Entrepreneurship the Illness - A day in the life

If you've been doing this for years and you still have to go to the day job it's time to consider that maybe the dayjob is what you're good at, put more effort into that (and your family, and friends) and wake up feeling less like the world hates you. I have some sort of sleep pattern disorder, so I feel your pain on that front. But still...

Wow. Thanks for that. It felt like you were writing out my life!

I couldn't agree more with the notion that entrepreneurship is almost like an illness. When I go to a local "tech meet up" I almost feel as if it's an AA meeting. Everyone has the same problems, everyone has the same story, everyone trying to change the world.

I often wonder if life would be easier to "just quit" and not care so much about changing the world and just getting a "real job" and move on with my life. Problem is, just like other illnesses, we are just born with it. You can't quit. You may be able to take a few years off, but you'll never shake it, never.

To be honest I think most entrepreneurs are very OCD, and by being able to channel this obsession to their business, they are able to be extremely productive. Let's be honest we don't fit the "normal" mold. No one else oozes ambition like we do.

Great piece. you need to outsource or find a co-founder or you'll burn yourself out quickly. Oh and SEO suggestion =>>

commentary.io doesn't 301 to www.commentary.io . I'd use just commentary.io in your marketing copy. the www is kinda the old world.

This might be applicable for you: http://robbieabed.com/fire-me-i-beg-you/ - it was on hn a few months ago.

Well, I've been there doing the 9-5 and working on something on the side which is turning into a real business. While I don't have a wife or kids, I wonder if you could find more time by changing your work schedule a bit. Instead of working 8.5 hours (I assume you take a lunch and don't count it), eat at your desk and leave a bit earlier? Maybe put in an hour before work? Also, you could look for another job or a contract position while you are still at your current one, since you do seem to hate it. Also, what if you put in two hours a day instead of four at night? That'd be easily 10+ hours a week which is plenty and helps you focus on whats important: shipping and validating your idea with customers.

I can't imagine sleeping 4 hours a night is helping you in any way. If you don't get enough sleep you aren't going to be maximizing the precious hours you do have. I'm a zombie when I get less than 7 hours.

I'm in the "balance" boat, even for entrepreneurs. If you don't have balance, your hard work turns into burn out and impatience. Instead of letting things grow, you get frustrated and lose motivation at the world not keeping up with you. Learn to make slow and steady progress and you'll be amazed at how far you've come year after year.

@dworrad, I'll admit I suffer from the same illness as you. It's good that you wrote it all down, because I couldn't believe how closely our lives match and that tells me something. If you are able to write some that hits close enough to my home, then that must mean it is going to hit home for a great many other people as well.

Nobody ever said entrepreneurship is easy. The $1B buyouts that you hear about on HN are exceptional, win-the-lottery type of occurrences, whereas the greater number of people simply win small amounts or nothing at all. But as long as you feel like you've grown as a person and, more importantly, pass that knowledge down to your kids, maybe it won't be so bad.

I wasn't raised with an entrepreneur mindset. My father worked salary all his life, so while that paid off for him, the same didn't/doesn't work for me. I have to be the trailblazer in my family and learn all this from scratch. My hope is that I can blaze that trail well enough so that my children have an easier time. If that's the case, then maybe they will be $1B successful or, at the very least, not have to toil away 8 hours a day in exchange for money.

You are not getting enough sleep.

Without enough sleep you won't be able to stay healthy, much less change the lives of _others_ for the better.

Health first. Everything else second. It's an inescapable prerequisite for being effective at _anything_.

That sounds way depressing, but only because of how familiar it is (i didn't even have kids!)

I hope your app becomes popular during the Olympics, and you can work on your passion!

I'd disagree that being born to make things is entrepreneurship. If you just keep making things and not selling anything...I guess the buzzword is wantrepreneur.

I totally relate to putting things off you enjoy.

If you don't change something about your current schedule, nothing is going to change (please change something).

Some ideas...Save some money. Quit your job, renegotiate working hours, start consulting. Downgrade expenses. Start a business that has fast revenue potential.

Like a few others here, this hits home for me. However, even with a family and day job I struggle less with sleep and keeping a healthy schedule, and I'm not convinced of the value of the need to "make a dent in the world". I question whether that is the right goal.

For me, there are three things that I want (in priority order) 1. To provide for my family 2. To own my own time. 3. To work on interesting problems.

I wrote it in that order, but mostly I think I over-prioritize #3 over #2. I think things would be much easier if I first focused on achieving #2 and then went on to #3.

Regarding the recommendation to "Just quit." You should. But not the side projects, quit your day job. Put a deadline on it, for your family's sake, if you don't have sustainable income from your new business after the deadline, go back to a day job and put the side-projects on hold. You shouldn't have a problem finding another day job if you're good (and if you're not good, get good first, then quit).

You'll need savings and a supportive family to do this. Talk with them. Explain the situation. Write a journal so you can show how you feel over time. Your family will support you, but first you'll have to make a good case. It's a risk, quitting, but if you have some savings and a supportive family, you can do it.

It'll also force you to build a business, not a hobby.

4hrs sleep is not enough. Try getting at least 6-7 and see how you are more productive.

I have tried that and its a crazy and stupid thing to do. I quickly realized that not performing exceptionally well on the job results in bad productivity even outside of it. Health, family and friends are important and need high priority.

I wonder if you slept more and worked on the weekends if you would come out ahead.

My personal schedule,

6:00am - wakeup 6:45am - start on sideprojects 8:45am - head to work 6:00pm - leave work 6-10pm - dinner, family 10:00pm - to bed

That gives you 10 hours Monday - Friday. Put in another 6 on each of Saturday and Sunday (relatively easy to do in 3 hours segments while also having time with your family) and you have 22 hours a week of side project time, that's a lot.

You also have 8 hours of sleep a night. That makes the rest of your time more productive (both at work and on your side project). You also won't be killing yourself and your family ultimately needs you down the road.

I also like that afterwork I'm 'off'. I basically say from the time I get home from work until bed, I don't work on anything. Your family won't miss you at 5am while they are sleeping, but they will miss you at 8pm when they want to hang out.

It's not about maximizing the number of hours you work, it is about maximizing output. More sleep means the same output in less time, and it is worth it.

I totally identify with everything you've described. I'm also starting to think this approach is not healthy, as I am exhausted on my way back home. Thanks for writing this, as it perfectly describes how I am feeling right now.

Word of advice - get some sleep tonight. Not every night, but at least tonight. You can't do this to yourself every night. Force yourself to get to bed before 11pm. Your health and your family are more important than your startup even if you have an illness.

I went to be at 1am last night, but tonight I am calling it early. Or at least I am going to try.

I have a part time staff for my startup who is a close friend. We both have kids. He has a day job and a similar schedule as yours. But the difference here is that he is happy with his day job (small company where everyone is almost like family). He dedicates time to help me out between 12 to 2am. He drowns in coffee daily, and tells me about how many years he has left to push himself. I am extremely grateful for his involvement and I constantly try to pry him away from his day job.

I guess my point is that one can be happy with whatever schedule(illness) they are forced to live it. It sounds like you only have 1 problem - the day job. Change it if you need one. If you enjoy your Mondays and you can pick your wardrobe, you found the right job. Good luck!