TL;DR - Going on "light duty" to focus on resting up & stable income. Planning to delegate a large portion of my SP to a different minnow each day (for a while). Anyone asking/begging for a delegation will be completely disqualified. Read on for more details.
I'm going to be doing a new thing for a while:
1] Prevent personal burn-out
2] Take a step back
3] Keep my SP from going to waste
4] Help minnows get exposure
5] Get on track with life
6] Return better
The Good News
December and January Steemit earnings were pretty impressive for a lowly dolphin like me. It looked like I could even go part-time here as a career move. I've always put earnings back into SP (or sometimes #bitshares) but I've never cashed out to fiat. Not once. But, the possibility of a Steemit income has impressed me.I also added another 4200 SP last week, not much in the big picture, but for a small dolphin like me, it was kinda nice.
The Crazy News
My earnings have become kind of unpredictable, and I realize the fragility of my efforts here. It's a little too volatile for someone with a lot of bills in an expensive mess to just jump into. I miss being overseas where my monthly expenses were under $500. Were I to be in that position again, I could easily go full time.I'm the One to Blame
I do well when the payouts are large and steady. This allows me to put 4-5 hours into a project with abandon. The thing is, I do everything "big" most of the time. This can hurt when I make X amount on a post that took me 5+ hours to create.
The obvious solution is to scale things back. I can do articles or pencil drawings, though that's not really where my desire is, so I'm not satisfied there. I could force myself to take massive shortcuts, but I'm not at that point just yet.
What to Do?
I'm not enough of a sycophant (and I lack the SP) to shmooze my way into a structured, exclusive voting circle, and I have a distaste for that. I've thought about bot-voting, but I prefer to have grassroots support and not line the pockets of bot owners (it's always a temptation though and the option isn't fully off the table). I could upvote myself 10x a day like some do. No, no, no.
My new "Assignment"
My "job" on here in the short term is to take care of myself and flow with the elements. Instead of routinely making complicated projects, I need to scale back. ALSO - I need to take a break and de-program myself from being such a perfectionist - as well as simply rest. Additionally, my day job isn't going as planned. Corporate chair-fillers that I (allegedly) work with are the biggest delayers, liars, weasels and sometimes thieves. They can't be trusted, so I have to, in the short term, try to add slightly better chair-filling weasels to the pile so I can be more assured of a stable income. I don't want to go into detail here......And my Point is???
Just a few hours ago, I was wrestling to find the answer to my burnout and life's demands. I don't want to fully vanish overnight — if someone I was following did that to me, I wouldn't like that. I can't continue on at the pace I've been taking, so then what? I want to find a minnow to pass my voting power to for a day. Someone I know well and who I know will vote responsibly. I already have this person in mind. Afterwards, I'll choose someone new and the process will continue.
So tomorrow, I'm going to make an introductory post for this person. My followers will hopefully get to know a bit about them and why I'm entrusting them to be dolphin-for-a-day, interact with, maybe even follow them. They can vote in my place and be the center of attention for a while. A simple introductory article will be easy enough for me, and I can throw in the wisecracks and occasional insights that some of you appreciate.
I definitely want to reply to comments daily, and I don't want to fall off anyone's radar. I appreciate those who auto-vote me as well, and to be honest, I don't want to lose their support by flat-lining for a few weeks.
But @Overkillcoin, are You Doing the Right Thing?
I believe I am. Will I lose some followers because I'm taking a step away (albeit for the right reasons)? Maybe. I'm pretty sure I'll lose votes, but at least I'll be staying in the loop and providing a valuable service for FREE! Regardless, I owe it to my foll-wow-ers to be at my best, and that's what a break will hopefully accomplish. I may still do some art, articles, etc., but I want to be on "light duty" as a default for a number of weeks. I want my expectations to be low, but hopefully I'll surpass them.Also, my animated spam rant sequel has been collecting dust since November. This is terrible, I've got to at least put 30 minutes into that a day. If we can't eradicate spam, I want to make them such a vile laughing stock that they regret waking up every morning!
Thank you for your support,
please stay tuned for my dolphin-for-the-day!
Page dividers by @atopy
I hope you can make it your goal (2-5 years) to someday be able to spend your work days working on projects you enjoy with/for people you enjoy and you can make enough money to pay your bills and even put some in Savings - here's hoping Steemit can be a big part of that!
