How do I survive as a moderator?

To some this thread might look like a joke, but it is not. Some of you might remember my post from a while ago about having pfeiffer which might be the cause why I am so quickly tired - or tired forever. However I went to the doctor a while ago and he said this might no longer be the reason why, because if it was because of pfeiffer then I should have noticed atleast a slight difference in how much tired I am, but I don't.

Anyways to get to the point; when I get back home from work I usually go to bed immediately to nap for a couple hours. This does influence my sleep at night, because it takes me quite a couple of hours to get asleep at night. Previously I would've gone online to game with friends, but I know from myself that right now I'd spent atleast some of this time moderating Sythe, which is exhausting. Reason is that I feel like a teacher of toddlers. Every day it's the same easy-answered questions I can easily answer by linking them all kinds of threads, but it just tires me. I feel like I'm telling the same story over and over again to the same kind of people. Not a single day is a new one; people ask you (dumb) questions, befriend you and scam later on. While I don't mind using the banhammer on each and every user who scams - which is tiresome aswell, but I can understand the infinite amount of stupid people are. What I don't get is why alot of people can ignore people. I don't want to ignore people because I know how it feels to be ignored. However neither do I want to be a robot who answers to whatever a user says.

In case you wonder I have lead multiple gaming communities (still am) and I have worked on other websites aswell, which did contain users too - however there were less people and the users there were less toxic. Like 80% of the users who I speak to are impatient or rude and actually should be ignored.

My question is mainly towards ex/current staff of Sythe, though if you have experience in leading communities you're free to answer aswell. I do not want suggestions as "ignoring people" - I'd feel more comfortable hiding my online status on all chatting programs instead. Though I should mainly improve my mindset I guess.

 

Pfeiffer is detectable in your blood. Pfeiffer usually only really takes effect for a short amount of time after which the symptoms fade away for most people. 97% of the people aged 30 or older has had Pfeiffer in their lives. Just a bit of information on pfeiffer and that the doctor is right in saying that you being tired should have decreased as time progressed.

Have you tried tests other than Pfeiffer to try and get to know why you feel tired? This doesnt just have to do with things which can be found in your blood (like Pfeiffer or low amounts of iron in your blood), but also mental stuff and live patterns. For example, people which have Autism Spectrum Disorder can get tired from going out all day and having to interact socially with people. Another example would be that when people are depressed they also tent to be tired.

An example of 'live patterns' which might cause it. Maybe your eating pattern is off, for example if you hardly eat any carbohydrates you can feel tired very easily.

I personally take sleeping medication which help a lot in getting your sleeping pattern on track. The behaviour explained in this quote can also explain the first part I quoted by the way. If you: Go and take a nap right when you get home from work -> Then wake up and cant sleep at a 'normal time' anymore -> As a result fall to sleep late at night while having to wake up early for work -> In turn leads you to being tired during the day because of lack of sleep and you will repeat this same cycle the next day.

I am not (ex)-staff but bluntly speaking the only two options when someone posts a question and you see that question is to answer the question or to not answer the question. You said in your post that you do not want to ignore the question, so that leaves only one option.

Being a little less blunt. When someone posts a thread all forum members can see that thread. Just because you dont answer the question doesnt mean the user asking the question is being ignored, as anyone else can answer the question as well.

If you dont want to do that as well there is the option of introducing an automatic message to all people that post in a support forum. The message could contain something like: "A lot of the questions being asked in this subforum have already been answered before, make sure to read stickies and search for prior threads with the same question". Dit zorgt ervoor dat de forum members hun eigen boontjes leren te doppen, in plaats van hun kleuter-gedrag beantwoorden dienen de forum members zelf maar eens initiatief te tonen. Previous sentence is in Dutch because I can express myself better that way.

 

if you can't commit to something don't, that's how i feel

 

You are in the same pit that I once was. I never wanted to ignore anyone, I would always do things when people needed something looked at and was always a shoulder to lean on should anyone need support. The outcome? You burn yourself out. Look at it this way; what good are you to anyone if you can't look after yourself?

Get off this shit for a week, it wont make a difference. Get yourself in to a healthy routine and see how it feels. Then come back to it slowly. Don't burn yourself out. You'll just hate the very sight of it eventually.

 

There's a part of doctors that believe pfeiffer symptoms can always return, as in short periods of being tired again, etc. Some other doctors this is impossibe: when you've had pfeiffer there's no chance anything will ever return. My doctor thinks the first though. I do think I eat and drink well, not much, not very tiny amounts of it either. Could eat more maybe, but I don't think it's that much of a big deal. My body has been tested more for e.g. errors in my heart or anything like that, but the only thing they could advice is getting a bit more condition. Don't think that was/is the great cause either. So that leaves me with with my mental stuff indeed. I'm going to try and lower my medicine dose in the future for sure.

Thank you for your reply. I do not think I'd like to quit being a staff member - because I take joy out of helping others, helping websites etc. I just need to find the balance I think.

If I take a break I'll find the need to catch up with everything and therefore burning myself after. I don't really want to take a break to get in the same position after, I'm just wondering how I could survive this without burning myself out.

