Entrepreneurs like yourself have autonomy, passion, and a sense of good job fit. That sounds like the dream everyone wants, right?

But there’s a dark side too. In research published in Harvard Business Review, one-fourth says they felt moderately burned out, while 3% felt strongly burned out.

Even more interesting? Entrepreneurs with high scores of obsessive passion were more likely to say that than entrepreneurs with high scores of harmonious passion.

Obsessive passionate entrepreneurs were concerned about social acceptance, status, money, and other entrepreneurial-related outcomes. According to the research, they felt work was more emotionally draining and working all day required a great deal of effort.

#Entrepreneurs with high obsessive passion reported higher burn-out than those who weren’t obsessive: @HarvardBiz research. #contententrepreneurs Click To Tweet

While the research focused on entrepreneurs in general, we would expect similar results for content entrepreneurs. And given content creators’ businesses are all about social acceptance (i.e., attracting an audience), the level of burnout might be even higher.

Tilt Advice

Stop being obsessive passionate. Do the harmonious passionate thing.

Yes, we know it’s not that easy. 

Stop being obsessive passionate about your content creation. Do the harmonious passion thing instead, says @AnnGynn. #contententrepreneur Click To Tweet

Let’s start small as our U.S. readers are headed into a three-day weekend with three bigger ideas and three tiny steps to do today.

Wear one hat at a time 

Sure, you have a lot of roles – creator, marketer, business person, etc., but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything at once. Dedicate time for each hat. Add it to your calendar. If a thought pops up while you’re doing another task, just jot it down for later. You know you already dedicated time to tackling it later.

What to do today: Make an appointment on your calendar to take this step.

Be like Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss famously wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a bet. He was challenged to write a book using only 50 different words or less. It worked well for him, so try it yourself. Make a bet with yourself (write it down). (Even better, find another creator who wants to make a bet too.) Pick a reward proportionate to the task. Write an e-book? That’s worth a day trip. Finish your video edits? That’s worth a mocha latte. 

What to do today: Start thinking about the prizes.

Go out at recess

You probably can’t get a kickball game going, but you can do something that’s not about the business. The goal is to do something that resets your mind. That helps with burnout and boosts your creative mind. You could take a walk outside, make a food run, or even empty the dishwasher. (The latter also may take some stress off your to-do list later.)

What to do today: Practice recess all weekend long, so you get really good at it.

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.