At simply 24, Esther Fernandez has already constructed a strong platform on the intersection of creativity, content material, and psychological well being. As a copywriter and social strategist at Manufactured from Hundreds of thousands – a nonprofit based by psychological well being victims and advocates – she’s a part of a group creating significant, myth-busting content material in an area too typically flooded with misinformation.
On this refreshingly sincere Q&A, Esther opens up about boundary-setting as a digital native, resisting hustle tradition in LA, and the way small, on a regular basis routines (and good buddies with meals) assist her present up creatively and sustainably.
Have you ever ever struggled with setting boundaries in your profession, and the way did you deal with it?
I believe most individuals wrestle with social media boundaries, and dealing remotely as a social media supervisor solely exacerbates that. It may be tough to “clock out” when your office is in your pocket always. The web strikes rapidly, which might create stress to remain vigilant. When a publish does properly and begins to choose up traction, when a pattern is taking off that you just wish to take part in, when there is a large information story circulating – so many components make it exhausting to sign off.
Within the early days of being a content material creator, I was on-line always. Think about the dopamine hit of seeing a video achieve one million views inside a number of hours, with 1000’s of feedback spilling in? I might spend hours scrolling by replies and seeing who was interacting. Plus, speaking about psychological well being is deeply private and elicits sturdy responses from individuals. It took some time for me to regulate to that depth. It typically looks like persons are bearing their souls to me and sharing probably the most tough experiences they’ve ever had. It may be exhausting to compartmentalise and never really feel overly chargeable for their feelings.
I rapidly discovered I wanted to ascertain a variety of boundaries, particularly with the added layer of being a girl on-line, which naturally brings out sexism or sexualisation. I needed to discover ways to create a protected setting for myself: filtering phrases, turning off remark sections, and deleting any threads that get out of hand. I discovered to pay extra consideration to what was dysregulating my physique. I’ve sensible guidelines, equivalent to not checking social media proper earlier than mattress, and extra inside reminders, like not taking any feedback too personally. Total, content material creation is enjoyable and thrilling, however you could create safeguards round it.
How do you shield your artistic vitality whereas managing deadlines and calls for?
I have been actually into exercising recently, and I just like the analogy of weight coaching: You elevate heavy, tear your muscular tissues, after which give your physique gasoline and relaxation so it could actually rebuild your muscular tissues even stronger. It’s important to have each in an effort to develop: exhausting work and restoration. So whereas it is tempting as creatives to wish to maximise output and by no means have relaxation days, I might encourage individuals to do what’s most sustainable and wholesome as an alternative. They are saying one of the best plan is the one which you can really stick with in the long run.
I additionally shield my artistic vitality by feeding myself a wide range of inspirational sources. It might appear counterintuitive, however dedicating time to duties outdoors of social media can really elevate your work. I’d be a horrible TikToker if all I did was spend my day watching TikTok. As an alternative, I like to dam out time participating in several media, like studying a ebook or watching a film. Even random unrelated hobbies, like dance class, cooking, or doing nothing in any respect, may also help creativity. By being a well-rounded human and permitting my mind time to wander, I will present up with new, distinctive views as an alternative of getting caught in an echo chamber on-line.
Your favorite artists and creatives are your favourites as a result of they’ve an attention-grabbing story to inform, they usually know the way to inform it properly. You may’t do this in the event you’re simply glued to a pc, biking by the identical pages and stressing on a regular basis. So do not be afraid to take the break and stroll across the block or annotate the love poem. It’d provide you with a brand new concept or motivation that you just want.
Have you ever ever felt stress to continuously ‘hustle,’ and the way do you push again in opposition to that?
I’ve lived within the LA space for practically three years now, and it’s totally simple to get caught up within the hustle tradition right here. Everybody you stumble upon on the espresso store is a content material creator with tens of millions of followers, juggling dozens of artistic initiatives directly. It is simple to match your self and really feel like your creativity is lowered to metrics. What number of followers do you’ve? What number of views are you getting? For a very long time, I felt pressured to publish day-after-day in an effort to sustain. Nevertheless, simply because it is technically true that posting extra typically will increase your probabilities of virality, does not imply it is producing lasting work.
There’s this video from an artist I like, Struthless, the place he talks concerning the distinction between width and size. It is this concept the place artists focus an excessive amount of on width, spending shorter quantities of time pumping out viral content material. Sure, your internet is wider, however you are not participating with audiences in an impactful manner, and it is tougher to maintain that mass consideration. One million individuals might need seen your 5-second video, however they will neglect about it per week from now. Nevertheless, once you give attention to depth, you spend extra time tailoring a message to a distinct segment group of loyal supporters. These are the people who find themselves prone to stick round and really spend money on your profession.
That shift from width to depth launched a variety of the stress to continuously go viral. It made me realise that I have to create a greater relationship with the followers we now have now, relatively than chasing the insatiable excessive of metrics and numbers. Circling again to residing in LA, you’ll be able to inform when somebody you meet is sad with their profession. There is a sense of desperation in continuously looking for quarter-hour of fame, utterly disregarding the human in entrance of them. In case your purpose is to make as a lot cash as potential, this can be a nice technique. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered a lot extra fulfilment specializing in the method itself. Creating good artwork with good individuals feels extra like the purpose to me than “hustling” ever will.
What does a balanced life appear like for you, and the way do you’re employed in the direction of it?
For me, the one manner I keep balanced is by planning out my day. I do know that may appear claustrophobic to lots of people, however I discover that having set instances for all the things helps me keep away from feeling panicked by the tip of the day. I do not know the way it’s potential to take care of a wholesome sleep schedule, train, work, and keep friendships with out planning all of it out in your calendar.
That being mentioned, I believe an enormous problem individuals run into in terms of making a balanced life is being unrealistic with how lengthy issues take. I am really ridiculously explicit in terms of making a schedule, all the way down to understanding how lengthy it takes to do my skincare routine earlier than mattress. Realizing all of this enables me to deal with every day like a large puzzle: if I’ve a clean quantity of hours, what can I really match into today? What time killers do I have to sacrifice in an effort to keep a balanced life?
Whenever you actually map it out, you discover ways to put down the telephone in an effort to clear the home and prepare dinner dinner so you’ll be able to keep on schedule. It takes a variety of self-discipline, however as I discussed earlier, I find yourself feeling considerably much less panicked by the tip of the day, understanding I caught to the plan.
As for what precisely I schedule into my day, I at all times attempt to prioritise relaxation, motion, and diet. I do know I am unable to present up and carry out my greatest if I do not get my fundamental wants met. I additionally work remotely, so I attempt to co-work with buddies or work from espresso retailers as typically as I can. That is the place neighborhood performs an enormous position. People aren’t meant to take a seat at residence all day and stare at screens by ourselves, regardless of our stubbornness to be solely self-sufficient.
We want good help techniques that may affirm us when the hate feedback change into an excessive amount of. We want that pal to close the laptop computer down and provides us the plate of meals when it is well past supper time. Whereas it might really feel annoying or counterproductive within the second, you may realise that taking good care of each other is the one approach to get by in the long term.
