Indie Hacker Diaries #32: Taking a Breath

This one is going to be short.

A few years back when I was running Clever Beagle—my 1-on-1 mentorship businesses where I helped others to build their own startup—by the end of the 2nd year, I was completely burnt out.

I’d underestimated the mental load of the schedule I was working and having to juggle so many different projects at once.

So, at the end of 2019, I took a mini-sabbatical. From December 1st, 2019 to January 1st, 2020, I shut my doors and took a break.

What I never told anyone was that, even though I was supposed to be on break, during that time, I mostly spent my time frantically trying to finish the SaaS I’d been working on—Command—only taking a few days here and there to truly rest.

The funny part? Not only did I not finish, I came back from my “break” still fairly exhausted.

I haven’t and will never forget that lesson and what it taught me: no matter how obsessed you are, no matter how much you convince yourself it’s a good idea not to, you have to stop.

This is why, every year since then, I shut things down for the last two weeks of the year. Incognito mode.

I still dabble with projects here and there, but not at my typical, elmo_coke_pile.jpg pace. Having failed to properly set my priorities in the past, I make more time for rest, play, and now, with my fiancé by my side, family.

So, this is me signing off until 2025.

Thank you for reading and listening this year. I hope to see you back in a few weeks. I’m excited to start rolling out a lot of cool stuff that’s been in development for the past few years (!).

Best wishes and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

See you soon.