How to know when is ok to take a break

[ironmind]

I come here to ask for help.

Context​

I am a 27-year-old male without family working a 9-5 job as a programmer and working 4-15 hours a week on side projects (average of 1.5 months).

I am already earning between 800-950€ net on my side projects (before taxes). In my 9-5 job, I am earning 1300€.

I have a lot of family commitments that I cannot control at the moment.

I take breaks on Sundays, holidays, and one Saturday a month to go out with friends, and vacations when I don't have physical access to my computer.

Problem​

It would be great if I am so passionate about my side-hustle that I don't feel the need to take breaks, work on something I love and won't need to work another single day in my life, but let's be realistic.

It will take me at least two years to be able to give up my 9-5 job with a reasonable safety net.

My country is a tax hell and an has unemployment rate of over 25% for my age group.

Switching countries is not an option at this moment.

I am a very hardworking person, but I tend to take on more than I can handle and get overwhelmed.

I am wondering if I should take a break during my vacations, even though I have access to a stable internet and my computer. I thought that working like a normal day on these days would add an additional 120 hours of quality work to my side projects each year.

Last year I worked 416 hours on my side projects, so the additional 120 hours would be nearly 30% more.

However, the chances of everything going wrong increase a lot and the quality of the work will surely suffer, and of course life will be miserable for years until I quit my 9-5 job.

​

Question​

​

So, what would you do in my place?​

I appreciate all support and answers, but please, to make the dialogue more valuable, try to avoid answers like "Let it ride" or "Go hard or go home." If you do give one of these answers, please explain why.

Thank you very much in advance.

EDIT:​

What I`m going to do?

After reflecting for a while I have decided the following.

What I will NOT change:

1. I will have to stay at my job.
2. My family is not negotiable, so I will have to put up with it.
3. My business strategy is scalable and has proven to be a good money maker.

What I will change:

As @Johnny boy and @James Klymus have pointed out to me, more hours does not always equal more work done, the most important thing is not to burn out.

So I'm going to do the following:

1. Do not work on apps or websites that, after launching them and reaching the top positions, do not give more than €100 a month, this implies not maintaining them, not advertising them, if they still give €1 a day, then welcome, but I'm not going to spend a single minute, Pareto rules.
2. Take all my vacations off.
3. Assimilate that this is a marathon, and that 30% more working hours are not going to make a difference in the long term, especially if I quit halfway, not make my life miserable, to achieve my goals in 2 years, instead of 3 or 4 years, especially now that I have some financial stability.

 

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[adnanazmi]

I come here to ask for help.

Context​

I am a 27-year-old male without family working a 9-5 job as a programmer and working 4-15 hours a week on side projects (average of 1.5 months).

I am already earning between 800-950€ net on my side projects (before taxes). In my 9-5 job, I am earning 1300€.

I have a lot of family commitments that I cannot control at the moment.

I take breaks on Sundays, holidays, and one Saturday a month to go out with friends, and vacations when I don't have physical access to my computer.

Problem​

It would be great if I am so passionate about my side-hustle that I don't feel the need to take breaks, work on something I love and won't need to work another single day in my life, but let's be realistic.

It will take me at least two years to be able to give up my 9-5 job with a reasonable safety net.

My country is a tax hell and an has unemployment rate of over 25% for my age group.

Switching countries is not an option at this moment.

I am a very hardworking person, but I tend to take on more than I can handle and get overwhelmed.

I am wondering if I should take a break during my vacations, even though I have access to a stable internet and my computer. I thought that working like a normal day on these days would add an additional 120 hours of quality work to my side projects each year.

Last year I worked 416 hours on my side projects, so the additional 120 hours would be nearly 30% more.

However, the chances of everything going wrong increase a lot and the quality of the work will surely suffer, and of course life will be miserable for years until I quit my 9-5 job.