I think if Steemit was above 10 long term (at the current level of support I have) I could do it - it might not be too far off...
i love dolphin n also thanks for god n crazy news.😊
So sorry to hear about your continuing struggles. I'm a freelancer myself and I deal with the same issues from crappy corporate clients. I know you are a perfectionist and that you put a lot of pressure on yourself. I hope you realize that you are not alone and that we all go though those issues although I know your posts take much more time and effort than most people's. The platform will always be here and your followers will too so do what you have to do without FOMO (I learned this term from @overkillcoin!). Don't beat yourself up any more... just send us a postcard every now and then... whatever you choose to share will be fantastic!
@otage yeah, it's lame and silly... On the other hand, I've already had a spike in work in the past 24 hours... But... the way these businesses usually conduct themselves is pretty gut-wrenching... Still trying to pry payment from this donkey company for a project I finished in December...
I'm thinking, at first, I'm going to try a new steem cycle:
See if I can manage that. If not, every other day can be an off-day.
Yeah waiting for payment is ridiculous. I feel like clients are using me as an interest free loan. Look forward to seeing what you post - cool or not : )
This is a bold move and a unique idea since I've never seen anyone else do something like this on here. I'm sure you came to these conclusions after thinking about it for a bit and also after finding the right minnows to lend your SP to. I hope the minnows that get your delegation make a post about their experiences afterwards.
Earned a ton of respect for you here. Great initiative @overkillcoin! Here's to hoping this will give you time to finish that spam rant animation haha
Thanks @cabernet, I don't know what huge difference it will make, but it's the best I can do :D
Yes, that spam animation is my "White Whale", if you're familiar with the term... spent a lot of time with those silly gifs and I could have been making progress on the animation instead :-/
I think that limiting my SP/voting power will be hefty encouragement in getting a better structured plan in place. I'm happy to share, but it's like going from a car to a bicycle. I'll probably be on 'light mode' for a number of weeks, but I'd like to have some kind of strategy in mind :)
I have been reading your blogs for a while because you have really nice passion and know that you take hours to put your work here.
I do the same, it takes few hours to make each blog so I felt close to you.
You have been burning yourself out for putting perfect post every time, and now you set new goal. I am not popular like you YET! but I should think about set similar goals like you do :) I'm getting little overwhelmed recently...
Thanks so much! I think you have all the ingredients for popularity, it's just time and patience... :)
Yes, have you thought - how is it possible to take short cuts - but it's very difficult!
Take it slower, maybe I can inspire others not to stress so much, I was one of those stressed out people very recently :)
Rest! You're a good guy on the blockchain. Your followers will understand!
I think your decision is a good one, and preventing yourself from a burnout is a good call. Only You know what you need and I'm sure we all love you enough to always keep following you no matter what. Well I'm speaking for myself 😁😁lol
Great thing you do for others and it's important to take care of yourself to.
Stay just as you are my friend. Cheers!
@saffisara thanks for understanding, it's just a crazy mix of things. My usual work either starves me to death or buries me in projects I can barely keep up with... It's messed up!
I might post every other day or something... Today I'm just going to focus catching up on yesterday;s comments.
Glad you stopped by! :D
I understand that must be exhausting dear.
Seems like your usual work is draining you and puts to much on your plate 😝 bleh..
Preventing you from doing what you really want and love.
You need to think of yourself and find a balance that works for You!
Just know that it is allowed to take a breath and break and do what you can or want and leave the rest for another day.
Get the stress to fly out the window.
Have a wonderful evening and be safe. Cheers!
You keep making great decissions in regards to selfreflection. Good on you man. But no asking, begging or groveling ?! Fuck I’m out ...
Seriously though, Really big of you to delegate while you take some much needed rest and think things over.
Don’t be a stranger though. I’d hate to miss our friendly banter.
Hi @eqko and thanks for your comment!
I figure by delegating SP for a while, the delegates can do "my" curation, that recovers some time for me ☺
I recommended you for a logo project, but the particular guy insisted on having me do it... boy was he sorry in the end ☺ ☺ ☺
Thanks anyway for thinking of me man. Rest up and hurry back when you are 😉
Really it's a bold step for you to take in fact people do not really want to do the right thing because it may endanger their earnings but you certainly will go on.
