I don't mind grinding out 12-15 hours a day, I don't have a promised career so I have to dedicate all possible free time to affiliate marketing, so I at least have some type of future.
+RepDo you work at home? If so, try finding a coworking environment. I think if you worked in an office-like environment with like-minded entrepreneurs, you might not get burned out as easily.
In Baltimore, we have Beehive Baltimore » a Coworking Community and Workspace in Baltimore, Maryland - I am sure there is something similar where you live. Just google "coworking [your city]"
I wanna live in a beehive.
2pm - 2am??
why not 8am- 6pm or something?
1. Take some good vacation or go work in a new country, I've been doing this for 5 years, visited a ton of country, even went to Africa, it'll definitely help you to kill the routine and appreciate your lifestyle.
Don't judge me.A beehive would kind of suck. Bunch of dudes and only 1 chick, and she's a total bitch and like 2 times your size.
Did you notice a drop off in productivity when you worked in other countries? I would really like to do that but at the same time breaking up the routine can hurt your productivity. How were you able to balance things?
Been there man, on both the burn out and the crazy hours.
Even though you're busting your balls, you kind of feel like a piece of shit when everyone's coming home from a long day at work and you're just waking up. After about 6 months of that, my wife signed me up for a 6am bootcamp. That got me back on track with the rest of the world and felt like a million bucks. Anytime I start getting into bad habits now, I sign back up for those morning workouts.
As for the burn out, take a vacation. Like a 3 month vacation if you can. It'll be the best thing you do. It'll clear your mind and you won't help but come up with some kick ass strategies that'll get you excited again. Probably even whole new business plans.
I used to work 16-18 hours every day, eating, sleeping and shitting with my laptop. Now I work far less but am hell of a lot more effective. Taking a break from it all reminded me that I'm doing this not only for the money, but for the lifestyle. Allow yourself to take advantage of the lifestyle you can have with this business, otherwise you're just a slave to it all. Putting necessary limitations in place will force you to be more creative and organized, which is going to make you more money in the end.