SECS 8 Week 4: The mental health of a content creator

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The mental health of a content creator. What an awesome topic for all Steemians as we are all content creators.

I am convinced that reading all the entries to this challenge will give us the required “fuel” just to get going again.

It is of utmost importance that we understand what mental health is. How we feel, act, think, and face the difficulties of life determine our mental health.
We can describe mental health with three words;
• Logic
• Behavior
• Emotional well-being

When we experience feelings of loss, sleeping problems, no interest, stress, and even unhappiness, it can be the impact of a mental “disease”.

Believe it or not, there is a significant connection between mental health and physi¬cal health. Poor mental health can cause us to experience low energy levels which will result in no physical activity, poor eating and drinking habits which will result in gaining weight, obesity, chronic conditions, and not enough sleep which can increase the risk of health problems.

Your mental health counts!

The feelings I experience when I write content

Again we are all unique and the feelings we experience when we write content will differ. I gladly share my feelings with you.

🖈My 1st feeling… LOVE!

I always say that I don’t like cricket, I LOVE cricket.

Well, the same goes for writing.
I don’t like writing… I LOVE writing.

Just last week I wrote the following in one of my posts.

“I love it to sit in front of my computer in the early hours of the morning. The household is all quiet, even the dogs are still sleeping. All that I can hear is my fingers on the keyboard.”

Frédéric Chopin (composer and pianist) said, “I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.”
Well, this is me, “I tell my keyboard the things I want to tell you.”

🖈 My 2nd feeling… Anxiety and discouragement

Make no mistake even though I love writing there are times that even I feel anxiety and discouragement. This makes me a true author as 99,9% of authors sometime in their life go through the same “Writing anxiety” experience.

This normally happens to me when I am not familiar with the topic I have to write about.

Authors must often place themselves in their own little world, living the post, and then express themselves in words. At times this is not an easy task especially if you must write about feelings or happenings you rather want to forget. Our thoughts are often dark which can cause a feeling of anxiety, discouragement and even being depressed.

🖈 My 3rd feeling… Being stuck!

This is the term “writer's block” which authors are too familiar with. You are busy writing a post and then, all of a sudden you don’t know what comes next. Best of all, the harder you try difficulties just increase.

This normally happens when I “try too hard” and I feel that my work is not good enough. Self-criticism is to be blamed for me getting stuck.

🖈 My 4th feeling – Pride!

Oh gosh, what a feeling it is when you write that last word and you know that you have written something good. Pride overrides the feeling of elated by far.

The cherry on the cake is then also when you see readers enjoying what you have written.

Remember, as an author we share our stories with the big wide world. We are in a position to educate, inspire and uplift others which is extremely rewarding.

We are allowed to give ourselves a pad on the back and say, “Job well done!”

P rofessionalism
R espect
I ntegrity
D iversity and
E xcellence

Have I ever felt mentally exhausted by generating content daily?

And my answer is… YES!

It is called “Author time”. Most of us try to do as much as possible in a short period. We also find it difficult to say no to more responsibilities. Soon we find ourselves burned out and left feeling all miserable.

There was a time, here on Steemit, when I had to take a step back. I had to ask myself the following questions;
· Who am I?
· What do I want in life?
· What is important for me?
· What is important for my family?
· What is my purpose?

Not only was it difficult for me to post every day as a result of being too involved with other things on Steemit but it also put a lot of pressure on my life outside Steemit.

I had to make a decision and I wrote the following post;

At first, I felt terrible, yes, I even cried and I shared with some of my Steemian friends.

I felt like a failure but at the same time, it was as if a big pressure was removed from my shoulders.

In the end and with a bit of help from my friends, I figured out what was best for me, best for my family, and I put us first.

Today I can help where I can, I can write when I can, and if I miss a day it is okay.

I am back at enjoying Steemit for what it stands for!

How do I feel when my posts are not valued as I expect them to be and does it affect me?

My answer this time will be, NO!

If my post is not getting the results I thought it would it doesn’t affect me mentally.

I have learned over the years that we are all different and the same for Steemians. We have to respect it. Often I’ve been surprised by the fact that a post that I expected to do well doesn’t. Then again, a post I thought twice about posting performs well beyond my imagination.

I am also one of the lucky ones who doesn’t see Steemit as a “job”. In other words, I don’t have to depend on it for an extra income. I am sure that if it was the other way around I would have felt different.

Through my journey on Steemit in the last year I discovered how many authors depend on those votes. I wonder if the creators, the owners, and the team realize what they have offered so many people.

Steemit is that straw that so many drowning men is grabbing. It surpasses the term “social media” by far.