For a dolphin you have truly been doing well, and I can tell you, I've followed you because your works here are amazing buddy.
I'm glad I made the right call, and, goodluck buddy
Thanks for understanding @josediccus ! :D
What a crazy balancing act... Love for the blockchain vs Hatred for the Rat Race :D
wow, this actually got my feet off the ground. He has never covert his earning into fiat what a great heart. I think many other people like me for example would have love to do such a thing too. But the low earning as a minnows is discouraging and annoying. That is my i myself and some other people have create a community project on. "The silent tears of the minnows. I believe this community will be ready to compite for this one day dolphin challenge to help other minnows too
You could easily say I've put way more into the platform than I've ever taken out. I've invested a lot here! I'm part of why the steem price is around $3.45 instead of $1 haha...
But yes I care about the minnows. There needs to be more of my kind, there are far too few I think...
Yes, i will keep you updated about the project on. "Silent Tears Of Minnows**
This is a marathon and not a sprint. You have been on here awhile and yet this platform is still in its infancy. Knowing when to step back and take a break is rather mature of you....MR. Juvenile. lol
Really noble of you to think of the little peeps.
Recharge your batteries big buddy and come back more clever than ever!! : )
Two questions. You said you were overseas and living with only $500 monthly expenses. Where was that? What is comfortable/modern?
Bwahahaa... my resistance to cash out kind of forces me to get back to my stupid day job I guess. At least things are busy on their own without me having to pound the pavement, right?
Hopefully I can still post every other day? Or something similar... But my priority really is re-charging.
Eastern Europe
It was a little hit or miss, I stayed in newer buildings or, for a while, much older buildings without internet access... I think if I'd spent a bit more it could have been much more comfortable. My last apartment there was practically brand new, everything was sparkly, but it was quite small with no A/C.
Well...it’s good to know that you aren’t completely disappearing. I’ll be looking forward to your every-other day cleverness. : )
For some reason, I was picturing you somewhere warm, feet in the sand while sipping a glass that has a little umbrella sticking out. Lol
Hey...living on $500 a month with some modern amenities sounds good to me. I guess once you adapt, it all falls into place and becomes home.
Hey overkill!
Everyone deserves to rest, and if you feel like you need to take a step back, then do it.
I'll keep on following you and on the lookout for more avatar contests when you return :p
By the way, can't wait to see who is the lucky minnow as I will definitely try to shmooze him/her.
Cheers!
Thanks for understanding @spiritualmax, as you can see, yesterday I posted late.
But the clients are monkeying with me as much as ever, so I did make an icon contest this morning. As long as I can draw these guys quicker, I can continue.
Hmmm you are drawing back? Well it's good you said you will still be reading your comments... I particularly loved the part where u said you were a perfectionist Lolz, it means you do things right most of the time. Although doing everything right most of the time can be a bit disturbing and I guess that's where you at right now. It's nice to know you still have the interests of the minnows at heart and that also goes to show that when you eventually become a whale, you will still do same. I wish you all the best from here on and I sure will continue to follow you and comment Lolz...hope you get your thoughts all sorted out in due time @overkillcoin... @dee-y over and out.
Honestly I can't imagine myself as a whale it's soooo far off, I would have to increase by 20x!!
So I don't want to neglect my time, my health and my peace of mind though, it's worth far more than some digital currency...
Thanks as always, @dee-y for stopping by
Great decision. I like and support delegations.
Upvote and resteem.
Gosh, you're a good one. This is a very level-headed and universally beneficial way to extend yourself while preventing over-extending yourself. I'm excited to see each person you choose make the most of the SP! It'll definitely be some nice variety for curation, as everyone's tastes are inherently different. Keep up the great work (just less of it 🤓).
Yes I figure if others are voting with my SP, they're performing the role of a dolphin ☺ I guess I may take a steemit day off altogether every third day to start with. This way I can still stay in the game, but reduce my posting burden by 1/3. Hopefully this will be enough.
I'm swamped with regular work already, as you know... hopefully after catching up, I can re-focus on Steem for another month, who knows.
Thanks for dropping in!!!
