Well well, the 1st blog post on my new website! So I'll get right into the thick of it - Time off is more important than you think. It's a lesson I've learned this year the hard way, the hard way being getting incredibly burnt out of making content for any of my YouTube channels or even just playing games in my off time.
In the year of 2020, I've had 2 "proper" breaks, "proper" being a fully disconnected break where I don't make YouTube content nor posted on my social media... although that 2nd part is optional really. I went to Australia in February for 2 1/2 weeks and within the last couple weeks, I went for a long weekend to the Peak District, fully disconnected, both by choice and not by choice... there was no signal let alone mobile data, haha!
When I came back from Australia back in February, I'd never felt so refreshed in the entire time I've had YouTube as a career (since June 2015 that is!) - I got right back on the YouTube train with my Python Plays Minecraft series and wound up going daily with it for well over a month, a streak that I hadn't achieved in many years! Eventually though, of course, I wound up feeling like things were going downhill, my energy was slowly diminishing and the traction on my channels started to decline as a result. The primary difference between the Australia break and the Peak District break was the fact the dreaded COVID-19 situation was in its infancy in February. COVID has kicked the world's collective ass this year and it's affected more things than just businesses and visiting friends and families, all of which are super important of course... but in my case came the decline of my mental health. There's a difference between not going out because you don't feel like it and not being *allowed* to go out, the latter just sucks. Anyway, I won't go too much into the COVID situation, the fact of the matter is it sucks and, like a lot of other people out there, my mental health slowly declined as time went on.
So for the Peak District break, I planned it because...
- My energy for making YouTube videos was at an all time low
- I just needed a change of scenery, plain and simple and...
- The change of scenery meant that we were away from the constant misery that was the news about COVID
To be totally disconnected from everything and everyone, I think, is extremely healthy to do every now and again. You get to...
- Learn things about yourself
- Have some time to truly think about things in your life (in my case, I made the decision to discontinue my PythonGB channel for an undisclosed amount of time)
- Spend some quality time with your significant other
- Explore your country a bit more and...
- Be away from towns and cities and be one with nature!
On a side note of what I'd consider an ideal break, my #1 bucket list item is to have a holiday in snowy Canada, the setting is a lovely log cabin in a snowy pine forest next to a river or stream with snowy mountains in the backdrop. You could snuggle with your significant other in front of a cosy fire with hot chocolates and amazing views out the windows! Sounds pretty great eh?!
So moving on, I return home from the Peak District and I have a similar super-motivated feeling that I had when I came back from Australia earlier in the year. I'm so pumped to get back to making content again and, at the time of me typing this post, I've discontinued the PythonGB channel, which made space for me to be able to livestream regularly again and, of course, focusing wholeheartedly on the PythonMC channel again! The small break was absolutely worth it, no doubt about it!
Anyway, going forwards, I think the best way to have time off but not have it affect your workflow too much is to just book a few long weekends off a year, perhaps once every 2 months? There's plenty of places to explore here in the UK and I'd very much like to do exactly that. I'm a sucker for a good landscape, being with nature and just chilling outside, whether that be literally just sitting there on a chair outside inhaling the clean air, having a nice picnic or whatever else. The bottom line is this - You *have* to take time to just chill. It's way too easy to get trapped in a monotonous routine of just waking up, working, having dinner, sleeping, rinse and repeat. You *have* to break that cycle every now and by doing that, you'll feel super revitalised and re-energised, trust me on this!
Take care, stay safe and plan your next break, seriously, DO IT!