Burnt Out, Refocusing
By Steve Poland • April 22, 2007
It was bound to happen again in my life — especially at the current stage. I started overworking — day job, Techquila Shots, TechCrunch writing, WeBothLike start-up, Web2.0forsale.com … too much and for what? I’m use to working 12+ hour days from the days of owning my consulting firm … and really for the past 8 years I’d say I’ve been a workaholic.
So Techquila Shots is trimming down. I had in the back of my head the hope that this could get a large enough readership that it might bring in enough revenue to sustain me — likely not going to happen, given what I write about. Fred Wilson said he makes $25-$30k/year for his blog and he’s got 11k readers — I have anywhere from 1000-1500. If I were writing breaking tech news or covering start-ups, there’d be a larger audience I could target — and people would blog about my posts, link back, and grow this more. But people aren’t really blogging about my posts, thus no linkbacks, thus not much awareness — and very difficult to acquire new readers.
With goals in mind, I went on a mission to try and write 2 posts per day to this site — the regimen can eventually really stress a person out, especially when I have so much other stuff going on. Techquila Shots is really therapeutic for me — I’m an idea guy; have been for the past 10 years and likely will be for the rest of my life. I read, I watch, I listen — and I generate ideas. If I don’t get those ideas out, I get anxiety — because I start thinking about how to accomplish them, then realize I don’t have the resources to do so, then get stressed. Maybe you understand, maybe not 
So I’m not going to stress about writing posts to this blog anymore. If I get an idea, I’ll post it — but I’m not going to put a demand on myself to get a post up every day, or every week. I thank you if you’ve been an avid Techquila Shots reader and commenter — expect posts in the future, but just not as often as they were.
I’m also re-evaluating a lot of other things in life and lowering my personal expectations of myself — going to try and relax a bit, be more realistic in my hopes of changing the world, and do the things I’ve been tossing to the side in exchange for over-working … such as working out more.
I’m an overly ambitious serial entrepreneur — and maybe this post is one big lie to myself that I want to believe I can do. Only time will tell…
Comments
16 Responses to “Burnt Out, Refocusing”
Got something to say?
If you need a break we are taking a group of 12-20 to Vegas in a couple weeks… feel to to come along for some poker and fun times!
Wow.. I see a lot of myself in that post… I’m still young (22) but I also feel I’m an idea guy, and I get the same anxiety about not being able to put them to work… I also want to change the world and be a serial entrepreneur… best of luck on the reevaluation of your life… :]
Wow Steve, its like you are narrating the last few months of my life. I feel like I’m at the same point, right down to swapping work for “working out more”, seriously…
Instead of chasing imagined pots of gold on the web I’ve recently decided to get just work on projects I’m passionate about or think I will, given time, be passionate about. Good luck fella.
But don’t you feel bad when an amazing idea took off in a short term but dies out in the long term ‘cuz it wasn’t groom, maintained and nurtured well enough?
That’s the problem I see facing by many companies. Sure they have this and that, but there aren’t drivers, only dreamers and contributors.
Drivers make the difference.
I can have hundreds of ideas a day, but which really have the value-impact? Do I have drivers for ‘em? Or will it all be a hype and nothing more…?
Personally, I rather see an idea turn into something big for a long time, rather than just being a hype - i.e. Web 2.0.
Good luck figuring things out Steve.. I left my last two companies in November, and have been trying to rebalance my life and a new startup. I still have way more ideas than time, and don’t spend as much time on my social life or working out (two goals of mine) as I’d hoped to, but I feel a lot better about life in general.
It’s a sunny day today here in Seattle, and I’m sitting in a coffee shop, writing code and catching up on my blog roll. What more could you ask for?
To quote a couple of old cliches; Been there, done that Steve! You’re preaching to the choir!
It makes sense to sit back, relax, catch your breath and re-establish your focus. So many times, we start off with good intentions and then begin meandering over time. I applaud what you’re doing. It’s the healthy thing to do.
Do what you need to do to earn a sustainance, and decide what it is that you’re passionate about and go that route! I don’t know if you’re a spiritual man Steve, but I do know that the Lord will give you peace if you ask Him for it.
Ideas don’t flow as well when I am stressed. I suspect this is true for most. I think your new approach to posting makes sense. Don’t force it; let it flow naturally. My suspicion is that the quality of ideas and posts will increase, resulting in a significant increase in readership. I think you’ve hit upon the major issue many bloggers face. Some bloggers think that it’s about quantity. But really, at least to me, it’s about quality.
And for what it’s worth, I think somehow you’ve managed both to date. I always look forward to reading your blog. I’m even more excited now because the really good stuff will be coming soon.
Thanks for keeping up diligently with the blog to this point. It’s been fun and inspiring to read! Best wishes with your other projects.
you rock!!!!
let me Upgrade YA.
Techcquila Shots is (just becomes) DIGG for Ideas. PEople submit their latest startup idea and others vote. The one that stay on top for a certain amount of time may get funding proposal.
Apologies for taking so long to post on this, Steve. Like yourself, we at Boldly Going realized that our “good idea” for boldlygoing.com was stretching us a bit thin, and our efforts, as gallant and directed as we thought them to be, weren’t producing the sort of results that were leading to the site standing up on its own two.
So, we’ve also decided to step back. We recently brought on a very, very talented artist and have some several nice client projects in the hopper. We’ve just finished one, have a signed agreement to start on this week, and more on the way. We’re not going to retire on service work, but realizing that being able to pay the light bills sometimes take precedence.
So, don’t worry much about letting this community down. Those of us who know ya will continue to follow ya. Just don’t forget about us
Comment #6 above is pretty smart. Even following your passion can be a lot of work. Pick one and do it well. Pick three and go to _ _ _ _ .
Ooooh i just had an Idea.
a central site that you upload ur photos, ur videos and relevant profile infomation (like a generic social networking site like myspace)
then this site can upload this infomation to multiple sites such as myspace, facebook, etc etc.. anything that a particular person may be signed up to.
the reason i say this is that many people are signed up to more that one social network site, and managing them all in close to impossible. a central area when u could change the infomation about urself in all these different sites would be amazingly useful.
I hear ya, remember I still have a day gig, which I have to get off to bed now so that I can at least try to get 4 hours of sleep. I was going to actually post a comment the other night, but I was actually feeling the same way at that time.
Feeling better now, but sleep is next on the agenda!
Rex
You need a meeting of EA (entrepreneurs anonymous). Every sessions kicks off with your quote: “Hi, I’m Steve and I’m an overly ambitious serial entrepreneur”.
Nothing sucks more than having more ideas than time. Well I guess having NO ideas would suck more.
You’re doing something right on techquila though - it’s survived three recent RSS culls on my machine!
We all like to do several things in life. These are motivated by various factors ranging from the material to the spiritual. The external reasons could motivate you and help the adrenaline pumping and you may be able to muster enough energy to get going but only for a while. Sooner or later your undying passion has to be uncovered and lived out. For all the programmers out there, find your purpose in life and live it.