I was reading Seth Godin’s emails, and he sent me this:
…and I couldn’t agree more.
Right now in my life, I am following this approach called "Hell Yeah or No." It's from Derek Sivers and means you either work on projects you’re genuinely curious about and totally into while ditching all the work you do passivly.
Time management isn't an issue for me.
After working with multiple clients and content business for years, you learn to to context-switch quickly. Managing 8-10 projects by working 40-55 hours a week becomes normal.
The problem as I see it and Seth mentioned is the motivation to work.
Most of the tasks I procrastinate on for weeks require only 15 minutes of my time. But I don’t work because I have no energy nor the curiosity to override exhaustion.
I flexed about the number of projects I handled but in hindsight, none of them were doing great. I was just taking pleasure of the numbers.
Looking at the projects I handle, I have realised I could bring more ROI by working on selective few projects.
After my realisation, I’ve retired many side projects. Blog, communities, vibe coded projects, you name it.
The reason I write this is to show you there’s a peace in shutting down.
Every time you don’t work as much as you should have on your side projects, shame and guilt kicks in and whispers, “You’re not working hard enough.”
The truth could be it’s just a project you like but not the one you’re irrationally passionate about. Or that your NOs are more than your HELL YEAHs.
Shutting down is a privilege. Potential advantage as well.
We are taught as a society to become super successful or die trying, but hardly anyone speaks of the mental peace and time bandwidth moving on creates.