This is a great idea man, SP delegations is one of the best things to encourage minnows to read more and pick good content, also it will make you understand or at least want to understand better the curation rewards and how they work. Anyway, I was thinking about something with delegation, but my problem was that once you delegate your SP which is instantly, you need to wait one week after asking for the SP back to get it again in your account, so maybe you need to it weekly and not daily, anyway, great project, great idea. keep it up.
@fivefiveeleven yes you're exactly right, I need to use 1 week increments instead. I hope the delegations lead to others being encouraged and helping others, although 1 week is pretty short. Maybe this will go on for a month.
It also decentivizes me from over-doing it on Steemit. I desperately need to become more efficient instead of the 5 hour projects.
I have some votes seted to maximize my curation rewards, I set votes on some users that make good content and also gave me good rewards, I was able to get almost a 0.40% ROI, it wasn't much because my SP, but I know is above average, if you are interested you can vote behind me on a trail in order to make the same % ROI as I do. Keep it up man, you are doing great with this project :)
That's such a awesome thing to do... buy honestly you should do it for more than a day.. plus you'll have to worry about people draining your voting power.. that struggle is very real... I haven't had VP over 70% since ftg delegated me.. or you could spread your SP to a couple different people.. just suggestions..
@davedickeyyall Yes, I would be in a situation in which I want to delegate I would prefer to do it to several people than to one, I would prefer to help many a little than a lot.
all people will remember this in the future and good things always bring more good things, it is like every effect has a cause and in this case if the cause is good the effect that many people would bring then multiplied, is actually an investment although at first it does not look like it.
Planning to assist from 2 - 4 minnows I think.
Thanks @networker5!
Yes, you're right, thanks for breaking it down, I talked to someone else and I had my ideas a bit wrong.
Everyday I learned something new from you. Your most of the post is helpful for newbies.
How much SP will you delegate and how much profit will you get? I do not know much about this.
Zero profit, doing this for free to the people that I decide on
Great thing, Only the good people with great heart do like this.
Hi @overkillcoin, I will wait for your other drawings. :)
I will do my best @tourist1983!!! ☺
The SP is the must important thing i focus on it too now btw im still plankton
okay!!!
Lol okay good luck for both of us then mate
I believe you're doing the right thing! it's ok! okc! :) Enjoy your time-off too.
Yes, hopefully I will post at least 3x a week... ☺
I hope your stepping back recharges you and gets you where you want to be! You are a talented artist and sometimes that requires a break.
I look forward to our future interactions and mutual support!
@sequentialvibe I'm already living up to my recharging endeavor, aren't I - answering your comment 36 hours later ☺
Now I won't worry about over-voting, it won't even matter soon haha...
That's too kind of you - thanks — and I look forward to being back, full sail ☺
1st of all I’m sorry about all of the corporate weasels your forced to work for smh within the next year after this blood bath, hopefully you will be able to go part time/maybe Full-time!
2nd wow dude that is so unbelievably nice of you! I think you are literally going to change some peoples lives man! I don’t think you will lose any support tho because the minnows you help grow who will eventually become dolphins will never forget!
Also I really love the idea of dolphin for a day, but if you choose to delegate sp, it takes a week to get it back like a power down! Not sure how you planned on sharing the sp but wanted to let you know just in case!
Your the man Overkill! And sorry again for being MIA recently! Work has been killing me/ stressing me the mess out! Got a promotion but now I have to work with a very impatient and frustrating lady smh but no excuses here! Just gonna keep being a hero on the blockchain and working out haha
Yup, I made an edit at the top of the article, but didn't update the bottom section. DOH!
Hopefully, hard to tell, I wish I could replicate Dec- to end of January's semi-success :D Time for a break though!!!
I was wondering. I know crazy co-workers or managers... lots of horror stories haha...
Hope I can manage to stay in the game...
I feel like everyone is going to know your name soon bro haha
Hey my friend you gotta take care of yourself first before you can help other etc so I totally understand. I do hope to see you on here at least every other day or a few times a week still crushing out some seriously good quality and it truly does show the time and effort you put into it.
As always wish you all the best in what you do!
Thanks @bitcoinflood - the good news is I'm getting busier again, it'd be terrifying to have to look for work from square one... mid October was really slow for me and then I got slammed for two months... The work flows are very dysfunctional though...
