DISCLAIMER: Links included in this post might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting me so I can continue to provide you with free content each week on my blog and on my YouTube channel!

If you’re reading this, you might be feeling a little burnt out when it comes to Instagram.

And that’s okay!

I’ve been talking to a lot of you on my Instagram stories who also feel this way so know that you are not alone. It can feel overwhelmingly impossible trying to grow your platform and on top of that, feeling the pressure to show up every day just to maintain that growth you’ve worked so hard for… does it ever stop?

Is Instagram Burnout Avoidable? Steps to Preventing Burnout

Let’s start with this amazing question I got on my Instagram: “Is Instagram burnout avoidable or is it something we need to learn to adapt to?”

To be honest, I don’t know!

In my experience, in order to avoid burnout on Instagram, I’ve had to experience it a few times to figure out what I need to improve on, to hopefully avoid it.

Maybe I will learn the magic formula one day, but for now, here are a few things I’ve learned that can help prevent burnout:

Take Care of Yo’Self!

The first thing I’ve learned to prevent burnout is self-care.

AND LOTS OF IT!

MINIMUM one FULL DAY a WEEK where you’re UNPLUGGED.

It is so important to take care of yourself first before taking care of others. I ignored this piece of advice for so long because for some reason I was like, “Nah I’m good.”

Big mistake.

I neglected my self-care and, inevitably, burnt out so much to the point where I had to take several months off of social media. I couldn’t even open any apps because it gave me so much anxiety.

As soon as I started to take care of myself and put myself first, I was able to show up and be myself!

No one is going to take better care of you, than you!

Self-care can be whatever you make it. It doesn’t have to be expensive spa days (although that’d be amazing!).

Make it a point to do things that you love.

It can be reading your favorite books (or the books I recommend everyone reads), getting some fresh air and going for a walk, or creating a healthy sleeping routine.

It can be random things like going to Bath & Body Works to smell candles or going to a vintage thrift store to look at old records.

Find what you love and enjoy the heck out of it.

Be Real With Yo’Self!

Be realistic. Set boundaries. Take the pressure off of yourself.

What do I mean by this? Well, here’s a question you can answer for yourself:

When it comes to social media, what is a realistic posting schedule that you can do and maintain?

Write your answer down, remember it, and take the pressure off of yourself!

It’s okay to have ambitious goals and high expectations of yourself, but not to the point where you’re overperforming and burning yourself out.

That doesn’t work in social media.

I had someone on Instagram ask me, “is it okay to take a week off?” and the answer is a big YES!

It’s okay to take breaks. There was a time when the strategy to grow on Instagram was that you HAD to post every day. Twice a day. Sometimes three times a day!

Now, that strategy is outdated! It is not human to have to post every day. I certainly can’t do that.

Maybe you’re able to post Reels Monday, Wednesday, and Friday along with stories throughout your week.

Awesome! That’s perfect. You can still grow on Instagram and Instagram Reels that way. It’s important to maintain that posting schedule, but not if it gets in the way of maintaining your mental and physical health!

That’s why I set boundaries for myself.

Set Boundaries For Yo’Self! 

Set boundaries with your relationship with your phone and social media.

What does that look like?

Maybe you have a boundary you set up where you don’t open any social media apps (including emails!) for an hour after waking up.

Or perhaps you create a boundary where you don’t use social media on the weekends or past 7 PM every night.

Once you’ve set your boundary, communicate it to someone who can keep you accountable. 

Ideally, this would be the one person you spend most of your time with. That could be a spouse/partner, your roommate, your business partner, a parent, whoever! Just make sure they hold you accountable.

Prevent Instagram Burnout By Batching Content

Batching content has helped me A LOT with staying ahead and not having to stress about what I’m posting, when I’m posting it, etc.

What is “batching”?

Batching is when you basically do the same task for a set period of time. This is a productivity hack that helps you save time because by doing one task uninterrupted by another task, you get into a “flow state” allowing yourself to get more done.

It’s an alternative to what most people do on Instagram: figuring out what to post, writing the captions, and researching hashtags right before posting.

For example, first, you’d figure out what you’re going to post. From there, you decide when to post.

Once that task is done, you write captions for all of those posts. Then, you research hashtags for all the posts you’ve planned. And so on.

Each task (what to post, captions, hashtags) is a batch that you focus on, one at a time.

This works for any area of business.

How to Recover from Instagram Burnout

Now that we’ve talked about how to avoid burnout, let’s talk about what to do when you’re burnt out and how to “come back” from that state.

