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Avoiding burn out on a new site


Robmin
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So, what methods do you guys use for avoiding the dreaded burn out if you're solo administrating on your site.

I've set it up so that in a notes area on the site I have different days I do different jobs, so I'm not just posting roleplay threads all the time.

 

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Guest Archaic Cyborg

I'd avoid posting with all the players, because no staff is required to be a machine and rp eeeeverything. Staff have limits, like everyone else! Too many threads and plotting will trigger burn out.

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I suggest pacing yourself. I do a lot of RPs on my site, because I feel like its good to set an example of activity. I've been on RP sites where the admin never posts ever. So, do what you're comfortable with but don't go overboard. Also, feel free to let others drive the site plot and storyline.

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I'm personally terrible at avoiding burnout. The best I can suggest is to try not to cram all your duties into one three hour block after an 8 day work week. lol

 

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Try not to let all your time on your site get sucked dry by admin duties. 

 

Some days you just have to say "stuff it" and just write. 

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Personally I make sure that there are days that I'm only doing the stuff I enjoy doing, like posting, or coming up with new content. And some jobs I'll put off until I have muse for them, like advertising (which I don't think is the greatest of ideas, but I do it anyways!)

 

And of course making sure I limit myself; I used to want to have at least a thread per character going at once. In time I realized what a bad idea that was for my busy schedule, given that I have ten characters at least on one site. Now, instead, I just have the amount of threads I know I can handle at once.

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23 hours ago, SithLordOfSnark said:

I've never burned out because my sites have seriously lenient posting requirements, so I can post at my own leisure.

 

I tend to get burned out because as Admin, I feel pressured to personally RP with every new person that joins (at least for ONE thread) to make them feel welcome and included.

Which, to be honest, sometimes creates more threads than I really should be apart of.

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The thing is, though, everyone gets burned out for different reasons. It's also fairly easy for many to get burned out for all of the reasons or many of the reasons instead of just one or two.

 

  1. Perfectionism. Wanting everything to go just right, just so, and in exact direction. Wanting to micromanage every detail. It's impossible to do this along with RP, interaction, and doing basic admin duties. I like to tinker constantly, make things right, to find where I can improve on the board -- but I also try to let it go in many other things (people playing, people doing their own plots, etc, rather than shutting them down and curtailing their enthusiasm) and just enjoy myself.
  2. Neediness. This can go two ways. The admin's neediness, wanting enough people to join, wanting some semblance of popularity, wanting activity -- putting yourself out like that too much burns you out. With a new site, don't expect too much too fast. The other end is the members' neediness -- them wanting all of your time, spending more time complaining than playing, etc. Easily balanced by learning how to resolve issues firmly and fairly.
  3. Push-Overness. Like people say above, and I'm totally guilty of this myself, admins feel pressured to play with all of the peoples. Don't. Take it easy. Other players can play with each other, and you can do several at a time without actually focusing or looking like you play favorites. (That sounded dirty, sorry).
  4. Workaholicism. Don't wear that admin hat all the time. Take it off, kick up your feet, and play. This goes for also when you want to finish that canon list or that incomplete list of things you need to do to flesh out your site. It's alright, not the end of the world. I've also seen cases where one admin got most of the admin-hat duty than the other, and that can be a heavy burden. I just set my firm limits and set the times I want to play.
  5. Real Life. Suddenly, life gets harder, busier, crazier at intervals. Balancing this with new site? Holy crap. Let others take over here and there. I plan to if I need to. For the solo admins? I dunno. Maybe just be okay with the lull or letting your members play without needing you to be right there all of the time.
  6. Popularity. Say your site took off. So many people are pouring in. That can get any number of admins burnt out so hard, much less soloists. Turn off the registrations for a while, maybe, but not turning the board itself offline. Or set a limit for how many apps you want to approve in a day and make that clear somewhere on the board so you can just link to it if you need to. A former site I staffed on kind of did this -- except we went the whole nine yards and went offline a few times to chill. I haven't set in a plan for this because I don't expect my site to explode, it's fairly niche, but if it did? I think my plan will be simply to set my limits on how many apps I'll approve and how many claims I'll shift over in a day. We'll see. x.x
  7. Selfishness. This one is kind of inherent in everyone and not particularly directed at any one person but my own experiences with some people. Examples are wanting to do all the specific plot angles yourself but not having the time to do it -- yet unwilling to part with it to let someone else run it... yet dealing with the complaints about it... ahh yeah, crap just snowballing there. That might kind of go under perfectionism but it doesn't always, so gave that its own category. That one is a recipe for a burn out and one I've witnessed. You know, it's okay to let some things go or even get super involved later! Let something split off and make that your own. But seriously, for people like this, either crap or get off the pot.
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I think @Blackjack Bart said it best. Set aside Admin hours. Times of the day that you just do your adminly staff, doesn't even have to be every day, and post it somewhere for members to see so they know when you're staffing and when you are simply membering. It's a great way to simply set aside your time and still be able to enjoy your site.

