As a solo-entrepreneur with no VC money, I work 12 hour days way more often than I should. I work weekends. I even made a bunch of commits on Christmas eve. Big reason is honestly that it's just that much fun. It's hard to put down the work and take time off because I want to do more. It's the same stupid reason I've poured 1200 hours into Factorio. Building stuff is fun.
Took last week off from work. Just did nothing. Slacked off. This is the first vacation I've had for over a year. According to my fibit, my resting heart rate went down 12 points. I have so many new ideas and plans for what to do next. I feel more inspired and honestly like a new person.
I think a lot of small startups and entrepreneurs work too much. Working 12 hour days is strictly worse than 8 hour days over time. If you skimp on rest and recovery, you gradually transform into an idiot. Do you want an uninsipired idiot for a CEO for your tenuous new business? Because that's what you're turning yourself into.
That's the thing that needs to be taken into account during these discussions. 12 hours grinding away at a steel mill? Hard. 12 hours at my computer having fun writing code, cracking bugs, listening to good music, and eating tasty food throughout the day? Pretty neat.
> This is the first vacation I've had for over a year.
This is the tough part, though, and I admire you for that. I've always been perfectly happy to work 12+ hour days without days off, but only as long as I know that if I need a break, I -can- take a break, go off for a week or whatever. Knowing that I -can- tap out whenever I want is the key to stopping burnout, for me. If I couldn't, I'd have to be much more restrained.
Took last week off from work. Just did nothing. Slacked off. This is the first vacation I've had for over a year. According to my fibit, my resting heart rate went down 12 points. I have so many new ideas and plans for what to do next. I feel more inspired and honestly like a new person.
I think a lot of small startups and entrepreneurs work too much. Working 12 hour days is strictly worse than 8 hour days over time. If you skimp on rest and recovery, you gradually transform into an idiot. Do you want an uninsipired idiot for a CEO for your tenuous new business? Because that's what you're turning yourself into.