How’s Your Weekend Going?
It’s a three-day weekend here in Prague. Temperatures are dropping below freezing next week. I have a client project starting on the 24th. And I’ve taken a proper break from the laptop. Honestly? I feel great for it. This isn’t me bragging about work-life balance or pretending I’ve figured it all out. It’s a reminder that stepping away isn’t weakness—it’s smart strategy. When was the last time you took a real break? Not “worked from a coffee shop instead of your desk” or “answered emails from the couch”—an actual break where you stepped away and let your mind rest.The Trap We Fall Into
When you’re building something on the side—a product, a service, a business—there’s this constant pressure that every free moment should be productive. Weekend? Build. Evening? Build. Holiday? Build. After all, that’s what the success stories say. “I spent every weekend for two years building this before it took off.” What they don’t tell you: how many of those people burned out before they got anywhere. How many relationships suffered. How many actually sustainable businesses could have been built with a more balanced approach. How many quit because the grind became unsustainable.My Path Through Different Work Models
I’ve been doing this for 15 years. Full-time roles. Freelance PPC and analytics. Consulting. Internal tools. Growth engineering. Ran a voucher publisher for 5 years. Back to client work doing MVP sprints. Now interviewing for senior engineering roles in Prague while still building on the side. It hasn’t been a straight line. I’ve traded one boss for many. Learned a lot. Lost money. Made money. Lost more. And here’s what I’ve learned: each model has different demands on your time, energy, and mental health.The Freedom I Thought I Wanted
When I was working full-time, I thought: “If I could just work for myself, I’d have freedom.” Then I started doing client work and realized something. In a job you have one boss. With clients you have many. Some clients are great. Some are not. And you’re still providing a service at the end of the day. The problems I wanted to escape? Many of them followed me. Unreasonable deadlines. Scope creep. Meetings that should have been emails. People who don’t respect your time. Having to do work you’re not excited about because you need the money. The difference is now I have to manage all of this across multiple clients instead of one employer.What I Didn’t Appreciate About Employment
At 37, I’m realizing something I couldn’t see at 25. Employment provides things you don’t appreciate until they’re gone: Stability—knowing exactly when money hits your account. Domain expertise—going deep in one area instead of shallow in many. Colleagues—people to discuss problems with who actually understand the context. Clear boundaries—when you clock out, you’re actually out. Benefits. Learning from people better than you. I traded all of that for freedom. And sometimes freedom feels like chaos.Why I’m Shifting Again
That’s why I’m making another change. Moving from short 6-8 week MVP sprints toward longer-term engagements. Minimum 6 months. Different rhythm, different responsibilities, more depth instead of breadth, less context switching, more sustainable mentally. And I’m interviewing for senior engineering roles while still building products on the side. Some people might see this as “going backwards.” I see it as building a portfolio approach that actually fits my life at 37.The Gap Nobody Talks About
The real challenge isn’t how to validate an idea or build an MVP or get your first customers. The real challenge is how to build a life that can support you while you build a product. How to stay stable mentally and financially. How to get clarity around priorities. How to avoid burning out. How to move with intention rather than panic. That’s the gap. Not tactics, but sustainability.What I’m Still Figuring Out
I’m pretty open about my gaps. I miss colleagues—building alone is isolating. I’ve never found a long-term co-founder, which makes everything harder. My girlfriend is endlessly supportive, but she shouldn’t carry the emotional load. Being a UK guy living in Prague adds its own layer of weirdness. The portfolio approach is still an experiment—I don’t know if it’ll work long-term. These aren’t problems I’ve solved. They’re constraints I’m learning to work within.What Sustainable Actually Means
Ask yourself: can I do this for 5 years? Not “can I grind through it for 5 years” but “can I maintain this pace, this approach, this lifestyle for 5 years without burning out, damaging my health, ruining my relationships, or needing to make a dramatic change?” If the answer is no, something needs to adjust now, not later. Here’s a simple test: Can you take a three-day weekend without feeling guilty the entire time? Without checking Slack or email constantly? Without thinking about work nonstop? Without coming back more exhausted than when you left? If you can’t, you’re not building sustainably. You’re grinding. And grinding has an expiration date.Why Breaks Make You Stronger
Breaks are not weakness. They’re not wasted time. They’re not something you earn after you’ve “made it.” They’re not optional. Breaks are how you avoid burnout. When your brain processes complex problems. What lets you see clearly enough to make good decisions. They’re non-negotiable for sustainable building. The most productive periods of my career have come after deliberate breaks, not during grinds. When you step away, problems that seemed impossible become obvious. Ideas you’ve been forcing start to flow naturally. Priorities become clear. Energy comes back. You can’t build something sustainable if you’re not sustainable yourself.The Portfolio Approach
I’m leaning toward a portfolio approach: some employment (stability, colleagues, depth), some consulting (higher rates, project variety), some products (upside, ownership, creativity). This isn’t a compromise. It’s intentional design. Employment gives me stable base income, colleagues and domain expertise, clear boundaries, benefits. Consulting gives me higher hourly rates, variety of problems, control over who I work with, flexibility. Products give me ownership of what I build, uncapped upside, creative freedom, something that compounds. Together, they create a system that’s more resilient than any single approach.Starting From Where You Are
You don’t need to quit your job or fire all your clients or stop building products. You just need to ask: what would make this more sustainable? Maybe it’s actually taking weekends off. Saying no to one type of client. Building in one-week breaks between projects. Cutting scope on your side project. Finding one person who gets it to talk to. Admitting that your current pace isn’t working. Pick one thing. Do that. Build from there.The Work You Do Should Support Your Life
I’m 37. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I’ve built businesses, lost businesses, made money, lost more money. And the biggest lesson? The work you do should support the life you want, not consume it. If you’re 25 and want to grind for two years, go for it. But know that’s a choice with costs. If you’re 35 with a family, grinding isn’t noble—it’s unsustainable. If you’re anywhere in between, figure out what sustainable actually means for you, in your context, with your constraints.The Real Question
Not “how hard are you working?” but “are you building something that will still exist in 5 years—including you?” Because burning out before you get anywhere isn’t dedication. It’s just burning out. Take the break. Step away from the laptop. Let your mind rest. You’ll come back stronger.Building something sustainable means building a life that can support you while you build. Take the break. You’ll thank yourself later.