The life of a vlogger is often glamorized. Your viewers see you as both a celebrity and a friend. Those outside the industry may be jealous of your career, and those inside the industry may be jealous of your success. Even with the whole world at the end of your camera lens, it’s still easy to slip into a creative slump.

After pumping out videos for months or even years, you might feel exhausted and struggle to come up with fresh ideas. This is normal. Everyone, from top-selling musicians to high-ranking CEOs, can experience burnout.

You don’t need to worry that burnout is going to cause you to lose focus on your career, though. There are quite a few ways vloggers in particular can break themselves out of a creative slump.

Give yourself a mental break by making an easy video.

One of the best things you can do is simply give yourself a break. However, missing a weekly upload can risk your place in YouTube’s video ranking algorithm. Instead of taking a physical break, give yourself a mental break by making an easy video.

Relax your content for this week and focus on filming something that’s fun. It might be a Q-and-A, a silly challenge, or a collab with your best friend. Easy filming leads to easy watching, so your video will be a nice break for your viewers as well.

Rewatch a few of your early uploads.

For many vloggers, gaining a lot of subscribers in a short amount of time can cause them to lose focus on their original intentions. It’s easy to fall into the trap of making the kinds of videos that get a lot of views instead of the kinds of videos that make you feel creatively fulfilled.

Sometimes, to reignite your passion for content creation, you need to remember why you started. Go back and watch a few of your earliest uploads. Compare that content to the videos you make now. Ignoring the production value, think about how those original videos made you feel.

Not only will you remember what it was like when you started your channel, but you will also see how far you’ve come. Keep that past version of yourself in mind as you work on future videos. Imagine how they would react to your current uploads.

A few years ago, there was a trend in which vloggers reacted to their first videos. You might try this for yourself so your audience can share the experience with you.

Write down your personal goals.

As a vlogger, it’s easy to equate your success to numbers. YouTube prominently displays important metrics such as your subscriber count and view count. There’s a ton of data in your channel analytics to tell you how your videos are performing.

While these numbers are helpful, they shouldn’t be the most important thing about your channel. You are more than a set of videos for people to watch; you are a person who creates this videos because it’s something you’re passionate about.

Take a few minutes to write down your personal goals. Turn off your computer and set your phone aside. Use a piece of paper and a pen so you really have to focus. Then, don’t limit yourself to what’s plausible. Write down the biggest goals and dreams you have for your channel.

When you’re done, hang this list near where you film or edit. Look at it every time you make a video. Moving forward, try to focus on your goals rather than your numbers. If a video or career move isn’t serving those goals, move in a different direction.

Try something completely different from your typical content.

Sometimes, all you need to get out of a creative rut is to shake things up a little. Look at the kinds of videos you’ve been making. Jot down a few keywords or overarching themes. Compare them to ideas you have for upcoming videos. Then, come up with a video idea that doesn’t align with any of those.

For example, if you’ve been focusing on makeup tutorials and beauty product reviews, you might decide to film an Animal Crossings Let’s Play. If you typically make gaming content, then you might let your sister do your makeup or vlog a nature hike.

Shaking it up will get you out of your creative rut by challenging you to think differently. 

It’s perfectly normal to be stuck in a creative slump sometimes. However, you can reignite your passion for content creation by reminding yourself why you started and challenging yourself to think differently.