Camming is not an easy job – we all know this. Having to deal with beggars, scammers, and all-around awful people while still being entertaining and enticing to the people who do support you on cam is no easy task. Camming falls under the umbrella of helping jobs, where you expand a lot of your emotional energy toward your “clients” and often do not get much back. Therefore, burnout is so common in the camming field. You’ll see girls taking multiple days off from cam, and months even, because they’ve overextended themselves for the sake of their viewers and have neglected to take good care of themselves physically, emotionally, and mentally.
So, what does it take to successfully manage burnout while still maintaining a consistent cam presence and earning enough money?
BOUNDARIES
You need to have realistic expectations of yourself and set firm boundaries about what you will and won’t do, how often you’ll be on cam, and how available you’ll be OFF cam. I find that the off-cam presence is often the hardest one to be firm on, because you might feel that if you don’t give your members enough attention between camming sessions, they will forget about you and move on. While it may be true for some members, most will be understanding of you needing your private time outside of cam to recharge and do your own things instead of constantly doing Twitter status updates and tweeting sexy pics. The members who WON’T be ok are ones who will always expect too much from you and push your boundaries. You need to have a solid understanding of how much connection outside of cam is ok for YOU and to stick with it. Boundaries are so crucial to have, and I guarantee that you will have a greater peace of mind when your personal boundaries are not crossed by members.
How do you let them know what they are? You can either be direct and say that you will not be on Twitter much in the off-cam hours, or that you will take weekends off from social media completely, or that you won’t answer DMs. An indirect way of doing the same is simply doing it and waiting for members to catch on and not making exceptions. Firm personal boundaries equal a healthy state of mind. 💖
SELF-CARE
You may think of self-care as taking bubble baths, getting your nails done, or getting a massage, and while those are all true, self-care may come in very different forms.
Self-care might be you taking a nice walk around town or a park. It might be disconnecting from social media and phone for a day and experiencing a day without interruptions. It’s giving your body some rest, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. It might be calling or texting a friend you haven’t talked to in a while because of your camming schedule, or even just reading a book. It might look different for everyone, but at the core of it is putting your needs first and caring for your own well-being.
You can think of taking care of yourself as investing in your camming career. The better your self-care and the firmer your boundaries, the more you can achieve without getting exhausted, spreading yourself too thin and eventually burning out. Burnout is not pretty, and unfortunately, it’s way too common in camming. It’s hard to get yourself back on cam after a burnout, because you may feel resentful, unmotivated and unwilling to put yourself back in the place that caused it. The best way out of this situation is to try to not get into it in the first place.
HERE’S HOW 👇
Start by figuring out how to take care of your basic physical needs, like prioritizing your sleep, having a stricter cam schedule (no camathons or camming too late at night), eating well and avoiding junk food and emotional eating. I know it may seem really appealing to order in after a long camming session, but doing that too often will drain your energy and lead to eventual weight gain. Make sure you go to the doctor for regular checkups and take whatever vitamins/supplements that make you feel better. (Try collagen for healthier skin, hair, and nails, and melatonin for better sleep). Exercise is a key component of self-care, whether it’s going to the gym, taking classes or just going on daily walks.
Emotional self-care involves doing things that make you feel good and keeping your mood stable. The instability of camming earnings and the up and down nature of the cam industry does not bode well for emotional stability. Adding the “camming high” after a good night on cam to the list is a recipe for an emotional disaster. Some ways to counteract this is to take time to yourself to relax and reflect on the day and perhaps meditate, journal, or spend time on a relaxing hobby. You can vent to your fellow camgirls or a supportive friend if you’ve had a bad day on cam. If you’re noticing that you’re feeling bad consistently, it may be a good idea to see a counselor, which can improve your mood immensely. Watch out for self-medication with drugs or alcohol. While they may bring relief in the short-term, they won’t be good for you at all in the long term.
Mental self-care can cover things like doing activities outside of camming that bring you happiness and feeling mentally stimulated. Let’s face it, camming is not exactly the most mentally-stimulating job out there, so you need to take care of that aspect outside of cam. Hanging out with friends, reading interesting books, maybe taking a class or even going back to school all encompass your mental well-being. It’s about knowing that there’s something outside of the camming bubble that can be mentally engaging and be something to strive for.
The combination of strong personal boundaries and consistent self-care will do wonders for you and prevent a potential burnout. You’ll be able to enjoy camming more and not lose yourself in it. If you have any more personal tips, share them below!