​

Question​

​

So, what would you do in my place?​

I appreciate all support and answers, but please, to make the dialogue more valuable, try to avoid answers like "Let it ride" or "Go hard or go home." If you do give one of these answers, please explain why.

Thank you very much in advance.

Try to strike a balance between: work, rest, play.

I would recommend journaling to understand your thought patterns and figure out what you can improve with yourself. Whether it be how you can rest better or what activities you enjoy etc. This video may help:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dorBWD8u6Ho&ab_channel=ClarkKegley


I would also recommend practicing gratitude journaling on top of that. It significantly improved my daily mood and it should for you as well.

Also do you work out? Working out has been showed to significantly improve mental health even more than medication. I think it was 1.5X more effective with no negative side effects like from medication.

Get 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleep Early/Wake up Early. Make sure to get plenty of rest daily. Try meditation as well.

I feel like you are close to burn out. I recommend you watch these videos as well:

View: https://youtu.be/vthPawWn6ws

View: https://youtu.be/7DKXLasU4Kg


I wish you all the best. You are doing a great job. Verily with hardship, comes ease. Everything will be alright.

 

[Johnny boy]

The answer you are looking for is trapped in a false dichotomy of “my choices are A. Work a lot on my side projects and B. Work less on my side projects, tell me if A or B is better”.

The real thing to do is change your question.

“My broad overarching goals are X, Y and Z. Here is where I am now. How do I get from here to my goals?”

The answer may not be in doing any of these programming side projects whatsoever.

You might be able to switch jobs and get a pay increase that would cover the entire income earned from all combined side projects.

You can change the type of side business you have.

You can adjust your current model to eliminate the “hours clocked = amount paid” type of work and create something that pays you with more asymmetric returns.

Maybe your “obligations” are more negotiable than you think.

There are 5000 different paths and answers, so don’t just give yourself an “either/or” problem. The answer is often lateral thinking. The best answer is hidden away in a couple of unique choices that would 10x your results, decrease your work week hours, and give you a much better life.

Prescription: read or reread the 4 hour workweek and practice some lifestyle design and be more creative. You should definitely take some time to relax and enjoy life sometimes. This is a marathon. No point in rushing for a year then quitting and getting nowhere.

 

[Kevin88660]

I come here to ask for help.

Context​

I am a 27-year-old male without family working a 9-5 job as a programmer and working 4-15 hours a week on side projects (average of 1.5 months).

I am already earning between 800-950€ net on my side projects (before taxes). In my 9-5 job, I am earning 1300€.

I have a lot of family commitments that I cannot control at the moment.

I take breaks on Sundays, holidays, and one Saturday a month to go out with friends, and vacations when I don't have physical access to my computer.

Problem​

It would be great if I am so passionate about my side-hustle that I don't feel the need to take breaks, work on something I love and won't need to work another single day in my life, but let's be realistic.

It will take me at least two years to be able to give up my 9-5 job with a reasonable safety net.

My country is a tax hell and an has unemployment rate of over 25% for my age group.

Switching countries is not an option at this moment.

I am a very hardworking person, but I tend to take on more than I can handle and get overwhelmed.

I am wondering if I should take a break during my vacations, even though I have access to a stable internet and my computer. I thought that working like a normal day on these days would add an additional 120 hours of quality work to my side projects each year.

Last year I worked 416 hours on my side projects, so the additional 120 hours would be nearly 30% more.

However, the chances of everything going wrong increase a lot and the quality of the work will surely suffer, and of course life will be miserable for years until I quit my 9-5 job.

​

Question​

​

So, what would you do in my place?​

I appreciate all support and answers, but please, to make the dialogue more valuable, try to avoid answers like "Let it ride" or "Go hard or go home." If you do give one of these answers, please explain why.

Thank you very much in advance.

Is your side project potentially scalable in the future or it is like a second job?

Are your family commitment in terms of spending money or time?

Are you able to find remote workers to help you and meanwhile it makes business sense.

