Do you know how to avoid burnout as a makeup artist? Read on for our top tips.

Working part-time or full-time as an MUA or beauty specialist certainly has its perks. Regarded as a job with a relatively good work / life balance – working in this industry can be flexible and rewarding. For freelance artists in particular, the beauty of deciding your own schedule means that you can still pay the bills whilst ensuring you don’t miss out on all the best parts of life.

However, despite all the immediate positives – let’s face it, this can be a tough gig! We are constantly on our feet all day dealing with people and this means our social dial needs to be twisted firmly to 100. Let’s not forget the long hours and the constant pressure to hone your skills to the ensure you’re at your best! These pressures can inevitably lead to exhaustion or a decrease in passion for what you do. This is part of burning out.

What is burnout?

To understand if we are struggling with burnout, we need to understand what it feels like.

Burnout is defined as “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed“.

Does this sound familiar?

Burnout can manifest in many different ways. Whether that be through physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion, weight fluctuation, or even panic attacks. The most deadly thing about burnout, is we don’t often recognise the signs until it’s too late!

The World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source recently made the decision to redefine burnout from it’s initial definition as a stress syndrome. It is now in the organisations International Classification of Diseases diagnostic manual. There, they list the three main symptoms of burnout as:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion
• increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings negative towards one’s career
• reduced professional productivity

Here’s the thing we want you to remember. Beauty burnout isn’t a deal-breaker! There are so many ways to spot the signs, and even more ways to combat it when you can feel it creeping in.

Our Top Tips For Combating Burnout

Learn to Recognise the Signs

Are you lacking in motivation? Feeling tired? Losing optimism or passion for your career?

If you begin to understand the early warning signs that suggest you might be reaching full capacity, you have a better idea of when to stop. For many makeup artists, long hours and weekend work is all they know. Make sure to evaluate your mental wellbeing often. This will allow you to check in with how you are coping and identify ways that you can take care of yourself.

Time Aside for Yourself Every Day

Whether you prefer 30 minutes reading a book or an episode of your favourite TV show – try and make time for you part of your daily routine. Having set time where you can focus on things other than work helps you get a clean break and allows you to press the reset button.

Time Block to Ensure Your Free Time

It can be far too easy to get swept up in the mania of your work life. We all say to ourself, I’ll just finish this now and have some extra free time tomorrow. This never happens! It’s so easy for something to come up and sweep your free time from under your feet.

Time blocking is a great way to get organised and ensure you have enough hours in the week to schedule free time and get all your work done. Try and plan your week in advance where possible, and block out when you’re busy and when you can have time for yourself. Once you’ve got that time set for you to enjoy – try not to let anything fill it! It’s just as important as the time you have set for work.

Keep Things Fresh

Boredom can often be the first catalyst to a lack of motivation. When things get repetitive or uninteresting it becomes much easier to find yourself stuck in a rut. Consider switching things up, learning a new technique or trying out a new product! These are just a few things that can help keep the working day interested and new.

Set Boundaries

Boundaries are a must when it comes to avoiding burnout. Set your personal boundaries and try to stick by them rigidly. As hard as saying no can be, sometimes it can be the one thing preventing us from tipping over the edge. Take special care to say no to things that don’t align with your career or values.

Know When To Raise Your Rates

This can be a difficult one. Many of us find the idea of raising rates hard, but it’s so important to make money doing what you love without killing yourself to get there.

If you find your week is jam packed with work, consider upping your prices just slightly if you haven’t done so in a while. This should allow you to take a slight step back and create an extra safety barrier behind which you can thrive!

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Believe us when we say you’re not alone when it comes to feeling burnt out. We’ve all been there – more times than we’d like to admit! But every time we pick ourselves back up, we feel stronger for whatever it is that we next have to face.

However, we want to let you in on a little secret that will have your beauty career reaching social stardom in no time. If you’re struggling to balance time, hone in on the skills you need to build a successful business and grow your career all whilst avoiding burnout? Invest in our online business course to find your own artistry shortcut.

Glambitious is our online business mastery programme designed to support you in making a successful career.

The programme designed to help female entrepreneurs with a service based business, just like you, build traction, get organised and finally achieve their ambitions! 

We’ve been where you are now and we know the steps that will get you results (and also the ones that won’t).

We want to help you LEVEL UP your business whilst ensuring that your personal wellbeing isn’t effected as a consequence. If you’re ready to see real results, find out more and enquire with our team here.