Shortly after my last post, I made the hard decision to step down as an editor at the site I’ve been writing for this year. While I enjoyed the position, the amount of extra work it generated started slowly leeching time away from everything else I wanted to do. It was a second job – one that I wasn’t even being paid to do.

Contacting the editor-in-chief and tendering my resignation was a surprisingly hard thing to do. I felt shame, regret, and a modicum of failure as I explained my position. And even though I was told by everyone that there was no reason to feel bad about stepping back, I couldn’t tamp down these deep-seated feelings from taking hold.

But, at the same time, I couldn’t help feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. By the next morning, all of the sadness and regret that was plaguing me the night before had dissipated. It was unexpected, but enlightening.

I’m one of those people that always pushes for more. No matter what I’m doing, there’s always something else that I want to add into the mix. I do this because I have very high expectations of myself, but sometimes, I ignore one simple, obvious fact – that everyone has limitations.

At some point, the ability to do more is met with diminished returns. And I had, without knowing it, reached that point. Playing games, writing articles, editing, managing a team of writers, writing fiction, beta reading, working out, spending time with my wife, spending time with my pets, etc. – it had gotten to the point where there wasn’t enough time to do all of these things. And no matter how hard I tried, there was no way to effectively juggle all of the things on my plate. I quickly became unhappy and wound up losing sleep because I was staying up later just to keep up.

So I made changes.

Stepping down as editor was the first. And limiting the number of pieces I wrote for the site was second. Before, I was trying to produce as many articles as the site would publish, but I found that stepping back a bit and limiting myself to one a month was a far less stressful goal. Not only did it allow me a bit of breathing room, but it greatly increased the quality of the articles I was producing.

These two changes went a long way in balancing everything else out. Spending far less time on the news site meant I had more time to spend with my wife and pets. And more time to do things that I enjoy.

Writing and beta reading are two of those things. In the last few months, I’ve been able to finish the first draft of my YA Sci-fi novel (it even has a tentative name – Aiko’s Dive) and begin a fantastic beta read. The novel is titled Avatar of the Enemy by Jason Byrne.

Stepping back has also allowed me to enjoy playing games again. For a while, gaming was beginning to feel like a chore because I felt obligated to write an article about each one I finished. Now, however, that feeling is far less pronounced, so playing games feels as fun as it used to. It’s worth mentioning that I’ve also started streaming on twitch. Since I play so many games (and since my Amazon Prime account means I get Twitch Prime for free), I don’t really lose anything by streaming the games I already play. No one really watches me, but I find the experience of broadcasting the fun I have with my wife and friends to be rewarding.

At the end of the day, I’m really happy that I stepped back and took stock of where I was in my life. If I hadn’t, I might still be forcing myself to do things that I didn’t have the capacity to do. Realizing, and accepting, that I have limitations was no small task, and I would be lying if I said that it took nearing a breaking point to really get the message. There’s still a part of me that hates admitting that I couldn’t do every little thing I wanted to, but I’m better off for it.

And I’m happier.

If you find yourself in a similar place, take a step back and look at everything that you’re doing. Ask yourself if every task is worth the time and stress. If the answer is “no”, consider removing that thing from your repertoire. It may hurt to do so, but a happier, and more productive, person.

If it worked for me, it can work for you too!