Jeff Vandermeer Quotes

The advice I would give to my younger self is very, very simple: Stop burning the candle at both ends and renew your estranged relationship with sleep. You will be more productive, more effective, more creative, and more likely to enjoy your life.

Everyone is always telling me that I must be exhausted, but I've learned how to use my time well, and that includes holidays to recharge. I always try to give myself big chunks of time to think about what the next project is going to be.

I can't tell you how hard I worked the last year. In fact, I worked so hard that I know I can't maintain that same work level in 2001, so I've got to quit something.

I definitely felt like I needed a break, because when you do so much, you're not able to appreciate the things that you accomplish.

I'm working over 80 hours a week and have to keep on track.

I'm always on the go. I love doing things until I hit rock bottom. Then I need my 12 hours of sleep, and I'm on the go again.

I realized that improvisers should probably always have time off. But musicians are always gigging and never have a chance to stop for a minute - unless something drastic occurs.

If you do things when you're burned out, it'll make you bitter.

I really have to pace myself. I work about 75 hours a week.

Many of us feel as though we are overloaded and overwhelmed by all the things that are happening, and we can't stop work for even five minutes or we'll fall behind: the idea that if we don't take breaks, we're being more productive.

You always wanna make sure that you're not burnt out. But I feel like I've been able to find the right balance of still staying fresh in games and still being able to be productive.

Yeah, don't you take a break?" "I don't have time for breaks." "That's the whole point of a break. When you've got no time, you need a break.

There's this emotion we all feel of being overwhelmed at times, feeling that you can't get ahead. For me it's self-imposed because I'm so driven and I'm always going from project to project.

I'm a big believer in doing what you've got to do, but taking a breather when you can.

I had repeatedly accepted inappropriate burdens, stepping in to do what needed to be done. In retrospect, I think I carried them well, but the cost was that I was chronically overloaded, weary, and short of time for politicking, smoothing ruffled feathers, and simply resting.

Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.

I don't ever rest. It's a problem and hopefully something I will get a better handle on in the coming years.

We don't have any problem finding enough things to do; the problem we have is making sure we don't overload ourselves inadvertently.

I used to feel guilty about spending morning hours working on a book; about fleeing to the brook in the afternoon. It took several summers of being totally frazzled by September to make me realize that this was a false guilt. I'm much more use to family and friends when I'm not physically and spiritually depleted than when I spend my energies as though they were unlimited. They are not. The time at the typewriter and the time at the brook refresh me and put me into a more workable perspective.

There are certain times you want to be here and there are certain times you want to just go. And when you go, it's usually so exhausting you have to check into a hospital when you come home!

I think I've only spent about ten percent of my energies on writing. The other ninety percent went to keeping my head above water.

I don't like being consumed by work all the time. I consume myself so much when I do a part that I like to step away from it.

Just do your best to keep yourself in balance. One of the first things that causes Energy misalignment, is asking or demanding too much of yourself in terms of time and effort. In other words, you just cannot burn the candle at both ends, so that you are physically tired, and then expect yourself to have a cheerful attitude. So, the rule of thumb has to be: "I'm going to be very, very, very happy, and then do everything I have time to do after that.

If you nurture your mind, body, and spirit, your time will expand. You will gain a new perspective that will allow you to accomplish much more.

I am always exhausted; I am always trying to find more time to be with my family, which is why they travel with me so much.