Tag: Lesson: Zen Against Burnout

  • Weekly Update #006 – Burnout, Setbacks, & Zen: A Social Media Business When Life Gets in the Way

    Weekly Update #006 – Burnout, Setbacks, & Zen: A Social Media Business When Life Gets in the Way

    📆 Monday, 28 July 2025 | Meeting #006 | Social Media Business

    Welcome to your Monday Morning Meeting — a behind-the-scenes log of how we’re building a lean, focused creative business across three verticals: a history podcast, a photography YouTube channel, and this blog, Zen Against The Machine.

    Each week, we reflect on progress, challenges, and lessons as we fight to grow something meaningful — without burning out or selling out.

    📝 TL;DR

    • 📅 Showed Up: 4/7 days
    • 🎙️ Podcast: Still paused due to overload
    • 📸 YouTube Channel: Fell behind after injury and heatwave
    • 🧘 ZATM Blog: Only arm on track — 6 weeks of consistency

    🌡️Personal Overview

    This week began strong: Monday to Wednesday saw solid momentum, especially for the YouTube channel.

    But midweek, two things hit: a 37°C (99°F) heatwave and a dead air conditioner. Add a pulled back to the mix, and the rest of the week was spent lying on the floor in pain, staring at the ceiling.

    Hot out of the gates — then fizzled fast.

    With a business trip coming up (this is still a side hustle), the schedule’s taking another hit. The challenge this week: recover, recalibrate, and keep creating.


    🧘 01 Zen Against The Machine (ZATM)

    📅 Last Week’s Goal:
    Keep up the blog cadence and start outlining the July Monthly Report.

    ✅ What Happened:
    Six weeks straight of Monday Morning Meeting posts — a small but important win. This blog remains the project’s anchor, keeping everything (and me) grounded and accountable.

    🎯 This Week’s Focus:
    Finalize the ZATM logo and make real progress on the Monthly Report (dropping August 10).

    📚 02 The History Podcast

    🎙️ Episodes Published: 0

    📅 Last Week’s Goal:
    Only work on the script if it didn’t disrupt higher-priority tasks.

    ❌ What Happened:
    No writing. Technically on target, but morale is slipping. We’re now 4 weeks behind schedule. With the business trip incoming, the timeline might slip further.

    🎯 This Week’s Focus:
    Same as last week — pick away at the script only if higher-priority work is unaffected.

    📸 03 The Photography Channel

    📹 Videos Published: 0

    📅 Last Week’s Goal:
    Publish the July 27 video and film 3–4 more videos to build a buffer.

    ❌ What Happened:
    Momentum was there — until it wasn’t. The back injury killed productivity late in the week. Some editing got done, but not enough for a publish.

    🎯 This Week’s Focus:

    • Stay on schedule for August 3 upload
    • Upload the delayed video on July 29
    • Film 3–4 more videos during the business trip

    📌 Follow the Journey

    If you’re juggling content creation, anonymity, multiple creative projects — and trying to stay sane — you’re not alone.

    Check out our running series:

    See you next Monday. Stay focused. Stay building.