Andrew Johnson of the Web Publishing Blogs have a post up on avoiding burning out. He gives a two fundamental pieces of advice:
Frustration is the fast track to burn out
Repeated Failure to produce measurable results
We’re talking burn out from an entrepreneur’s point of view, a professional blogger in particular. And he’s right, frustration and repeated failure without any obvious development is a paved road to burn out. I’d like to add a few elements more:
Having too long workdays might work for a while, but in the end it nags on you more than you’ll notice.
Not having any social life just isn’t a good thing, you need diversions to evolve.
Not being able to take a break from work, as in not letting it go in your mind or just never taking a couple of days off.
Being your own boss has its risks, most certainly. You have to be prepared to put in the extra hours and have the discipline to work even when you don’t feel like it. Most people think that’s the problem, but I disagree since you’re usually your own boss because you want to do something you love.
The problem is to know when and where to stop, when to rest, when to rethink and when to give up, get up and try again. That’s from personal experience, learned the hard way.
Originally posted on February 7, 2007 @ 4:06 am