Slowing down, finding balance

The hidden cost of my very prolific week

I sat down at my desk this morning, cracked my knuckles (metaphorically), and got to work on part two of my building a more beautiful internet essay. The topic of digital oases is so resonant and alive for me, and the words started flowing forth from my fingertips with ease. I could tell the piece was going to be a banger.

But ten minutes in, I knew I was in trouble, and I slammed the brakes. This essay is going to take at least 3-4 hours to do it justice, but probably more. And frankly, I just ain't got time for that lol.

Last week was a great week of writing for me. I'm super proud of both the quantity and quality of my output. But for context, most days I spent around 3 hours on my post, sometimes a bit more. For the longer pieces, I spent between 5-7 hours on them. And though it left me feeling satisfied, it also drained away my mental energy, such that I did exactly zero work on any other business or freelance projects.

What I'm trying to say is, I threw my life way out of balance last week, and I'm seriously tempted to keep doing it because I'm having a great time. I want a life where I have hours of uninterrupted time to write every day. That sounds splendid. But that's just not the reality I live in. And if I keep neglecting other areas of my business and life in favor of what feels good, I suspect I'm actually pushing the life I want further away.

So that's what I'm navigating right now. I am fully committed to publishing daily for the next 92 days. Nothing can stop me. But I'm also an imperfect human with limited energy and a ton of competing priorities. And it seems important to point that out. Whenever I see someone else on the internet who appears to be "crushing it" with their output, I usually assume they've got all their other shit together. But last week, my shit was not together, no matter how it may have looked on the outside.

It's time to slow down a bit, and truly embrace this project as a marathon, and not a sprint. Onwards. 🫡

Rob's Daily Invitation

Speaking of things I wanted to get done last week but didn’t, I'm working on some subtle but important improvements to The Frontier membership. A new onboarding experience. A proper payment-renewal reminder system. A new platform for video calls, co-working sessions, and events. All things that I've been putting off because they're not sexy, but are important to the integrity and clarity of the experience. My goal is for this membership to become the kind of place I want for myself, and that means thinking through the small, unsexy details that nonetheless add up.