Being busy means I won't have to power down! :D
Really much impressed with the idea you are bringing in with no selfishness. I believe if many of the bigger ones start doing this, there will be much curation reaching to good authors.
@aftabkhan10 thanks - I'm a person of little influence, but what if 100 of the top 5% SP holders could do this (I'd like all of them too, sadly that's not very realistic).
Minnows have a tough existence on here by and large, they need to know that the bigger fish have their backs!
Exactly, this is what you grabbed from inside me lol
It's great to see you doing this mate. I started delegating out to plankton running into bandwidth limits this past week. The aim is to help the hard working plankton be able to actually use the steem platform. Keep doing you mate and we'll be here ready to read when you are ready to post.
<3
Thanks @jrswab, I appreciate hearing this... I think delegating the majority of my SP also motivates me to make use to my time off... Having my SP back will be icing on the cake, haha...
Although I have 4 small delegations that don't have deadlines.
I wish I was competent enough to burn out, but all I've been doing is rubbing sticks together and I don't even see smoke! Congrats on the burnout, it means you've been quite the wise guy ;)
@deceth Thanks, probably time for a rest though... maybe I can cook out a game plan to sort of be around without the extreme effort ☺
Rest up and refocus, good on you to recognize this is what is best for you long term!
Well I find myself posting just to post... I try to keep it interesting or quality, but sometimes it's a little forced, even if I have to lose sleep or push important things aside. Gotta break that habit ☺
I see a whale with a dolphin heart in you @overkillcoin.
I think amount-wise, I'm roughly 1/20th of a whale, I think a whale has 200,000 SP right?
But I'm definitely doing what I can ☺
Gief me powa!!11
I enjoy when I see some delegation posts. I guess I'm already disqualified :|
I may suggest you to look what @adoptaminnow these guys doing, it was looking good at first but Idk if they are keep doing what they doing. Basically one day or one week period looks short, if you really wanna help somebody and also steem community, do a little digging find someone who really has an impact and delegate to him for a longer period. just saying.
I already have two more open-ended delegations, but they're only 500 sp. However, it's the best I can do in the short term.
Thanks @oups!
While others are busy raping this platform , you are giving back to the community . Have you made any post on how to delegate SP?
@abhicrypto - yeah, it's getting crazy with the bot voting... We need more generosity here...
Haven't yet, but it's really simple. I may do so one day.
When you are dog-tired you just need to rest!
Enjoy your break!
It is very generous and kind of you to delegate your SP while you take some down time.
Image
Thanks, I have a dog so I have a good example of how to rest ☺
Obviously, you could share some love with me, or not. You could also follow people's trails or set-up auto votes if you're going to be taking a break to prevent wasting SP.
I'd be happy if you decide to throw some my way and will use it with honesty and integrity whatever that means to you. By that I mean I'll 100% upvote my own posts and everyone who spam comments my posts. Of course the more spammy they get the more upvotes I'll reward them with, because you'll never know.
I'll then message the most spammy accounts I find to let them know to follow your account. Then I'll use your SP that you have delegated to me and upvote as hard as I can all my minions as they spam you're posts with 1000's of useless comments. This is all part of my master plan to get you to forget about the SP you've delegated to me and move on from the platform leaving me with 1-million SP.
I figured this might break up the usual comments of why I'm so great. I already know I'm great so no point in trying to convince you. Hopefully you since the sarcasm, but I think I'd be okay if you/people missed it.
Update: Just figured I would throw it out there that I 100% upvoted this post and resteemed it. You know not to try and bribe you or anything. I would never try to do anything like that.
That is an extremely complicated plan ... WOW...
It's weird being a minnow again, my effective sp is about 4999 which is minnow territory.
Thanks for understanding @gniksivart!!!
I think you've done enough already to deserve at least changing the pace. 1.8k subs and over 6k posts is not small numbers. Many thanks for all your help too!
Glad to be of help @beyonder. I'm planning on making the best use of my light-duty so I can bring more nice posts later ☺
That's fine, what you plan to do would be very supportive. Maybe one day, if I grow up like you in Steemit, I'll copy your idea and I'll take a vacation hehehehe
I just don't know when to stop working so much, it's probably better than slow down now, than have to go to a hospital. I was sleeping very little and working on posts a lot + my usual work ☺
☺
Of course you are. You wouldn't have made this post if it wasn't the best thing for you to do. Let's face it, when you spread yourself too thinly, all the STEEM in the world isn't going to take the place of taking time away and making the main thing, the main thing.
