I'm sure a lot of you have noticed the lack of uploads on the channel the last few months. The tutorials have never been on a consistent schedule or anything, but the recent drop has been making me feel guilty and like you deserve an explanation.
If you don't know, last May I got a new job as an Animator in the games industry. After 6 years working in Children's TV, this came as a major culture shock, back to feeling like a junior who doesn't know a thing about her job. Before I go any further, I don't want to come across like I'm ungrateful for this opportunity. I've always wanted to work in the game industry, & I truly love my job. I had made a bunch of YouTube videos in advance, to upload during my transition so I could focus on learning all the gaps in my knowledge of the new job. The issues started when that backlog of content ran out.
When I worked in TV, we didn't work a minute past 5pm. It was a very clear 9-5 job with no overtime. I would leave the studio full of motivation to work on my side projects, primarily the YouTube channel. Working remote for a game studio however, doesn't have those boundaries. Sometime around October-ish I was hit with burn-out. That's fine, it happens & it will pass in time. I'll keep focusing on my job & play some video games until it's gone. Except it didn't go away.
When November came around, things started breaking around my house all at once. The dryer went. The hot water tank blew. The kitchen sink broke and the pipes leaked down through the basement... Then my cat (Leia) got sick. Like scary sick. We thought we might lose her and we were terrified. $2300 and 2 nights at emerg later and she was on the mend, but that took a lot out of us mentally, and made the burn-out hit harder.
December was a recoup month. November had completely drained our savings & we needed to focus on building that backup. Meanwhile OT was getting more frequent, as the game only has a few months left in the oven.
In January everyone in my house got Covid. Working remote I didn't bother taking time off, but in hindsight I probably should have. I still haven't had the chance to recover from burn-out, but near the end of the month I finally started to feel that glimmer of hope that the burn-out might soon pass.
Here comes February. Our game only has 1 month left until release, and major changes requiring re-animation are still happening. A bunch of scenes can't even be touched yet while waiting on new voice lines. My evenings and weekends are consumed by OT trying to push through it. The end is so close. Meanwhile, someone hit my car & didn't leave a note (that investigation isn't going anywhere), & I got the news I require hip surgery.
During all this I did a lot of soul searching. I spent the entirety of my 20's doing a mad hustle on various side projects. The progress felt really good. But this month I turned 30. Do I really want to continue the big grind through my 30s as well? Well, no.
I've come to the realization that I need to start approaching these things more casually, and allow myself to choose what it is I want to spend my time on. Whether that be a video for YouTube, working on my solo game project, playing a video game, or just spending time with family. I want to create better quality content for YouTube, & I don't want to be pumping out content I'm not proud of. So I ask that you please be patient with me while I find this new work/life balance. The content I create going forward will need more time to make, & I also plan to work on it slower so I never get hit with burn-out like this again.
Thank you for always supporting me & my channel. I appreciate every single one of you ❤
Skitty Animates
I'm sure a lot of you have noticed the lack of uploads on the channel the last few months. The tutorials have never been on a consistent schedule or anything, but the recent drop has been making me feel guilty and like you deserve an explanation.
If you don't know, last May I got a new job as an Animator in the games industry. After 6 years working in Children's TV, this came as a major culture shock, back to feeling like a junior who doesn't know a thing about her job. Before I go any further, I don't want to come across like I'm ungrateful for this opportunity. I've always wanted to work in the game industry, & I truly love my job. I had made a bunch of YouTube videos in advance, to upload during my transition so I could focus on learning all the gaps in my knowledge of the new job. The issues started when that backlog of content ran out.
When I worked in TV, we didn't work a minute past 5pm. It was a very clear 9-5 job with no overtime. I would leave the studio full of motivation to work on my side projects, primarily the YouTube channel. Working remote for a game studio however, doesn't have those boundaries. Sometime around October-ish I was hit with burn-out. That's fine, it happens & it will pass in time. I'll keep focusing on my job & play some video games until it's gone. Except it didn't go away.
When November came around, things started breaking around my house all at once. The dryer went. The hot water tank blew. The kitchen sink broke and the pipes leaked down through the basement... Then my cat (Leia) got sick. Like scary sick. We thought we might lose her and we were terrified. $2300 and 2 nights at emerg later and she was on the mend, but that took a lot out of us mentally, and made the burn-out hit harder.
December was a recoup month. November had completely drained our savings & we needed to focus on building that backup. Meanwhile OT was getting more frequent, as the game only has a few months left in the oven.
In January everyone in my house got Covid. Working remote I didn't bother taking time off, but in hindsight I probably should have. I still haven't had the chance to recover from burn-out, but near the end of the month I finally started to feel that glimmer of hope that the burn-out might soon pass.
Here comes February. Our game only has 1 month left until release, and major changes requiring re-animation are still happening. A bunch of scenes can't even be touched yet while waiting on new voice lines. My evenings and weekends are consumed by OT trying to push through it. The end is so close. Meanwhile, someone hit my car & didn't leave a note (that investigation isn't going anywhere), & I got the news I require hip surgery.
During all this I did a lot of soul searching. I spent the entirety of my 20's doing a mad hustle on various side projects. The progress felt really good. But this month I turned 30. Do I really want to continue the big grind through my 30s as well? Well, no.
I've come to the realization that I need to start approaching these things more casually, and allow myself to choose what it is I want to spend my time on. Whether that be a video for YouTube, working on my solo game project, playing a video game, or just spending time with family. I want to create better quality content for YouTube, & I don't want to be pumping out content I'm not proud of. So I ask that you please be patient with me while I find this new work/life balance. The content I create going forward will need more time to make, & I also plan to work on it slower so I never get hit with burn-out like this again.
Thank you for always supporting me & my channel. I appreciate every single one of you ❤
3 years ago | [YT] | 80