourself. Listen to your body, use common sense and don't be afraid to say no.

Beatr79

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #5 on: Mar 22, 2010, 11:51 am »
Sort of a corollary to Matthew's advice to treat your career as a business is this: make sure you are respecting your personal life and force your business to do it too. 

What does this mean exactly?  Think big life events - wedding, funerals, reunions, etc.  There are times, inevitably, where one of these once-in-a-lifetime events are going to conflict with a job offer / show / tech.   I expect that people who always chose work over life are the folks who leave the business sooner.  Part of preventing burn-out in the long run and building a sustainable career is creating life-work balance.

It took me about 5 years before I felt comfortable enough in my career to start treating my personal life with equal respect to my career, and I wish I had figured this out a bit sooner - I missed one major reunion in that time.  But since I've come to that realization, I have made 2 weddings and an unexpected funeral deal-breakers in negotiations.  I needed to be at these events, and made that clear to my employers.  In one instance, I actually turned down a job because I knew I would miss a Very Important wedding. 

Have I made the right choices?  And am I happy in my career.  Yes to both.




babens

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Re: Burnt Out
« Reply #6 on: May 03, 2010, 01:44 am »
I'm actually in the final week of a show that has had me close to burn out/breakdown mode for several months.  I'm sad to say that I did indeed let the work supercede my personal life to an extent that during this contract I have missed two different funerals and been unable (maybe even unwilling?) to take the time I need to get some other issues affecting my mental/emotional health under control.  This in turn triggered my insomnia to a point where I have been routinely going anywhere from 30-60 hours straight without sleeping.

I finally reached the point where I realized that if I did not turn in my notice and leave under my terms, and before the full contract was up, that there would be a very good chance of putting myself into the hospital before it was over due to downright nervous exhaustion or worse.

Luckily, the production manager and associate artistic director have both been very understanding about the situation, as have everyone else in the office for that matter.  But calling the office while out on the road and telling them about my situation and decision was definitely one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my professional career.  I'm glad to say that I'm walking away from this without having burned any bridges, which was my biggest fear, and that the company fully supports my decision and will be waiting for me to be ready to return to them in the future.

 

riotous