STEEMing is a hobby as long as it can't float the bills. That's truth for 99% of the people on this platform...a hobby with volatility too high to see it as anything but...a hobby. Of course, kudos to those who have it like that...hey!...But, that's moot in terms of reality.
Those who are there for you will remain. Those who leave when you're down; were never really there for you, anyways.
Enjoy your rest. Prayers that the job situation gets better. Let's face it, there are those you describe on every job. The goal is looking at the purpose you're there....to pay the bills. It makes sense to look/pray for a better opportunity to open up.
Remember @overkillcoin, this too shall pass. (That's not in the Bible, btw...lol).
Best regards!
Peace.
So true, health is wealth! (Or a more important form of wealth than money)!
Yup, now people aren't going to DM me and ask for upvotes any more, haha... And I don't think the whale supporters I have really need my votes.
I agree, seems like a vicious cycle of boom and bust, but I can't simply give up if I expect to eat...
Yep - thanks for stopping by!!
Giving thanks you're on the boom side of the employment coin....
Peace.
Damn, man, I guess you'll be out for the count for a little while then. I'm not sure if you you are already doing so, but if you are worried about money and so forth, as an artist, you should really make a profile on either Fiverr or Upwork. If you state that you'll retain rights to use your art still for your portfolio, you could still use that artwork here as well for others to enjoy. I know it gets pretty hard at times with money, but I'd hate to see a great artist cut back on quality because the dollars don't match the time. I highly believe you could re-purpose your work and benefit multiple ways from it. Either way, good luck on your elf discovery time and I'll be looking forward to seeing you again. Perhaps if you put up your skills to a site like the ones I described or want to do some free-lance work, I am building a board game business. I am always looking for a dedicated artist for illustrations. I don't know, Let me know what you think. Take care!
Well buddy glad to know that and it sure will be great step taken for the community !It sometimes become unstable and the payout drops from time to time but one of the most important thing is that we love this community and we will in the future as well !
Well all the very best of luck to the person that are lucky enough to get to a dolphin ;)
Steem on buddy !
This post has received a 0.18 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @networker5.
this is out of topic, but because you have 100% steem ?, I read that it was more beneficial to always put 50/50 but now with the price that is almost 1: 1 I am not sure which option is more beneficial to choose.
PS: send a vote from the @drotto vote service since I have not voted for a few days to recover my 100% voting power.
pd2: send an email to your wallet
lol ;)
lol
It's up to you, 50/50 or 100%. Steem price is now higher than sbd the last i checked.
Little late to the comment section but hope you find it. My only advice I have is do what you need to, quick little story of personal experience. I had a previous twitter account that was crypto/anon based with roughly 7500 followers. I literally just disappeared. Deleted the account without warning and gone... for. Three. Years... it wasn't right to my followers but I needed out, it was all consuming and I couldn't commit to it anymore. @steemitadventurer was someone I had met through there and by dumb luck I found him again 3 years later, both of us with new names. There are definitely people who miss you, which was apparent when I started going through old tweets. I'm glad you are keeping your peeps informed and on board with your decision. I am going to miss the pics and salty spam comments but the only person who is going to look out for you, is you. Peace.
@overkillcoin, I got the link to this from this morning's PYPT chat. I'm following you now, and looking forward to to your announcement, and then the basic guidelines to "Dolphin-for-a-Day".
Since starting my Curation Trail Project Daily Reports I have come to realize that I will be in a real bind if I ever need to take some time off for recovery/vacation/catch up on work/etc. Your concept gives me some great ideas as to how I might be able to handle it. I'm not there yet, but will want to plan for the day.
I recently had a 5 day vacation, and curated as usual, less commenting, but didn't publish my Daily Reports until I got home. Instead, I published a Vacation Edition with pictures. Still, the curation, and daily publishing bit into the rest I could have been getting on my vacation, so having a plan such as yours would really be helpful for times when I want to go off-grid for more than a week.
Nice to have met you this morning!
Cheers!
Daily Learn some new from your post. Love to read it.
Did I - or did I not tell you to stop spamming me?
Just avoid bud :P
Lolz will try to...
m(- -)m