Studio Stories #2

My Life Reset & Slow Living: What I'm Doing To Resist Hustle Culture

Hello everyone, and a happy New Year to you all! I hope that 2026 has started well for you. In this extra update, I’ll be talking about reaching a kind of ‘crisis’ point in my life where I’ve realised that something has to give, because I can’t carry on living and working in the way I have been. If you’re interested and this topic resonates with you, please read on. If not, please join me later in January for my regular scheduled post focusing on new work and the next shop update. I won’t be offended! I know that some of you are here just for the art, and I look forward to seeing you then. :)

Burnout

It has become obvious to me over the past few months that I’m suffering from a degree of burnout. I’m exhausted by the end of each day; not just ‘normally’ tired, but finding it hard to even stay awake and falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, often feeling wired and alert when I most need to sleep. My brain starts to race, going through a million different scenarios; some of which are reasonable worries and current problems, but also others that haven’t even happened and may not ever happen. These are what I now recognise as ‘catastrophic thinking’. I start by thinking about one thing that needs attention, and then I spiral downwards until I feel like an anxious, panicky mess. I’m sure that many of you can relate to this. At this point it’s impossible to get back to sleep, so I often lie awake for a couple of hours, eventually drifting back to sleep through sheer exhaustion again. Of course, this means that I often don’t feel great the next day.

On top of this, my workload has been almost impossible to manage this past year. It would be a lot for a person without a chronic illness, but I’ve been dealing with one for years, and it’s something that needs constant management. It’s also quite unpredictable, meaning that it can flare up without warning, interrupting my workflow (and life in general) and putting me behind on the tasks I need to do that week. Then I find myself playing ‘catch up’, pushing myself to finish what I couldn’t work on while I was ill, resulting in burnout again. A classic vicious cycle. It means I often don’t have holidays, regular days off, or quality time with my partner Dominic, and I neglect my health and wellbeing by not exercising or getting out in nature as much as I should. I also don’t have adequate time to develop my hobbies and interests outside of painting. Life has become almost all about work, and as much as I love my work and feel incredibly lucky to be able to do it for a living, it has made me deeply unhappy, frustrated, and anxious.

I knew I was in trouble when I eventually slowed down for the Christmas and New Year period. Once I got off the treadmill of work, I didn’t want to go back, which is very unlike me. I normally can’t wait to get back into my studio and my usual routine. I had a long list of things to work on, but no motivation. All I wanted to do was to shut myself away, work on my stitching, read my books, and stay in my pyjamas.

Hustle culture and why I hate it

When I looked it up online, hustle culture is defined as “a pervasive mindset glorifying relentless work, productivity, and ambition, equating constant busyness and overworking with success, often at the expense of personal well-being, rest, and mental health”.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

I’ve been avoiding Instagram recently (I’m still on it, but using it less and less) where many artists were recapping their successes of 2025, and although I think it’s great to celebrate and acknowledge the good things that have happened to you, social media often feels too competitive for me, and it seems to be increasingly full of ‘humble bragging’. I don’t want to be in competition with anyone. I don’t want to compare myself to other artists, or feel like I’m somehow failing because I now think there’s more to life than pushing yourself until you drop. I’ve prioritised work over almost everything during the past few years, partly due to necessity, and although I’ve had some amazing highs, I’m also left feeling unsatisfied, depleted, and thinking “there must be more to life than earning money”.

The trouble is I can’t just stop working. I need to earn money and I wouldn't want to give it all up anyway. I love my work; it gives my life purpose, and I’m often full of ideas for projects that I can’t wait to bring to fruition. As I’ve said before, I’m lucky to finally be doing what I love for a living - but I’ve never worked so hard in my life, and it’s taking a toll on me. Juggling making art (a full-time job in itself) with running a website, a shop, packing all of the orders, doing all of the admin, running a Patreon and a YouTube channel, as well as other social media…well, it’s no wonder I don’t have time to take care of myself or my home properly.

So that’s the reality. This is where we’re at, and it’s going to change in 2026. I can no longer continue to tie my self-worth to how successful I am as an artist or how hard I work. There’s more to me and my life than that.

The future

I often spend so much time managing all of the aspects of my online business that it leaves very little time for actual art-making, let alone developing the projects I’d like to work on. Dominic once told me about JRR Tolkien, and the fact that he received a huge number of letters from his fans and readers that he felt he had to respond to. He spent so much time writing back to all of these people, that he could have probably written another book during that time - something that would have brought joy to so many. I often think about this when I’ve spent more hours in a week answering emails and comments, or dealing with technical glitches, than I have actually creating art.

So what can I do?

Well, for a start, I’m simplifying my online content. I’m going to try to move away from Patreon (I hate the technical issues, the way it’s so clunky and not user-friendly - or creator-friendly - at all) and instead I will set up paid memberships on Substack. Don’t worry though - the monthly newsletter updates will still be free for everyone to read! My paid membership (which will launch possibly in March, but don’t hold me to it!) will be for those of you who would like extra content each month, and to be a more involved member of my art community. As a member, you will be able to access an exclusive long-form video, a podcast episode, a live Zoom drawing session, and other behind-the-scenes content. This is less than I currently offer on Patreon, and the price will reflect that. But it will free up valuable time for me each month, even if I’m earning less income. I’ve also launched YouTube channel memberships, to give people the option to become a member of my channel if they’re only interested in the extra video content (no podcast or Zoom session). The exclusive video each month will be the same on both Substack and YouTube in order to keep my workload manageable. I’ll be writing more about all of this nearer the time. I will continue to produce public content for my YouTube channel as well, as I earn an income from ad revenue on there (it’s not huge, but every little helps!).

I’m hoping that I can make my memberships as accessible to as many people as possible, and I’m currently figuring out all of the details. I want to continue to enjoy sharing my life as an artist, but also as a crafter, and a nature lover. I’m surrounded by so much beautiful nature and history here in the UK, which is also a major influence on my work, so I’ll be including more of that too! But the most important thing is that I’m going to make time for what nourishes me as a person; more time for gentle art-making without so much stress, more time for crafts, more time to enjoy nature with Dominic - and to use our annual National Trust membership! More time to sit with a book, to dream, and to make my home and workspace clean and cosy again.

My plans are all about enjoying and enriching my life, and I’m excited to share them with you as we go along. I hope that it will inspire you to take care of yourself too.

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you soon.

Natasha xxx