I like that approach! (actually, it’s quasi-what I *am* doing right now!)

One piece of advice I can give is to NOT have a strategy.

Instead, pick one little thing that’s broken and fix it. Once it’s fixed, try another little thing, and so on.

My wife calls it my ADD approach to running a business. Hope it helps.

I tend to do that overthinking thing, too. In fact, a lot of your post sounds so much like myself it’s scary.

I wonder if you need to break down your big goal into a series of smaller, more measurable goals, as you would for a large job for a client, so that you can more clearly see each step. This is what my business coach is trying to get me to do so that I don’t overwhelm myself and shut down when I look at the list of things I want to do.

I’ve even thought of writing each item down on a scrap of paper and putting them all in a bowl, just to take the decision out of my hands on what to do first. Or using a randomizer script.

See? Overthinking again. So pick a thing and JUST DO IT! That’s what I’m going to do. Right after I hit “Submit Comment.”

I don’t know if you are having the exact same problems as I am, but I made the decision in 2007 to completely close my freelance business because balancing my FT job, my family, my business and half a dozen other things became too unwieldy. The hardest part of that decision was saying ‘no’. I had dozens of clients who just needed ‘one more thing’. I let them run ‘one more thing’s by me for about a year, because I felt bad abandoning them. I also had to tell new clients ‘no’, which is easier from a guilt standpoint, but harder from an ego standpoint. “I saw what you did for xxx and THAT’s what I want!” “I LOVE your work, can’t you take one more job?” Or even better, brand new projects from satisfied customers. “You’re the best guy for this job? Its just weekends.” After 12-18 months of winding down, it finally stopped. Mostly. But I feel so free now in that respect. Free to focus on my own side projects, or take off for the weekend with my family without feeling like I left someone in the lurch. Or to relax in the evening without thinking about tomorrow’s deadlines.

Of course, for me, it was a somewhat permanent decision. It sounds like you’re trying to take a break only to dive back into it all over again soon. Good luck.

You know we’ll be in your corner, rooting you on.