Seventeen months ago, I was completely burned out. I felt drained, disconnected, and like I was running on a treadmill I couldn’t get off. Many of you in tech know the feeling. The constant pressure, the endless to-do lists, the feeling that you’re never doing enough.
Today, things are completely different. I’ve found a sense of balance and happiness that I didn’t think was possible back then. It wasn’t about finding a new productivity hack or a better time management system. It was about a fundamental shift in my priorities. It was about redesigning my entire personal “dashboard.”
I want to share a screenshot from my actual Notion dashboard.
You’ll notice that the first things you see are a big, bright “DO WHAT YOU LOVE” sign, my values, and my guiding principles. My “Stuff to do” list is way down at the bottom, almost out of view. That’s on purpose. This visual hierarchy is one of the most important changes I’ve made. It’s a daily reminder of what actually comes first.
The journey to get here was tough, and it started with facing some harsh truths about why I burned out in the first place.
The problem wasn’t the work. It was my “why”.
For years, the biggest driver of my stress was simple: I was putting everyone else’s needs before my own. I was raised to believe that helping others is one of the best things you can do, and it is. But I was missing the most important part of that equation: you have to help yourself first. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
I became obsessed with delivering some huge accomplishment every single week to justify our existence. I was terrified that if I didn’t, the whole team would be let go. I carried the weight of their mortgages and their families on my shoulders. In my head, a layoff was a complete catastrophe that would ruin their lives. When it eventually happened, it was tough (of course it was!). But it wasn't the apocalypse I had imagined. They were resilient. They handled it. Some even used it as a chance to take a break to recharge. The problem wasn't their reality, it was the catastrophic story I was telling myself.
The more uncomfortable truth I had to face was why I was doing this. I was chasing approval. From my manager, from the community, from people I didn’t even know. This desire to be liked and respected is natural, but I had let it run my life. I was making decisions to please others, not to align with my own values or needs. And that is a direct path to misery.
So, what changed? A lot. It wasn’t a single event but a series of deliberate choices to rebuild my life. My dashboard is just a reflection of that process.
The most radical shift was in my workday. I now work, on average, just four hours a day. Some days it’s more, some days it’s zero. I need to be crystal clear: this is an incredible privilege, made possible by my previous work with AsyncAPI. I don’t take that for granted. But the principle is universal: I stopped measuring my worth by the hours I put in.
That freed-up time wasn’t empty. It was filled with the things I had completely abandoned:
- Reconnecting: I started seeing my friends again. I made new friends. I had deep, meaningful conversations with my wife about how we were feeling.
- Health: I started respecting my body. I focused on my sleep, my diet, and I stopped skipping my exercise routine.
- Thinking: I finally had time to just think. Time to work on my own projects, like the Shift book, not because I had to, but because I wanted to.
- Living: I traveled for pleasure, not just for conferences. In fact, I'm now travelling to conferences for pleasure.
I also started going to therapy. Talking to a professional gave me the tools to understand these patterns and the courage to break them.
This whole process forced me to overhaul my definition of success. I used to think success was a lot of money in the bank, a grandiloquent job title, a big house, and a nice car. The typical stuff.
My perception now is completely different. My family and I moved from a house in the suburbs to a small flat in the city center. We did it on purpose. A small flat is easy to maintain, which frees up time and mental energy. Living in the city center means we’re surrounded by people and life. We go out more, walk everywhere, and feel more connected to our community.
Success for me now is:
- Having enough money to be free, not to be rich.
- Having time as my most valuable currency. Time for myself, my family, and my friends.
- Embracing minimalism. Reducing the amount of physical and mental clutter in my life so I can focus on what truly matters.
It’s why one of my core values you see in the screenshot is “Money is never the goal.” It’s a tool, a very useful one, but it’s not the destination. The destination is a life lived in line with my values.
This journey wasn’t about finding a better to-do list app. It was about rewriting the operating system of my life, starting with the core principles that run in the background.
So, I’ll ask you: What’s at the top of your dashboard? Is it an endless list of tasks, or is it a clear reminder of who you want to be and what you truly love?
Getting that order right can change everything.