Two years on track to quit your job is not too bad afterall.

I assume you have good cash saving.

 

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[James Klymus]

I am a very hardworking person, but I tend to take on more than I can handle and get overwhelmed

I’ve always wondered how someone who works construction 5-6 days a week, has a wife, kids, and still hangs out with friends, does it without feeling “burnt out”.

Yet there are people who work at a desk job full time, Who are sitting in air conditioning, and attending meetings, but they always are complaining of burnout and feeling exhausted.

It’s because burnout is a mental issue, not physical. People feel burnt out because they overwhelm them selves with things they need to do in the future.

You can sleep to recovery physically, but mental stress is different. Sleep doesn’t do much for it. You may be physically recovered when you wake up, but mentally you’re exhausted.

Basically, your mental RAM is running close to 100% at all times.

What I think you should do: take some time to do some soul searching, and figure out what you really want to work towards. Also, learn to say no to things that aren’t going to get you where you want to be. That’s what causes the overwhelming feeling.

Like Johnny said, figure out how many of your “obligations” are actually obligations. You need to clean up your to do list and free up some of that mental RAM.

Also, it could be a good idea to make a move into a new job that pays you better, or even one with a better schedule.

As for the side business, hours worked do not necessarily equate to productive output.

For example, I have a YouTube channel that I have spent 0 hours on the past month and a half, yet is still growing in views and subscribers, and people are still downloading my products.

Also, if a side business can’t work with a few hours of work per week, then adding more hours into the equation usually won’t fix things. It’s probably not a good business idea.

 

[ironmind]

Try to strike a balance between: work, rest, play.

I would recommend journaling to understand your thought patterns and figure out what you can improve with yourself. Whether it be how you can rest better or what activities you enjoy etc. This video may help:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dorBWD8u6Ho&ab_channel=ClarkKegley


I would also recommend practicing gratitude journaling on top of that. It significantly improved my daily mood and it should for you as well.

Also do you work out? Working out has been showed to significantly improve mental health even more than medication. I think it was 1.5X more effective with no negative side effects like from medication.

Get 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleep Early/Wake up Early. Make sure to get plenty of rest daily. Try meditation as well.

I feel like you are close to burn out. I recommend you watch these videos as well:

View: https://youtu.be/vthPawWn6ws

View: https://youtu.be/7DKXLasU4Kg


I wish you all the best. You are doing a great job. Verily with hardship, comes ease. Everything will be alright.

First of all, sorry for taking so long to answer after you took your time answering me.

Thank yo so much for the info and for take your time to answerme, I will try this.

 

[ironmind]

The answer you are looking for is trapped in a false dichotomy of “my choices are A. Work a lot on my side projects and B. Work less on my side projects, tell me if A or B is better”.

The real thing to do is change your question.

“My broad overarching goals are X, Y and Z. Here is where I am now. How do I get from here to my goals?”

The answer may not be in doing any of these programming side projects whatsoever.

You might be able to switch jobs and get a pay increase that would cover the entire income earned from all combined side projects.

You can change the type of side business you have.

You can adjust your current model to eliminate the “hours clocked = amount paid” type of work and create something that pays you with more asymmetric returns.

Maybe your “obligations” are more negotiable than you think.

There are 5000 different paths and answers, so don’t just give yourself an “either/or” problem. The answer is often lateral thinking. The best answer is hidden away in a couple of unique choices that would 10x your results, decrease your work week hours, and give you a much better life.

Prescription: read or reread the 4 hour workweek and practice some lifestyle design and be more creative. You should definitely take some time to relax and enjoy life sometimes. This is a marathon. No point in rushing for a year then quitting and getting nowhere.

First of all, sorry for taking so long to answer after you took your time answering me.

If you're right, I think my too schematic and rational thinking is playing a trick on me.

I must reflect, and rethink a few things in my life.

