Have you ever felt like you couldn’t enter more sweepstakes?
Or has life battered you around for a wee bit, so you stopped entering for a while and just couldn’t get back into the swing of winning? You may have Sweeper’s Burnout.
I have.
What?! Me?! Yes, the Contest Queen has had Sweepstakes Burnout.
Thankfully, it’s only a temporary condition, and the itch to enter never fully disappears.
Let me start by saying I never stop entering 100%.
Some days I only enter a few giveaways, but I never stop.
I haven’t had only one sweepstakes break since I started entering daily in 2001, but I’ve had some long stretches. The sweepstakes breaks began when I moved in 2013. I was spending all my time sorting a lot of things out: my possessions, my business (accounting), divorce, etc., coupled with the stress of Christmas, something had to give, so it was contesting.
It took a while, but I started entering (and winning) again. That lasted a few months. Projects took over. I found myself on another break…
Now I refuse to start entering dailies again until I finish the last few massive projects on my plate.
So the question is, how does one get back into the habit of entering daily for an hour or two?
Just do it.
I know that may sound obvious, but it really is just that simple.
It’s no different than wanting to lose weight. You have to eat better and exercise. How do you do those things? You just do them. You may not like it, but if you do it every day, over time, you will get stronger and lose weight.
Similar to losing weight, you want to ease into it. You wouldn’t want to starve yourself or do a three-hour workout the first day; it’s the same with re-entering the hobby.
A few tips on how to re-emerge from Sweeper’s Burnout:
Similar to cleaning out your fridge and cupboards of all junk: Delete all your old emails announcing sweepstakes and start fresh. You could keep a week or two and go back to catch up, but you don’t want to go too far back, as you will run into too many expired sweeps. You may feel sad you let a few winning opportunities go. It’s OK. There is always another sweepstakes to enter.
Akin to an elimination diet by removing one thing at a time: Start adding in one social platform at a time. (e.g., Get back into the routine of entering online sweeps, then Instagram, then Facebook, etc.), or Start entering one specific type of sweepstakes at a time. (e.g., Start by entering single entry, sweeps first, followed by instant win contests, then ‘Top 10’, weeklies, dailies, etc.). If you add a new platform, or type, to your routine every day or every few days, you won’t get overwhelmed. You will be slowly building up your sweeping muscles.
Just like trying a new exercise routine or a new sport: Try a new sweepstakes aggregate (or contest aggregate) to find new giveaways to enter. The new format of finding winning opportunities may just be what you need to rejuvenate the joy of entering.
Join the gym, or in this case: Join a sweepstakes club. When you are around others that are just as passionate about winning as you are usually sparked the urge to get entering again.
I am not sure when I will get back to regularly entering on a daily basis, but I hope it’s soon. I sure miss winning!
Spot on! I’m going to save this article for those times I need to get re-motivated.
Absolutely positively do I suffer from burnout. It seems like lately, I spend more time going through my emails for winner notifications and good contests than I do actually entering them. It started out small and really got out of hand quickly. I like your suggestion of just deleting all your old emails and starting fresh. I feel like I’ve become a hoarder of emails LOL Anyway- it’s good to know that the Contest Queen gets burnt out too. Thank you for the reassuring post….I appreciate it.
Do all sweepers eventually start winning. I am getting a little frustrated.