Burnout in a World on Fire: Navigating Mental Health as an Independent Producer

Burnout is not just personal—it is systemic. It is the result of a world that demands constant productivity, relentless resilience, and unquestioning compliance. As freelancers and self-employed workers, we recognise what is right and wrong in the way we are expected to work. If only the rest of the world could acknowledge it, rather than forcing us into fear-driven conformity, manipulated by the scarcity mindset that keeps us chasing opportunities at the cost of our well-being.

For many of us working in the arts—particularly those of us who are producers, cultural workers, facilitators, and organisers—burnout is not just about doing too much. It is about the activism embedded in our work, the weight of advocating for artists and communities who have been pushed to the margins, the emotional labour of navigating hostile or indifferent systems. We speak up for those impacted by the corruption of our world, for those who cannot advocate for themselves, whether due to economic, political, or social oppression. That responsibility, combined with the insecurity of working in an industry that offers little structural support, creates the perfect conditions for burnout.

Many of us fight for change while struggling to meet our own basic needs. We work in a field that celebrates radical ideas but often fails to create radical working conditions that support the people behind them. The system itself fuels exhaustion—funding structures that demand constant justification, contracts that exploit emotional investment, and an economy that rewards overwork but punishes rest. Yet, we continue, because we believe in the work, in the artists we support, and in the communities that rely on these cultural spaces for connection, reflection, and resistance.

This is why we need to redefine what care looks like in our sector. It is not just an individual responsibility; it is a collective, political act.

Through my work as lead producer for Producer Gathering with support from Artsadmin and Marlborough Production, who support the whole PG project, I’ll be working with The Uncultured to co-produce a self-care guide for independent producers. This resource will share experiences and insights from producers who have navigated (and are still navigating) the realities of burnout. 

Through wider thinking about the deep-felt impact of freelancer precarity and financial instability, to sharing personal insights on practical ways that we safeguard ourselves – it will uncover the ways of recognising and living through and beyond work-related burnout, specifically from a producer’s perspective – something that doesn’t exist right now. 

As this world continues to polarise, as the demands on creative workers continue to increase, we cannot afford to normalise or ignore burnout as the price of doing meaningful work. We must create alternatives, together. Because if we do not redefine what sustainable creative work could look like, the system will continue to define it for us—and we already know where that road leads.