Why Artists Are Tired: Funding Cycles, Deadlines, and the Myth of “Doing What You Love”

Let us be honest. Doing what you love can break your heart. The idea that passion will sustain creative workers is one of the most persistent myths in the arts. It is also one of the most damaging.

At Hey Mate, we hear it every day from artists, arts workers, and freelancers: “I love what I do, but I am exhausted.” The exhaustion is not just emotional or physical—it is systemic. It is built into the way the creative industries operate.

This blog is not about how to hustle harder or how to avoid burnout by getting up earlier. It is about the invisible pressures that shape the creative sector—and what we need to name, shift, and support so artists can keep doing the work they love without losing themselves in the process.

The Passion Pay Trap

Let us start here. Artists are often expected to sacrifice financial security, boundaries, and wellbeing because they are lucky to do what they love. This logic is so baked into the sector that it can feel shameful to speak up about being tired, let alone struggling.

But the reality is this. Passion does not pay the bills. Loving your work does not mean you should be underpaid, overworked, or emotionally drained. And yet, according to the Australia Council’s Creating Art Part Time report, 81 percent of artists juggle multiple jobs and income streams to survive. Over half of these workers live on less than 25000 dollars a year.

When you are always patching together a livelihood—writing grant applications, applying for residencies, taking side gigs—there is no time or space to actually recover from the stress that accumulates. This is not a personal failing. It is a structural issue.

Funding Cycle Stress: The Creativity Rollercoaster

So much of the creative sector runs on short term funding. This means artists and organisations are constantly preparing applications, waiting months for outcomes, and then delivering complex projects on tight timelines and limited budgets.

This cycle creates:

• Deadline driven creative burnout

• Administrative overload for small teams or solo operators

• Pressure to perform with little time for planning or rest

• Emotional exhaustion from constant rejection or uncertainty

The result is a culture of unsustainable energy bursts followed by total collapse. You are either on—delivering, promoting, reporting—or off, recovering and doubting whether you can do it again.

This is not resilience. It is survival mode.

And for freelancers and small organisations, the pressure is even more intense. There is often no one else to help shoulder the load. No HR department, no communications team, no wellbeing officer. Just you and your inbox full of unanswered emails.

Unrealistic Timelines, Invisible Labour

Let us talk about timelines. Many artists we work with tell us the same thing. By the time a project is approved, the clock is already ticking. There is no preparation period, no onboarding, no meaningful time for consultation or collaboration. Just a deadline and a looming report.

Behind every exhibition, performance, zine launch, or workshop is a mountain of invisible labour. Hours of planning, administration, emotional support, social media, and unpaid logistics. When this work is not acknowledged or resourced, it fuels burnout fast.

And when your work is your art, you are often not just managing logistics—you are holding the emotional weight of the whole thing. You are the visionary, the producer, and the project therapist all in one.

What the Data Shows

Recent studies have backed up what many creatives already know in their bodies. The Support Act Evaluation Report (2025) found that over 75 percent of music workers reported experiencing symptoms of mental health challenges in the past 12 months, with stress and burnout listed as the most common issues.

The Wellbeing in the Arts national report also found that creative workers experience higher rates of psychological distress compared to the general population, especially when juggling gig work, funding insecurity, and emotionally demanding environments.

In other words, if you feel like you are struggling—you are not imagining it. The system is not built for recovery. It is built for output.

Recovery Needs More Than Self Care

One of the most important things we tell our community is this. Burnout is not just an individual issue. You cannot meditate your way out of a broken system. Yes, creative recovery involves rest. But it also involves safety, stability, and support.

At Hey Mate, we work from a lived experience model. That means we know what it is like to cry in the car before a gig, to be ghosted by a client, to push through exhaustion for the sake of visibility. Our approach to stress recovery is grounded in reality, not wellness buzzwords.

What helps?

• Peer support spaces where you do not have to explain the pressures of the arts

• Mental health services delivered by people who get the industry

• Flexible care that meets you where you are—whether that is in a rehearsal room, a home studio, or backstage

• Advocacy for systemic change, not just individual resilience

We believe recovery needs community. You should not have to choose between your mental health and your career.

What Needs to Change

If we want a thriving creative sector, we need to build it differently. That means:

• Funding models that prioritise long term relationships, not just one off projects

• Realistic timelines that honour process, not just product

• Embedded wellbeing support in all stages of a project, not just as a postscript

• Industry wide understanding that wellbeing is not separate from creativity—it is essential to it

The myth of doing what you love should not cost you your health. It should be possible to make work, be paid fairly, take breaks, and feel supported.

You Are Allowed to Be Tired

If you are feeling stretched, scattered, or stuck—it does not mean you are not cut out for this work. It means you have been carrying too much, too often, without enough backup.

At Hey Mate, we see you. We know the weight of the creative hustle. And we are building something different—peer led, heart forward, and grounded in care.

Let us stop normalising burnout. Let us start normalising rest, support, and sustainable creativity.

Need Support Right Now

Visit our Creative Wellbeing Hub or book a confidential session with one of our Hey Mate practitioners.

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