Short circuiting the Substack burnout cycle
It seems like writers have a six-month burn rate where they come in excited, start to build, grind, and burn out. How do we live better lives in the meat grinder of capitalism?
Hi friends,
It seems like the Substack backlash is growing every day. @Jane Friedman has an excellent take about the good and the bad of Substack that’s worth reading.
This isn’t the first, last, or even latest, but it does speak to something I’ve seen on Substack a lot; the burnout cycle. While this graphic says The High-Achiever Burnout Cycle, it might as well say The Substack Burnout Cycle.
It seems like writers have a six-month burn rate where they come in excited, start to build, grind, and finally burn out. I’ve watched this cycle happen 2x now since I’ve been studying it hardcore for a little over a year.
Of course it’s really happening constantly as people come onto the platform randomly. There is an almost daily crest and trough of it, but I’ve witnessed it with people I came up with 2x, starting in February 2023 cresting in June, and then burning out in August. Then, a new crop of people starting in August, peaking in Decemb…
