I'm still here. I was close to burning myself out. After taking on a new role at work, handling a move, familial obligations and more, I found my battery to be completely drained. Some of my other goals (like this blog) took a backseat.
In the past I would have felt guilty, like I'd let myself down. I have often found it difficult to pare back what I am working on to a sustainable level. I often was drawn in by the productivity posts on Linkedin or Hacker News. They would often peddle the notion that you should grind through the challenge in order to come out on top. I still feel there is a time and a place for this attitude, but you must acknowledge the cost that comes with it. One of my goals with this blog was to work on it in a sustainable way, so that I could keep up the habit. Until recently I would've forced myself to grind through writing posts along with all of the other pet projects I wanted to do in an effort to make myself feel productive. Inevitably this would lead to me feeling burned out and I eventually would stop doing all of it.
Taking a beat and scaling back has worked wonders. I've had more fun at work than ever recently and I feel like there is more space for me to get done the things I really care about. Being productively unproductive when I can has really given me the space to focus on the things I want to get better at.
I am feeling more focused and productive than I have in a while, making my goals feel much more achievable.