PS: thank you very much, rereading the 4-hour work week has been a luxury for me, to refresh some concepts.

 

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[ironmind]

Is your side project potentially scalable in the future or it is like a second job?

Are your family commitment in terms of spending money or time?

Are you able to find remote workers to help you and meanwhile it makes business sense.

Two years on track to quit your job is not too bad afterall.

I assume you have good cash saving.

First of all, sorry for taking so long to answer after you took your time answering me.

Is your side project potentially scalable in the future or it is like a second job?

Yes it is.

Are your family commitment in terms of spending money or time?

Time, lots of time.

Are you able to find remote workers to help you and meanwhile it makes business sense

Yes, it would make sense in a future, for the moment the sideprojects don´t make enough money.

Two years on track to quit your job is not too bad afterall.

Yes I know, but my sideprojects are apps and webs, so it´s very variable, but I think that 2 years are a reasonable time expect.

 

[ironmind]

I’ve always wondered how someone who works construction 5-6 days a week, has a wife, kids, and still hangs out with friends, does it without feeling “burnt out”.

Yet there are people who work at a desk job full time, Who are sitting in air conditioning, and attending meetings, but they always are complaining of burnout and feeling exhausted.

It’s because burnout is a mental issue, not physical. People feel burnt out because they overwhelm them selves with things they need to do in the future.

You can sleep to recovery physically, but mental stress is different. Sleep doesn’t do much for it. You may be physically recovered when you wake up, but mentally you’re exhausted.

Basically, your mental RAM is running close to 100% at all times.

What I think you should do: take some time to do some soul searching, and figure out what you really want to work towards. Also, learn to say no to things that aren’t going to get you where you want to be. That’s what causes the overwhelming feeling.

Like Johnny said, figure out how many of your “obligations” are actually obligations. You need to clean up your to do list and free up some of that mental RAM.

Also, it could be a good idea to make a move into a new job that pays you better, or even one with a better schedule.

As for the side business, hours worked do not necessarily equate to productive output.

For example, I have a YouTube channel that I have spent 0 hours on the past month and a half, yet is still growing in views and subscribers, and people are still downloading my products.

Also, if a side business can’t work with a few hours of work per week, then adding more hours into the equation usually won’t fix things. It’s probably not a good business idea.

First of all, sorry for taking so long to answer after you took your time answering me.

"What I think you should do: take some time to do some soul searching, and figure out what you really want to work towards. Also, learn to say no to things that aren’t going to get you where you want to be. That’s what causes the overwhelming feeling.

Like Johnny said, figure out how many of your “obligations” are actually obligations. You need to clean up your to do list and free up some of that mental RAM."

"hat really makes me overwhelmed are family commitments, and that is not negotiable at the moment, for now it is time to put up with it.

"Also, it could be a good idea to make a move into a new job that pays you better, or even one with a better schedule."

Actually in the region which I live in my country, and with my experience, it´s a good salary, and the schedule are reasonable, for me is a good bridge work, in 1-2 years I will could negotiate a much better salary, so for the moment I´m not intereste in a labaral change

"As for the side business, hours worked do not necessarily equate to productive output.

For example, I have a YouTube channel that I have spent 0 hours on the past month and a half, yet is still growing in views and subscribers, and people are still downloading my products.

Also, if a side business can’t work with a few hours of work per week, then adding more hours into the equation usually won’t fix things. It’s probably not a good business idea."

I think it was my fault for not explaining my sideprojects, my sideprojects are apps and websites, my idea is to launch apps and websites that take 1 month - 1.5 months to create.

And depending on how they behave, invest or not invest more money and/or time.

So far it has worked well, I have gone from €0 to €800-€950 a month in a year with an average of 8 hours a week, and I have learned a lot and my success rate has gone from 9 out of 10 not give not even 1 a day, when 3 out of 10 are giving more than €100 a month.

The apps and websites require 2-3 hours every few months, they are not tied to my time.