Irvine Housing Blog

Posted: 09 Apr 2011 10:03 AM PDT

I am stopping regular weekend posts, and taking back Friday evenings for my family.

This week, I had a technical catastrophe that caused me to burn the midnight oil:

What were you doing at 10:50 last night?

Last night due to a technical problem at 10:50, I lost today's post. I last successfully saved the basic infrastructure of a post, but the analysis of the CEOs comments -- something I spent two hours writing -- was gone.

For a moment, I was in total shock. I could believe what happened. After a few unsuccessful attempts at recovery, I conceded defeat, and I was devastated. The sense of loss was powerful and jolting. Then the reality of staying up late to re-write the post set in, and I was just devastated (and pissed). I sought out my wife to calm down.

I didn't realize how important it was to me to put up a daily post (weekdays anyway). I felt like an injured Brett Favre who wanted to start if for no other reason than he always started. Some guys are just built that way. I calmed down, wrote this pep talk to myself, drank my coffee, and hunkered down to rewrite it all. Reliability trumps sleep.

In the comments of that post, one of the astute observers expressed concerns over what looks like an unhealthy obsession. I appreciate the concern, but I can assure everyone that I am doing well.

The experience has caused me to re-evaluate how much time I am spending on the blog, and for a variety of reasons, I am going to stop doing full-blown posts on Saturdays. I may still write stuff for fun, but I will not be creating regular real estate related posts.

The IHB is a workplace blog. People tend to read the IHB in the mornings on weekdays. That is when our daily traffic peaks. On the weekends, traffic typically drops off 30% irrespective of the weekend content.

The primary reason I am stopping weekend posts is purely selfish. I am not willing to give up my Friday evenings any more.

The IHB as personal discipline and nourishment

The main reason I was so driven to get the post out this week after my technical disaster is because I value what the IHB has done for me, and I want to continue that. I was not motivated out of obligation or the desire to please the readership. I was motivated by purely personal reasons to maintain a discipline that nourishes me mentally and emotionally.

All self esteem comes from self discipline. You are your habits. I am proud of my achievement each day I put out a post, and I enjoy the mental challenge of doing it. Whether my business dealings leave me feeling up or down, I know that when I write a post, I will be left feeling energized and renewed. The IHB is not a burden for me. In fact, it has become an integral part of the series of accomplishments that provide self confidence to deal with the challenges of life.

Perhaps I am a bit too driven at times. Anyone who has developed a special skill did so because they have a passion for whatever it is that they mastered. When passion is the driving force behind any activity, it can be uplifting rather than depleting. The real balance is to make sure that pursuing the uplifting activity isn't taking away from other areas of life. The nourishment of the IHB has been taking away from the greater nourishment of spending time with my family on Friday evenings. Therefore, I am only going to write weekend posts if I am inspired.

Shevy has been preparing to write some weekend posts. We were going to have him write on Sundays because it was the only open day. Perhaps he will step up to fill the void I am leaving behind.

Thank you for reading my weekend drivel, and thank you for your understanding.

Irvine Renter