So three months ago I was basically working myself into a coma.

Aside from rushing to get a contest submission done, I was also juggling work, the desperation of waiting to hear back from HR about something Very Important that they dragged on for a week, discreet job applications and recruiter calls, and the desire to have some semblance of a life, meaning I would sacrifice a few minutes of the sleep that I did not have time for at the end of some days to read some Twitter. Real partying there folks.

And then right after that, after sleeping for a day, I immediately went full-on to job-change mode, and started working on my for-jobs website, doing more applications and more resume upgrades, etc. all the while planning an amazing indefinite vacation which included spending hours upon hours searching for the best priced hotels that also were in the proper locations and also had the required amenities, and still working my full-time job, and having calls. Eg. I was basically busy as fuck again and did not have time to sleep. Once again.

It was to the point where I was genuinely concerned for my health, and knew that if I were to continue this lifestyle then I would not be lasting much longer. I'm sure there were already ramifications from having lived that way, even if it wasn't for a super long while.

So anyhow I resigned, went on vacation for 1.5 months though I did continue having interviews throughout, came back to enjoy the great holiday sales and sleeping in my own bed, and am now finally typing this after having rested very, very much.

10/10 would do this again.

Yes I have no income (yet). Yes I haven't done a single thing for the comic I've wanted to publish so much. Yes it's nearly another year later and I don't really have much to show for it, but that has less to do with me taking a break and more to do with the fact that I wasn't particularly diligent before that.

But this feeling of freedom. The knowledge that I don't have a 9 to 5 waiting for me to get back to, the lack of need to constantly need to adjust my schedule to do things I need to, rather than do things I want to.

Of course, I do need to eventually get back to the normal daily grind soon—not made of money so can't be on vacation forever! But ultimately, I'm taking this chance to truly rest—and I've never felt better about having it.

Q: Now that you basically have nothing to do, isn't this the best time to work on the comic?

Theoretically, yes. It makes sense to take this rare chance and use this time to do something actually productive.

But in reality? Fuck that, lol. You can spend the rest of your life working, but how often are you going to have a real break? I'm not saying I want to resign and accomplish absolutely nothing for several months every year. But now that it's happened, now that this rare event has come upon me—the time I've managed to gain here is definitely going to be cherished.

Is it foolish to wait until I'm busy again to then try and balance out my time? Perhaps. But I'm glad I took this break, I'm glad I had the experience of getting a rest without feeling like I should be accomplishing one thing or another or that I'm wasting away just because I want to have a life. I will be back at the grind soon. I've almost gotten enough rest. But I'm definitely going to remember this wonderful period and not beat myself up over it when I just don't have the time or energy.

Success shouldn't come at the price of destroying yourself. Please remember that dying from overwork is actually a thing.

Q: Does this epiphany mean that your progress will be even slower?

Honestly, maybe.

But fuck lol not like my previous speed was anything to write home about either. I'm planning to start properly scheduling stuff again on January 1st, as I feel that I'll have had enough rest by then to be motivated to create again. I haven't stopped thinking about the story and I've been watching some really interesting art videos recently, so brand new attempts to potentially finish the assistant package faster aren't too far off!

In conclusion

If you're going to load all the work in the world upon yourself like I did, then you had better have at least a good few weeks of rest time where you can just lie there and sleep. And then slowly regain your strength and sanity and remember what it's like to actually have a life, have hobbies that you can choose to do only if you feel like it, and have time with your loved ones again.

Even if you're used to the grind and are doing things at a steady, mostly sustainable pace, please still just take a short break from that and give yourself a good reset. Don't get burned out from doing the same things and following the same schedules over and over again.

If you can, take this chance to properly celebrate the holidays. Your work isn't going to run away from you; only your time will.

See everyone again next week!