How to Balance a Full-Time Job and Photography (Without Burning Out)

Welcome back to Between the Frames, the podcast where I talk about photography, creativity, and really whatever the hell is on my mind. I'm Josh. And on today's episode, we're gonna dive into how to balance a full time job and still make time for the creative stuff you love. You're probably juggling a demanding job, life responsibilities, and your creative passion on top of it all. For me, that's photography, writing on my substack, which I think everyone should be doing, by the way, and recently now recording this podcast.

I've been a full time video engineer for live events for a very long time. And as much as I love what I do, it's not exactly the most friendly schedule when it comes to having side activities. We work long hours, usually a minimum of ten most days. But a lot of the time, it's between twelve to fourteen hour days. I travel for work, and I'm normally on the road in hotel rooms for two weeks straight, again, or longer.

And by the time I'm done, I'm usually ready to pass out at the end of the day and not go out and shoot photos. But somehow, I've been managing to make it all work. And today, I wanna share on how I balance work and photography as well as my other personal projects. I'm gonna talk about the struggles, what's worked for me, and why it's okay to hit pause if needed. So let's start by acknowledging the obvious.

It's hard, like really hard sometimes. Life is busy and work can be very draining. If you've ever told yourself I'll get back to shooting when things calm down, well, you're not alone. But the tricky part is that things rarely, rarely calm down. Life is always going to keep on moving.

And if you were waiting for the perfect time to shoot, you're probably going to be waiting for a very, very long time. I've been there and sometimes I'm still there. I've gone weeks, hell, sometimes months without picking up my camera. Not because I don't want to, but because I just felt too tired. And if you've ever felt that way, that's okay.

It's not a failure. It's just life and things get busy. But here's what I've learned. If you wanna stay connected to your creative passion, you have to make time for it in the middle of all the chaos. Not just when things are slow and steady.

And sometimes that means getting a little creative with how and when you shoot or whatever else you love doing. I'm recording this while sitting in a hotel room, very tired after today, but I'm recording this sitting in a hotel room instead of going out to dinner with friends. And sometimes, this is the sacrifice you have to make when it comes to making sure that you're reaching the goals that you've set for yourself. One of the biggest mindset shifts for me was learning to focus on small wins instead of trying to create something perfect every single time. I used to think that I needed a big chunk of time, a dedicated photo day where I could just wander and get lost.

And while those days are great, they're also extremely rare. What helped me was realizing that those little in between moments matter the most. Like, seriously, they're they're very important. Here's here's an example. So most of my gigs involve walking from the hotel to the venue.

So instead of rushing through those walks or taking an Uber, I started treating that as almost a mini photo walk, camera in hand and ready to go. And honestly, some of my favorite shots have come from those walks. Quick random moments, I never would have noticed otherwise. Last September or October, I honestly can't remember, I was working in San Francisco, a city that, for a long time, I kind of hated going to for whatever reason. But on this trip, I changed that by always having my Ricoh g r three with me every time I was outside of the venue.

One of those photos that I happened to take was of the Transamerica Building. If if you're familiar with San Francisco architecturally, you'll know that building. And it has become one of my best selling prints and one of my favorite shots. And I never would have gotten this photo if I walked back to the hotel without having my camera in hand ready to go. It also helped that Framelines magazine had a street assignment out that was focusing on reflections, and this photo happens to be a reflection shot of the state flower of California, reflecting kind of as an overlay to the Transamerica Building.

And it's beautiful, I think, anyways. But my point is, it's just really important to be ready for those times to shoot. Alright. Let's, shift into some actual strategies that have worked for me. These aren't groundbreaking, but they've made a huge difference in how I approach balancing work and photography as a whole.

One, always carry a camera. Seriously, like I just said, but I think it's worth repeating. Always carry a camera. It doesn't have to be your main setup. Your phone works, but always have a camera.

That's it. Plain and simple. The point of this is to be ready for those unexpected moments. Sometimes that creative spark just happens, and you should take advantage of that by being ready. Two would be to create, create a mini project.

One thing that's helped me stay motivated is giving myself mini personal projects. Since I spend so much time in airports for work, I decided that I wanted to turn that into a place where I take a lot of photos. I don't share a lot of these online, or in any other public form, but I find that it helps in keeping me motivated. It's turned into kind of a fun way to stay creative when I'd otherwise be just bored out of my mind waiting for my flights. Plus, it gives me something to look forward to every time that I travel.

Having a project like this makes photography feel, feel more intentional, I think. Three would be to embrace those short sessions. Don't feel like you have to dedicate an entire day, to shooting. Even fifteen minutes on your lunch break can be enough. One of my favorite things to do is just walk around the block with my camera and see what catches my eye.

Most of the time, nothing comes of it. Nothing at all. But it's like going to the gym. That's kinda how I wanna think about this this point. It's like going to the gym even if you don't want to.

You're always going to feel better afterwards. Well, unless you get injured, of course. But usually, you're always going to feel better after you do something that is is hard. And sometimes taking that fifteen minute break, walking around, the block to, you know, essentially take no photos, but at least you got out. At least you did it.

I wanna talk now about the importance of taking breaks. As much as I'm all about finding ways to stay creative, sometimes the best thing you can do is take a break. As I've said before on on other platforms, if you've read any of my stuff substacks about creativity and things that I think that you can do to keep going, but sometimes, you know, sometimes to keep going, you have to slow down. You have to take a break, in my opinion. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.

And it's worked for me at least. I think that, the burnout is definitely real. If you're constantly pushing yourself to shoot when you're exhausted, you'll end up resenting it, at least in my experience. It's okay to pause and come back to it when you're ready. I personally take time off when I'm home from the road just to relax.

I've posted every Wednesday so far on Substack for over two months. And while that might not seem like a lot, keeping up that pace while having a pretty demanding job could easily lead me to burnout quicker. So I know when I need to slow down and just chill. But I also know that when I get the energy, I need to use that in the most effective way possible. I've written a backlog of posts that could probably get me to April, let's say.

Because when I feel those bursts of energy or creativity, I really try to push myself to get ahead. Just be mindful and tune in with what you need to stay going because if whatever goals you've set for yourself are that important to you, it's gonna be a total bummer when you burn out from a lack of understanding or a lack of just listening to what you and your body and mind need. I think, I think we can wrap it up. It's it's, another short and sweet little, little podcast, but I think we can wrap this up. And here's what I want you to take away from this episode.

Always have a camera nearby or whatever creative tool you need, whether that's a camera or a sketching pad for drawing. Even if you don't use it every day, just having it with you will keep those creative opportunities open. Two, take advantage of small moments. You don't need a full day to shoot, as much, you know, as as nice as that is. You don't need a full day of shooting.

But sometimes a ten minute walk can can be enough. And celebrate small wins. Not every shot needs to be a masterpiece. So remember, those little moments add up. And who knows?

After collecting those little moments for fifteen years, maybe you'll have a book. And lastly, take a break if you need to. Your creativity will be there when you're ready to come back. Always remember that. At the end of the day, balancing a full time job and a creative passion isn't easy, but it's definitely possible.

It's all about making space for what you love, whether that's through small wins, intentional time off, or just being present. I'd love to hear how you make time for photography while balancing work, life, and everything else. So hit me up on Substack. My tag is Lagom visuals, l a g o m, and I'll post that in the show notes below. And if you've enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing or sharing it with a friend who might need a little creative boost.

Thank you for hanging out with me today. I'll see you next time on Between the Frames.