Also tagging @Astro as he has been in the same situation before I believe.
Tagging @FlyingToast because I love him.

 

You think that but honestly this place is not that exciting and as hectic as it seems when you don't have a break. It's hard to take a break to begin with but you'll soon realise how little this matters and then it's easier to maintain a healthy balance. I've been inactive for ages but when I come back I haven't missed much. Yeah, I'm not staff rn but I've been there too and it's much the same.

 

Roary makes a completely valid and important point. I legitimately didn't look at Sythe for 13 months or so and I came back to almost the exact same site I left. Take the break (a week or so) get into a healthy rhythm. No one ever thinks they'll burn out but Roary and I were once in your exact shoes and you will.

 

To be honest man, you devote yourself to Sythe, I seen really big moderators do this to themselves on other forums and runescape private servers they become so riddled within the community and devotion towards the website that it becomes unhealthy.

I suggest taking a break man, go for a run, go catch up with a friend or family member or even go out and have a nice lunch somewhere.

All the best

 

This. Sounds like being a mod is a burden to you. Being mod is great and all but at the end of the day it gets you nowhere in life and you aren't getting paid (as far as I know) The glory of being mod is probably wearing off for you. If you are burned out it is better to just step down for a bit instead of becoming one of those mods that vanish into inactivity. If you were a good mod, the big man upstairs would probably reinstate you when you are fresh. In the end its just a title on a gaming forum, don't prioritize it in your life especially if it is making you tired!

 

Do moderators get paid at all for there services and time devoted to Sythe?

 

Not in general but lets keep this thread on topic since it's in Personal Support

 

I think the most important thing here is: balance.

I'll put myself in for example,
My schedule: Work -> Come home and spend time with my gaming friends for an hour or two -> Sythe Moderation duties -> Sleep.

Having a set schedule in which you include some yourself time to relax whether it is gaming or just watching some shows, instead of always staring at Sythe definitely helps. Just keep in mind, even if you are not there to answer some questions that members may have, the rest of the staff team will be. We can help each other out. Hit me up or send them my way if someone has a question that you can't find yourself to answer at the time. Ill do it for you.

Ultimately, YOU come first. Things should revolve around your needs and health. Like others said in this thread, don't burn yourself out. Let the rest of the team take some of that burden away from you. Go out once in awhile and watch a movie, a beer, and just relax your mind and body.

Here for you mate. You can do it (y)

 

Thank you all for your tips. @kmjt I'm not sure if "being a mod" is a burden to me, I have a feeling being available at all times is. @FireZ lasted a damn long time in staff for example, but I believe being unavailable (having no skype/discord) did help in this. Or atleast it would be for me, but then again I'd miss contact with some great people. I do not want to give up on being a mod. I have a great standard of myself.

 

Always put yourself first when it comes to well being. You're doing dirty work for someone else on this site. It's not worth it.

 

Although I have way less active sections to moderate, I do get endless PMs and questions asking unnecessary questions that can be easily answered if they spent more than 5 minutes on the site. I really don't mind helping most the time, which I do and it feels great to make a difference, but it can be a drag when they are unappreciative for the time you spent helping. If someone thanks me, it makes everything so much more enjoyable knowing that I could help when they are in need.

how I balance my time from the community is only using sythe when im working livechat or when my friends aren't online. I respectfully need my time with friends everyday. Sythe is important to me of course, I do enjoy the less toxic side of it quite a bit. (although I fuel the fire in some SF stuff lol)

I basically just exit off sythe for the rest of the day when my friends are around or online, and occasionally check it before bed. Balance is key, and i've come to realize that there is always something to do, but there's always another day.

 

If you're not enjoying it anymore then just leave. People will say this is a butthurt / useless piece of advice but it's true. You honestly get nothing whatsoever out of it, nothing you can put on your CV, will help your career or anything. It's at most a form of entertainment.

Not to say there's anything wrong with it, but it's easy to lose hours on end to moderating places online. It might be fun and it's a good time waster, but nearly 100% of the time there is nothing actually at the end of it. Don't force yourself to do something you don't have to do.

 

carrots > well-being > sythe moderator

Think about your priorities and what they are. If you need to cut back on moderating - do. No one will even notice if you take 30 minutes more to yourself per day. That adds up.

If you are 110% efficient at moderating for 15 minutes every day. You'll get more done in a day than @veng does in a week. That being said, it would take the fun out of it.

Figure out why your here, and why you want to be a moderator. See if that aligns with your well being and goals. If it does, then continue to thrive. If it doesn't, re-prioritize, leave, say thank you, and give someone else a chance

 

Just do not do it, like people said is it going on your CV? is it making your quality of life better? Are you earning good money from it?

If the answer is no, its not really worth doing if its effecting your mental health, be greedy care for your self first

 

I disagree, I answered a good few competency based questions for my current job using Sythe examples.

There is a lot to be learned from the environment here: dealing with quite literally the most diverse ends of the spectrum of people, leadership, content creation, dissolving conflict, time management, prioritisation of workload... like there's tonnes you can learn from it. It's not all doom and gloom and shit, just mostly.

That being said, too much of anything is a bad thing. If you're getting overwhelmed then it's time to draw a line.