Why Do I Try to Take On So Much?

I'm the type of person who is constantly challenging myself to test my limits. Whether it's blogging or fitness, it's almost an obsession for me to see how far I can push myself without crashing.

This time around, though, I damn near burned myself out. Sure, there were a few other extenuating circumstances going on in September. However, a lot of the stress I felt came from trying to tackle too much all at once.

The Way My Brain is Wired

I have a condition that I call, “Buckaroo Banzai Syndrome.” It’s when you spread yourself across several different career paths while being greatly successful at each.

Unlike the 1980s movie character, though, I don’t have the overwhelming success.

It’s not that I’m trying to be ultimately successful in everything I attempt. It’s more of the fact that my brain has a hard time staying focused on any one particular niche or industry.

I need to be in constant motion while learning all I can about a variety of topics. This is one of the things that made me such a success while using content mills as a freelance writer.

I can seamlessly jump from topic to topic for a wide assortment of clients.

The problem I am having nowadays, though, is that I often take on too much. I keep trying to add more to my plate because I find it interesting. This is why I have five blogs, four YouTube channels, two podcasts, and a partridge in a pear tree.

All of this while working as a content team lead for a prominent web hosting company and writing my first eBook.

For the life of me, I have no idea what prompted an attempt to write 90 blog posts in 30 days while trying to work on all of the other projects. Perhaps it was bragging rights for the YouTube channel.

In any case, it taught me quite a lesson about myself.

I Take On Way Too Many Side Projects

The premise of the 30-day challenge was to write a single blog post for each of my three primary websites every day. I had these scheduled a day in advance so I could take advantage of when visitors were more active on the websites.

About a couple of weeks into the challenge, I started to feel the burn.

In order to complete the 30-day cycle, I had to move a lot of projects to the back burner. This meant that while the blogs were getting a bit of a boost in traffic, the YouTube channels kind of suffered.

Not to mention that it put me a month behind for publishing my first book. The stress was starting to get to me, and I found myself sleeping less and less.

Then, I decided to move out of my office so I could give the room to a friend who needed a place to stay. Now, my office is crammed into my bedroom.

Since I was already stressed at that point, why not add the fact that October 1st was the two-year anniversary of my youngest son committing suicide?

For the last week of the 30-day challenge, my heart was starting to feel like I had an arrhythmia. It pounds and feels like it flutters periodically. Eventually, I’ll go get it checked out.

Needless to say, the past few weeks were anything but smooth sailing.

Reducing the Workload

Now that the challenge is over and I can put September behind me, I decided that I take on too much to handle. It’s not that I’m incapable of the workload. It’s the fact that there isn’t enough time in the day to do what I want.

Even if I never slept another hour ever again, I still wouldn’t have the time.

To create some kind of semblance of balance in my life, I decided to focus on priority projects first. I know, I should have been doing this all along. But my brain tries to get as much done as possible in the day, which often means doing the quick, piddly stuff that really doesn’t matter much.

Using the Asana project management app, I began assigning blocks of time for the most important tasks for every day.

Obviously, my client’s work comes first. I have a mortgage to pay, after all. And making it big on Instagram or Tik Tok just isn’t in my cards.

Secondly, I want to finish writing and publish my first book. This means assigning huge blocks of time as it’s more important to me than blog posts.

Thirdly, I decided to set aside time to make more YouTube videos. Apparently, I’ve helped quite a few people learn how to become freelance writers and need more supporting content.

Plus, I’m just a month or two away from getting monetized on YouTube. Every video matters at this point, and I can’t wait until I can start making that mad, $10 per month YouTube money!

What’s the Moral of This Story?

Too many people today want you to “hustle hard” or jump into as many side gigs as you can to make a better life for yourself. But when you spread yourself too thin, not enough adequate attention is placed on the things that matter most.

Life isn’t about how much you can accumulate, but more about the quality in which you live.

Instead of being spread so thin, I’ve decided to pull back on some things so that others have a greater chance of success. This month, it’s all about publishing my book.

There is such a thing as pushing too hard, and it can ultimately lead to overexertion and hypertension. You need to ask yourself, “Is it really worth it?”