Since dedicating all my waking moments to growth at Fivecat Studio, the development of Entrepreneur Architect and all its associated support mechanisms, the duration of those waking moments have become unreasonable and quite unhealthy.
Sleep has become a luxury.
We’ve succeeded in reaching all the goals set by my 12/12/12 Project almost 1 year ago and I have YOU to thank. Your support, encouragement and participation has been my greatest motivation to proceed and progress.
This site has become a daily resource and inspiration for hundreds of architects. Each post has enjoyed more views than the prior, reaching a site best of 1,500+ views last Monday when I posted How Much Will It Cost to Start My Own Architecture Firm. My free weekly newsletter, The Entrepreneur Architect Report has surpassed 1,000 subscriptions, our private Entrepreneur Architect Linkedin Group recently approved its 4,000th member and this site has been viewed over 100,000 times. I know that when compared to sites like Archinect, ArchDaily and my friend Bob Borson’s site, Life of an Architect, these numbers are small potatoes, but I am proud of my accomplishments these past 9 months and look forward to what Entrepreneur Architect will achieve in the coming year. (Stay tuned for an upcoming post on my plans for 2014.)
Fivecat Studio has also turned a corner. The economy is slowly improving and many of our large “target market” projects have returned to our job list. Our boards are full of fantastic projects; major whole-house additions and alterations for trusting enthusiastic clients. Our small crew will need to grow in order to keep up with the demand. If you are a newsletter subscriber, you know that our plans are to expand and grow “virtually”. Stay tuned for a future post on some big plans for Fivecat Studio. We’re making big changes and I’ll share it all here on the blog.
All this success has come with a price though. Simply stated… I’m exhausted.
After a full day of running Fivecat, I come home and put on my “dad hat”. We eat dinner as a family every night, unless I have an evening meeting. Showers, stories and bedtime kisses push my “second shift” to after 8PM. That leaves my late nights for you. Almost all my work for Entrepreneur Architect has been developed between the hours of 8PM and midnight… and all too often, later than that.
I need to make some changes.
Living on 5 1/2 hours of sleep per night is going to make my career as an entrepreneur architect, a short one. At 43 years old, I am starting to feel the effects of this unhealthy lifestyle.
So, we are once again back to the subject of change. Change is what the 12/12/12 Project is all about. Commit to something big; something positively life-altering. Write a plan and do it. The year 2014 will see big things happening at Entrepreneur Architect and Fivecat Studio and I am writing plans for both. Those plans will be my 12/12/12 Project for 2014.
So, what am I going to do about my sleep deprivation? “Big Plans” are not going to happen by themselves… or will they (hint, hint).
We all have dreams. We all want to take our lives to the next level. Many of us are working on major projects, above and beyond our daily lives as architects. How can we do it all?
The answer to that complicated question is to be intentional. We need to know where we are headed and take action to get there. Entrepreneur Architect didn’t just grow up out of my dreams without a tremendous amount of effort. I was intentional with my plans and moved forward. I took a deep breath and jumped.
In order to get my health back on track, I need to get more sleep. I wake at 5:30 AM and walk 3 miles every morning. I can’t make it up at the morning end of my sleep. It needs to happen at bedtime. I need to hit the pillow by 10 o’clock and be snoring by 10:30AM.
I need to find ways to be more effective and more efficient. If I am intentional with what I need to accomplish, I’ll have 14 hours per week to complete my work for Entrepreneur Architect. That is certainly enough time to write an informative or inspirational article, publish my newsletter, record the podcast, share social media content and develop the many other goodies I have planned for you in 2014.
It’s almost 10:00PM EDT on Sunday night. It’s bedtime. I am taking the first step and I’m starting today. I wish you a good night : )
What is one thing you need to change to move forward in YOUR life? Do you want to build a new website? Get more exercise? Develop a marketing strategy? Spend more time with your kids?
Be intentional. Make a plan and take the first step to move forward… today.
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Hi Mark, great article and you’re right, the pace at with which you are doing things is unhealthy. unfortunately it took me going thru a divorce to figure that one out. my big aha came two years ago when i had to make a major life change while in the midst of a divorce. working 60+ hours a week was no longer an option. so i made major decisions/changes and so far things are going well. I honestly don’t know how you are going to be able to grow BOTH fivecat and entrepreneur architect and do both of them WELL and still have time for yourself and to be a dad (which is the most important thing). it sounds like you may be having to make a change as well. i would say the biggest change for me was a lifestyle change. it sounds like you may be headed down that path as well. good luck and i look forward to what lies ahead for you. David
I think we are” intentionally “used by everyone else. We are used by manufacturers to push their products. We are used by various Special interest Group to advance their ideas. We are used by developers to sell their buildings. We are used by software developers to advance their market shares. We are used by professors to advance their careers.
We are used by building authorities as their police . I think we should take a no nonsense way to do business. Take care of ourselves first. Team up and do our own building projects. Build up support and friends so we can fight back all the stupid regulations, building codes, tort laws and expensive software licenses.
“Living on 5 1/2 hours of sleep per night is going to make my career as an entrepreneur architect, a short one. At 43 years old, I am starting to feel the effects of this unhealthy lifestyle.” It doesn’t get any better; at the age of 64 the effects of those short nights is devastating. Just last week I pulled an all-nighter to get a project out the door. My weekend plans were more of the same, with three projects going out in the next ten days, during which I’ll spend four days at the CSI convention. I’m taking my first step today; I’m going to tell one of the project managers that his project won’t be done on time. Wish me luck!
The last architect I worked for rarely had us working after hours or on weekends with the belief that without your health & family, you have nothing. Four years ago I started working for myself from my home with that belief in mind. Today I still hold firm to office hours including Client phone calls, only on rare occasions do I break that. And with this, I take less vacation time, I have less stress and I am healthier. Granted I make less money, but the trade off is worth it.
Mark, I think this is such a huge issue and a major reason why you see so many women leave architecture. There simply is no meaningful work in architecture that doesn’t involve hours and hours of overtime, let alone part time work.
Ann, I applaud you for making and keeping such healthy boundaries. It gives me hope that such work exists! And I agree – I would gladly make less money if I could have more time.
Hi Mark – you know I am a huge fan, congratulations on your progress and success. It’s sort of funny that when we achieve the goals we set how much all the “other” things start to get impacted (why is sleep always the first item to get value engineered out of our schedules?)
I think the architecture world needs your presence on the internet so I am hoping that you find a way to build upon your success. I would leave you with some words of wisdom but I don’t have any. While I appreciate you including me into the successes of Archinect and ArchDaily, you and I are really more alike. I am the only guy working on my site, I do it after my day job ends and my family has gone to bed, and I am responsible for all the bad (and good) that comes along with sticking your head up where people can try and chop it off. The good news it that it does get easier and our architectural community seems to forgive us of any sleep-deprived trespasses.
Keep up the terrific work! Your friend and colleague –
Bob
Hey Mark-
I have only been following you for a couple of months and it has been a pleasure. As an intern architect that is just a few months away from being licensed, it has been awesome to hear your thoughts and knowledge on the entrepreneurial side of architecture. The things that I have learned from your site + podcasts have helped me make my “5 year plan” that will hopefully lead to a long and successful career where I am doing what I love AND making good money. Keep up the good work! Also, enjoy your extra hours of sleep, you deserve it!
Great job!
I Believe in This. Well done for articles.
Great Article.