Another question I was asked on Instagram was how to come back from a long pause and make sure it doesn’t happen again. (See picture on the right.)

Allow Time to Heal

The first thing I want to say is to allow yourself the space to heal and recover.

If you feel like you need a break or you feel burnt out, then take the time to recoup!

If you need a vacation, take that vacation. If you need a week off, or even a month, take that time off!

The last thing you want to do is ignore those feelings. If you do that, the burnout will hit you so much harder, making it much more difficult to recover.

Have a Balance of Trust and Grace

A lot of time, we feel pressured to come back on FIRE after a break. Sometimes, we feel we need ti rush the time we take off because we’re so worried our hard work will crumble without us.

You need to trust the foundation you laid. Your foundation will be solid and will be ready for you when you decide to return.

Trust that the growth will be there when you’re ready. And don’t be hard on yourself for taking a break!

Come Back With a Plan

Don’t just post for the sake of posting. (I’m 100% guilty of that by the way!) Set yourself up for success.

Before you come back, have a plan. And this goes back to what we talked about earlier: create a schedule and batch your content!

Focus on what you want to post and how often you plan to post when you’re back.

Doing this during your break will allow you to have fun creating posts without the pressure of TIME. You have 0 expectation to get it out. You have the freedom to do what you want, when you want.

Then when you’re ready, you’ll have a lot of content prepared to post, which will liberate you from the feeling of needing to be ON 24/7.

Who knows, maybe starting this way will reignite the passion for Instagram you had when you initially started.

Answering Questions On Instagram Burnout

Now that I’ve covered everything I can think of when it comes to Instagram burnout, it’s time to answer any questions you might still have.

Question 1: How do you do all the things, but without getting burnt out?

Such a great question! To answer this, I’ll refer back to when I recommended batching your content.

The same day I recorded my YouTube video that inspired this post (which you can watch at the top of this post), I also recorded two other videos. Sometimes, I record up to 5 videos in a day (if I know I can handle it).

Yes, it’s a lot for one day, but with those videos already recorded, I have the rest of the month to breathe.

I have the rest of the month to make sure the videos get edited properly and to start preparing for next month’s content.

To expand on batching, I also recommend staying organized!

A smart way to organize your batched content and ideas is to use a project management tool like Trello or ClickUp. I use both of them and they help tremendously.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed with everything you need to do, that might be a sign that it’s time for your to hire out or hire a virtual assistant.

Question 2: How do you treat Instagram only like a business tool?

To continue this question, the person also said they end up spending too much time seeing every like and comment.

I’m sure you can relate.

One thing I do when using Instagram strictly for business, is I use Instagram’s desktop version (on a computer or laptop).

I notice that when I use Instagram on my phone, I get sidetracked so easily.

When I’m at my desk on my computer, I’m in business mode. It’s much less likely I’ll get distracted from all the likes and comments and other posts.

Question 3: How do you stay consistent on days you feel completely burnt out?

Obviously, this is when I’d talk about batching content… but we’ve covered that enough.

Maybe you have been doing that and it simply isn’t working for you and you still feel completely burnt out.

If that’s you, then all I have to say is don’t post! It’s okay to be burnt out.

Do what you need to do to recharge. Lay in bed all day, binge-watch your favorite creators on YouTube, do whatever it takes to recharge.

Question 4: How do you compartmentalize burnout for Instagram without letting it hurt other areas like YT, website, etc?

I love this question.

For me, Instagram is the most personal platform. It’s where I create genuine connections and showcase the most personal parts of my life.

That means it requires so much more from me physically, mentally, emotionally, you name it.

With YouTube or my website, it’s not as much of a personal connection. It’s easier to compartmentalize and stay in “business mode.”

Since Instagram requires so much, it’s okay to take the break you need. Again, trust in the foundation you laid. Take the break, but also, continue to get in “business mode”. Make the YouTube videos you want that don’t require all of your mental and emotional energy.

Sometimes, you may have to keep posting on YouTube if you rely on it for income. Luckily, it’s easier to do that than it is to always be “on” for Instagram.

Eventually, you can get to the point where you don’t have to rely on showing up to make money. Check out my post on how Influencers can start earning passive income.

Are there any other questions you have when it comes to feeling burnt out on Instagram?

Let me know in comments, I’d love to answer them. Or if you have any hacks that work for you when you feel burnt out, let us all know!

I’m sure it will help everyone out.

Follow your joy!