I decided yesterday to take a day’s break from working on or even thinking about my startup idea, and boy was it difficult. I hadn’t realised until then just how much I was consumed by my idea.

I knew that I was paying less and less attention to pretty much everything else. This month, for the second time in three months, I forgot to pay my credit card bill. I have not met up with my friends for at least four months and have rarely been out socially at all in that time. The final straw was when my wife accused me of paying much less attention to our unborn second child than I did when she was carrying our first.

I realised she was right and I knew the reason. My startup had consumed me and continues to do so. So I have decided to spend one day a week in which I will avoid thinking about my venture. This is harder than it seems, as my first attempt has shown. I found myself drifting into my startup world countless times during the day, and having to drag myself out of it. The scariest thing was how hard it was to find other engaging thoughts and things to do. How sad I have become.

Basically, too much of anything is bad and unhealthy. Whilst to some extent, you need to be consumed by your idea in order to make it a reality, I encourage you to try like I will be doing to take some time off it from time to time. Who knows, it may even freshen up your outlook regarding your venture.