You might think that when you’ve reached a certain level it all just happens. How wrong you can be. The higher your fly the harder it gets.

I could not understand how I can enter an engagement challenge with 1000+ words, I get a score of 10, plenty of commentary, plenty of votes, and curator's eyes on my post, oh yes plus I supported plenty of other entries but come Monday and my post is not chosen as one of the winning posts. Instead, a post with 300 words and a score of 8,5 gets chosen. It is not fair! I deserve that acknowledgment and I deserve the vote even if it is on one of my other posts.

Guess what? Life is not fair. You have to learn that it is not in your hands and you have to learn to move on. If you keep on pondering it will break you mentally.

Some advice to those newbies who might read this post. It is when you expect the lease that you get the most. You must just not give up!

My recommendations for a content creator to keep a healthy mind

This is the one heading where I could easily write a book. Best I stick to 5 of the most important points that help me to keep a healthy mind as an author.

1. Find your interest
2. Plan
3. Set your times
4. Be gentle with yourself
5. Let it go!

These 5 points might sound easy but each one of them has a deeper meaning.

When we are in high school we get to choose our subjects. When we go to varsity we choose the field we would like to study. If we start working we choose a sector that interests us. So why don’t we find what interest us when we write?

Is it a case of copying what the “Joneses” are doing? We see a post we like and we start writing or we get an invite to contest posts and we enter. It is the worst thing we can do.

I get invites to participate in contests daily. I will politely thank them for the invite but I won’t take them up on it unless I know I can write about it. By doing this I don’t put any unnecessary pressure on myself mentally.

We all know that writing a good post on Steemit takes time. It is not something you can do in an hour or two. So, don’t waste your valuable time on something that doesn’t interest you but rather find that contest that does and give all your time and energy to writing the best post ever.

You have to plan your post. If you don’t plan your post you will waste valuable time and energy which will put a lot of strain on you mentally once you start writing.

I also believe that when you plan your post you must have fun with it. Having fun and a sense of humor is often the best medicine to keep our mental health.
I would often sit at school doing my planning while I wait for school to come out. I will grab a piece of paper, a serviette, or a tills slip and start drawing pictures or speech bubbles planning my post.

I also like to involve my family when I do my planning. Guess what? Our families are the only ones that will be honest enough to tell us that our ideas are stupid.

It is also important that you change how you do your planning. Doing your planning, in the same manner, every time becomes boring and your brain is very clever. You have to keep it sharp and healthy by changing your habits.

We all get those busy days and I know it is not always easy but if you have to set a time for planning and writing. By doing this you can make life so much easier for yourself.

What works best for me is to plan my day early in the morning for that specific day. No one can plan ahead for the week as you don’t know what your week holds for you.

You also have to set time aside for yourself as you are the most important factor in your life.

Once you have set your times you must stick to them.

Often I will be busy writing a post and I know it is time to have tea with the family.
Tea now? I am so close to finishing. Let me just finish this paragraph. And then… that paragraph becomes two and even three paragraphs. I know! I am guilty.
It is the one thing that I am working hard on, learning to set a time and then, moving away.

I also believe that our environment has large effects on the outcome of our mental health. Plan your environment when you set your times.

I think this is by far the most difficult point to keep good mental health.

We all put so much pressure on ourselves. We have to learn to be gentle to ourselves. It is only when you have compassion for yourself that you will ease the pressure.

You put tremendous pressure on yourself if you write two posts a day. One post a day is more than enough and if you miss a day writing a post it is okay. Good diets will tell you that you need one day of the week to rest. The same with writing. I can guarantee you that there are good reasons for missing a day of submitting a post.

That one day of not writing can just make you write your best post the next day.

Here are a few don’ts

· Don’t be too harsh on yourself
· Don’t let self-doubt get you under
· Don’t let negativities from others rub off on you
· Don’t compare yourself to others
· Don’t let a setback get you under
· Don’t let limited support get you under

There is that little button in all of us that says “Inner judge”. Turn it off straight away!

You can do it!

Have you ever listened carefully to the words of the song “Let it go” from the movie Frozen?

Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You'll never see me cry
Here I stand and here I stay
Let the storm rage on

If you battle with a topic… let it go!

Often we start a post and in the middle, we get that “writer's block”, well it is then also the time to let it go.

If you want to maintain good mental health as an author you have to;

· make it easy by writing a paragraph for paragraph
· let it go if you battle with a topic
· remember that Rome was not built in one day
· acknowledge that you need a break
· realize that it is not wrong to ask for help

If you don’t let go you will hit rock bottom and not only you but those the dearest to you will suffer.

Wishing you all the best for your mental health as a content creator!