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I rather enjoy posting with members. I make it known that I will get to all posts but i do have a life outside the forum. I generally am quick when replying. some times i take a break for a day so i dont burn out.

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Pretty much what Kay said.

 

For solo admins dealing with increasingly busy schedules it's even more critical to schedule your time and know your limits. If you know that for the next 2 weeks you're crazy busy, don't set an activity check (or other intensive activity) in there. Prioritize things that have to get done (approving apps is more important than spending 3 hours redoing the lore). Look for ways to reduce the workload. (Sure a list of unused playbys is useful... but if you have to spend an hour everyday updating it then that's an hour of time that could be spent elsewhere. If you're self-hosted then any way to automate things is awesome... EX- a bit of code to submit face claims to the database instead of having the admin put it in a list.) And, of course, set time to just play otherwise what's the point?

 

For admins sometimes it can be useful to have an admin account that's separate from your player OOC account. And keep it a secret that you, the player, are the admin. This way you can log in to player account and not even see the admin stuff. (And also not have people PMing you, the player, wanting admin stuff. This way you can play in relative peace.)

 

For players, pretty much just know your limits. Don't get involved in a dozen threads when you can only handle 3. (Because you know, due to Murphy's Law, that at the worst possible time all of those threads will get replied to so it'd be your turn when you're the busiest.) Don't make a more characters if you don't have time for your existing ones. (A bit meta, but don't be searching for another site when you already owe replies on an existing one and aren't intending on leaving it.)

 

Finally, communicate.

Seriously, like 75% of the problems roleplayers face could be resolved by simply communicating. Tell people you're threading with if you're busy. Let them know when things will get resolved (if you know, or at least a date when you'll have a better idea). If something is bothering you, don't sit on it... tell a staff member. Don't expect people will know something is off just because. (No one is a mind reader, those clues you think are so obvious... aren't obvious at all. EX- suddenly going silent in the chatbox does not mean anything to most people because there are a variety of reasons it can happen. )

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This one was hard for me. Mostly because I felt like all I did was bitch about myself and how busy I was, but at the end of the day I had lost connection with my board. If I ever had it at all? The people were what made me go night after night and hang, it wasn't the story, it wasn't the graphics or the words. I just loved those little dorks and the things we were building together! 

 

For me, personally, my burnt out came to an end when I started to fall in love with life again. And no this isn't a "I was depressed and need attention" but I for sure was going through a great deal and needed to pull my head out of my online ass and pay attention to this world outside my window.

 

I forgot that the internet is sometimes all people have, but that wasn't for me. I started working again. I lifted the burden off my husband who was supplying 100% of our finances and working himself into an early grave. His paychecks were paying for me to go to school and to spend my days cleaning and roleplaying. That wasn't fair to him.

 

So to me, I think that is the best way to get rid of burn out--volunteer for a local charity and realize that there is more than just this little window. That you are privileged to sit before the screen all day, and that some people are starving on the streets. 

 

I think this goes for a lot of things in life too. But nothing pulls me out of my burn out faster than walking a mile in someone else's shoes and seeing that at the end of the day my frustration for RP things really don't matter at all.

 

 

"Everyone has been doing so much soul searching during all of this,

and I'm just over here drawing pics of my character's dicks."

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On 12/26/2016 at 9:23 PM, VirusZero said:

Finally, communicate.

Seriously, like 75% of the problems roleplayers face could be resolved by simply communicating. Tell people you're threading with if you're busy. Let them know when things will get resolved (if you know, or at least a date when you'll have a better idea). If something is bothering you, don't sit on it... tell a staff member. Don't expect people will know something is off just because. (No one is a mind reader, those clues you think are so obvious... aren't obvious at all. EX- suddenly going silent in the chatbox does not mean anything to most people because there are a variety of reasons it can happen. )

 

Bolded emphasis mine.

 

That is a steady and sure route to burn-out. There have been times I've just not wanted to add to the burdens of other people and kept my thoughts to myself. I still do. It's hard finding the timing to approach something that is bothering you with someone else, but hell, it's important to do this anyhow. Lack of communication between staff and lack of communication with your members, and then you sitting on this and stewing? Talk about a bubbling over cauldron pot... and not with delicious stew inside.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I could never solo admin. I did it once when the head admin's computer exploded and I was the only other admin running the site at the moment. It was exhausting. When a few friends and I were opening a brand new site, there were four of us and it was still exhausting!

 

Honestly, I take things day by day. Get done what I need to get done that day, then when I sit down to spend time on the site I evaluate how I'm feeling and what I truly want to do that day. Sometimes I want to take a break from admin duties and just post with someone, other times I find myself super pumped to do certain admin duties. It honestly just depends on the day for me. If I start to feel that weight of burnout coming on, I'll take things slow and only do as much as I feel like (or nothing at all). Don't force yourself to keep on rollin' if you're really not feeling it, you don't want your site to feel like a chore that you resent.

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