Contributed by Kevin Kolbe.
Author: Kevin Kolbe
Kevin Kolbe has over 40 years of experience in media, from radio to TV. Now a full-time YouTube creator and coach, he helps other creators, especially those over 40, build and grow their channels. Kevin focuses on practical tips, simple ideas, and real-world experience to help creators improve their content and reach their goals.
There’s a lot of chatter about mental health, even in the creator space.
I can say that while I’ve had friends and family struggle with mental health, I haven’t gotten to the point of needing help yet. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, just haven’t teetered on that edge.
Something I do that I believe helps me break away from all the constant pressures and noise that I wanted to share, just in case you feel yourself needing a break but are not sure what to do.
Oh, I’m not a doctor or any type of mental specialist. These are things I do and have done for some time that help me separate my work from my life while keeping my sanity in check.
1. Notifications
I pretty much keep most notifications turned off. There are only a few I keep on my phone, like text and calendar. All others are off.
2. Social Media
I don’t keep any social media apps on my phone. If they're on there, I’ll check’em. So I took them off. I took a long break from social media, like six months. Off so long, I couldn’t remember some of my passwords. True. After my social media sabbatical, I deleted all but two accounts and rarely even checked those anymore.
3. Going Dark
Every year around Christmas, I take a sabbatical or hiatus or break - whatever you want to call it, I call it going dark - from all email and all social media. Seriously. I don’t check email - personal or business. I don’t check social media. I don’t even check my YouTube channel for comments or stats. In fact, I try not to actively create anything. I spend the time with family and just being present to whatever is around me without the glare of all the shiny things.
4. Limits
I set limits. Even though my office studio is at my home, I have business hours. I pop into the office around 9:00 am (ish) and stop by 5:30 pm (ish). Nothing magical about those times except that they work for me. I also break for lunch and never, ever eat at my desk. And when I say I stop by 5:30 pm, I stop. I don’t take the work downstairs. I don’t check email. I don’t do anything workish. I stop.
5. My Phone
Yeah, I use my phone for work and personal, but my phone always stays in my office at night. When it’s bedtime, I make sure my phone is upstairs on my desk and not on the nightstand by the bed.
One reason is we don’t have a nightstand, and two, we have a clock in the bedroom, so I know all I need to know in the middle of the night. I also use Do Not Disturb after a certain time in the evening.
Now, I do have some favorites in there - my dad and our kids, obviously, my wife, even though we're usually hanging out, watching television together - they can call me, and that would come through, or text, but that's it. Everyone else can leave a message after the tone.
6. My Desk
In a way, I treat it like my phone, sort of. My desk is where I do my work during the day. To help me mentally focus, I keep notifications off on my desktop. Nothing fancy, but I find fewer distractions the way to go for me.
7. Clients
I learned a long time ago that if I didn’t set my limits with my clients, they would be more than happy to set them for me. I don’t do any client work at night, weekends, or holidays. Like never.
I do communicate that with every client, so they know in advance. If it’s an emergency, which it never is, I can handle it the next day.
8. YouTube
I mention this since it’s my core platform for creating content. As much as I love YouTube - for work and fun - it can get overwhelming with info, specifically in the backend of your channel with all the analytics.
One thing I did was take the YouTube Studio app off my phone. If it was there, I’d check it, so I deleted it. I do try to limit how much I go to my channel on the desktop, but - being honest here - that’s still a work in progress. But like the no work after 5:30 pm guideline, I apply the same to my channel.
Once I’m out of the office, I don’t check anything about my channel. Beyond that, I’ve also stopped looking at my analytics. I chose to create, do the best I can, and leave it at that.
I know there may be other things I do or start doing over time, but these are the consistent habits that help me stay grounded and creative. Not a perfect system, but so far it works for me. Hope these help you too.
Kevin Kolbe
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