Oct 28, 20212 min read

Am I Quitting YouTube?

Lets get real about work-life balance...

As many of you know the Shop Nation YouTube channel has been a "side gig" for me for going on 4 years now. In that time I've put out about 85 videos and each one takes, on average, 20 hours to produce. That means that without factoring in any other time I have poured about 1700 hours into videos over that period of time - all while maintaining a career and family.

Now I will say right off the bat that I'm extremely grateful to the opportunity in front of me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that YouTube would turn into a significant income stream for me and my family. I know I'm fortunate to have it and I don't take it for granted at ALL. With that being said - it doesn't come without significant sacrifice. Mostly in the form of time away from my wife and kid.

As life evolves I have realized that my appetite for "the grind" is lower. When I think about my time I know how valuable it is both monetarily and emotionally. I want to provide the absolute best life for my family but sometimes that's not with money. My son is now 2 years old and I want to not only spend time with him but to ENJOY it as well. I can't have a nagging thought of video planning or editing in my head.

For this reason I seriously considered just quitting YouTube all together. I figured that if I can't put the time that I need to put into it - don't do it at all. The last thing I want to do is string along the viewers because I've seen other channels do the same. I now think that I can still maintain the quality and passion by lowering the frequency of uploads. This is why I'm going to scale back my video production output in 2022. I'm going to stick to doing projects that I like and that (hopefully) everyone enjoys.

So am I quitting? Not quite. Am I scaling back? You bet.

Kreg Pocket Hole Jig Pro 720 - https://amzn.to/3yChbgM

Kreg Portable R3 Pocket Hole Jig - https://amzn.to/3uk2qMa

Kreg Track Saw - https://amzn.to/3uk4bce

Kreg ACS - https://amzn.to/2So0OUq

Kreg PRS5000 Router Lift - https://amzn.to/3fMLVTk

Kreg 1/4" Shelf Pin Jig - https://amzn.to/2TlgHLT

Kreg Foreman Pocket Hole Machine - https://amzn.to/3hXwP0l

Kreg Cabinet Hardware Jig Kit - https://amzn.to/3uemSy1

Kreg Deck Jig - https://amzn.to/2Slp61c