Monday, December 5 2022 - 12:38 PM
By: Neoriceisgood
Scaling down updates for a while for personal reasons.
Those who follow me on patreon I've already informed about this, but I figured I'll make a news post because I'm going to be (hopefully temporarily) return to the 3-page a week format.
Since late autumn I've realised I've been dealing with pretty intense burn-out issues due to work (I'm a teacher professionally), this is part of a longer ongoing issue but I've not really recognised it for what it was until around Autumn.
Some of the stuff I've been dealing with is pretty intense emotional instability, near-constant exhaustion & severe sleep issues.
I've been working the last few weeks on adjusting my patterns regarding work, sleep etc to return to actually functioning properly, but the process is incredibly slow and any time I'm optimistic about actually making progress I feel any source of unexpected stress at work sets me right back to where I began. The moments I'm not working, the days where I'm not working, there is a pretty big chance I'm so tired I can barely drag myself out of bed.
Despite this total lack of energy & the stress issues I've been having I've tried my best to keep producing my comic at the rate I have been, because it's always been one of the biggest sources of joy in my life. I enjoy seeing people discuss it, I enjoy seeing people have fun with my characters and ideas & I enjoy actually putting ideas I've had in my head for years actually appear on the page as part of a story.
I've never considered my comic a source of stress & it's not at all the reason for my burn-out problems, I want to make that clear. I do the chapter drops & stick to a daily update rate because it's the speed at which I enjoy releasing content, not because I feel obliged somehow.
That being said, I've been on such low fumes for such a long time now, that even reminding myself to tick that manual update box 4 times a week for the "extra" days can feel like a chore. I feel that, until I start to feel actual progress in my general mood & energy levels I want to throw the comic back to the classic pace.
take care of yourself! I hope you feel better
Never apologize for self care. If you don't rest now when you do crash it'll be all the worse.
Thanks for all the content you provide us, I hope you can take care of yourself and start feeling better, loosing sleep because of stress is really a pain but recovery is possible !
Sorry to hear about your burnout. I’m glad you’re working on taking care of yourself. Hope things get better soon. :>
Fellow teacher, I resonate with all of this. Take care of yourself first; we're no good to anyone burnt out--we do better work when our minds are clear and we are refreshed. The world will always ask more and need more than we can give, so we have to put up these boundaries.
I love your comic, and I've been reading since the old one. I don't comment a lot, but I look forward to every update. I'll be here for the next one at whatever pace you feel up to, enjoy your rest!
Thank you for giving us this insight into what you've been going through. I don't know if I have any real words of advice so I'll just say that your comic means a lot to all of us readers and we wish you the best. Thank you for taking some time for recovery and I hope you feel better at some point.
It has been a wonderful year. Thanks for the constant updates.
Take a looong break.
Nothing to worry about Neo, your work is superb and it's incredibly generous of you to share it to everyone here, all for free
Scaling down is the right decision to make here. Even if one loves what you create, it is so much that you can do at once, y'know?
I hope you can get into a better place soon, take care friend :]
Hey, you're looking after yourself, that's the most important thing. I am pleasantly surprised that you haven't felt that entertaining us readers as a part of your stress.
If you've gotten to the point where the effort needed to hit the "post the page" feels like a chore, then you do need the break. I'm not 100% on how to address burnout in the workplace, particularly as a teacher, but you probably do need an extended holiday to recover from it.
take all the time you need, burnout is no joke. hope you're able to recover quickly
Honestly I feel spoiled with this webcomic, normally they update once a Week! Take your time burnout is a Hella of thing.
Please take care of yourself, Guido <3
A friend of mine has been suffering from this for years - it can be quite devastating if you don't watch out for this.
So please do everything you can to get the rest you need.
Put yourself first! <3
Thank you for all the bonus pages you've given us this year! And I hope you take a good long break, as long as needed, till you manage to sort out your work and burnout :D
I hope you will still find the time to enjoy yourself as well, avoiding burnout won't help as much if you don't give yourself personal time to do what you like as well :)
Burnout ist pretty serious - take care of yourself. I hope you'll get well soon!
Your comic is great, thank you =)
I want to say something nice that would help with the burnout, but I really don't know how to deal with it myself. Best of luck to you.
Hey, 3/week is still a pretty sweet deal, and I hope you will deal with your problems.
Do what's best for you! I'm sure we're all fine reading it at any pace!
Hello Neo, Sorry to hear that you're in bad shape. As someone who had similar trouble, i can sadly tell you that it takes time to recover of it.
Have no shame to slow the comic, simplify the way of updating it to your convenience or even put it on hold so you can focus on your personal life, for as much time as you need.
Dont hesitate to speak of your trouble with your relatives and colleagues, and more importantly, with your superior(s) at work, so you can identify with them the source of your burnout if you hadn't already, and make them understand that you wont be able to be effective at 100% for months.
Taking care of yourself should be your first priority.
Thank you for providing such a great comic. Don't worry, your mental health comes first. As a reader, I care not only about the story but the author too. Just know that your story has brought a lot of joy and laughter into our lives which I hope is returned to you tenfold.
Take care of yourself bro! Burn out is a bitch to recover from.
Take it easy bruh
Self-care comes before everything, EVEN your awesome comic :)
Mental health can be so difficult, adding burnout on top of it? You do what you can to heal, Neo.
I remember the apology back in May about not doing chapter drops and the implication at a burnout.
I was getting worried when new drops came, and now I feel stupid for not having said something, so I just have to do it now:
Your comic is incredibly great, but your health is more important to everyone. The normal update rate is still good, and no updates would really be best if it means you can recover even just a little bit faster. A big thank you for all the content you made.
What would be my favourite comic without its author? You are priority one. Thank you for your hard work.
I'll send you all the love you need! Your comic is great, and you're a proper fellow. Take care of yourself, and fill up your batteries!
I wish you all the best!
To be frank, I've often wondered how on Earth you've managed the pace you've had so far as I'd consider 3/week an amazing amount given the quality of the comic!
So please take care of yourself and please don't hesitate to cut back even more if you feel the need. Your health and well being should allways come first, no matter what!
Take care and as much time as you need to feel better.
I am also a teacher(university professor), and have also experienced something similar. Don't overextend yourself, your health is much more important than webcomic.
As others said, take all the time you need, 3 pages a week is plenty. Especially as you've been spoiling us with so many pages already.
Burnout is a really serious issue, so please don't overwork yourself.
Holy crap you've been a teacher this whole time?? If the incredible quality of art and storytelling in your comic is anything to judge by, your classes are extremely lucky to have you.
However long you need Neo! Even if it's 3/week till the very end I'd still be happy as this is my favorite and most consistently updated comic, I always thought the daily updates were just a generous bonus. Best of luck, hope you feel better soon!!
Take your time, 3 pages a week is still the upper update number for most web comics anyways, so the every day model is just crazy high by most standards.
I hear you. Without a plan for what to do on a day off, i never am able to get out of bed
Take some time for yourself! It sounds like you've been pushing yourself, way, way too hard!
You have my concerns and best wishes for you to heal yourself up mentally and physically, no worries about the updates, take all the time you need, splurge on a masseuse if you got the dough!
Take care!
Take your time, what is a creation without it's creator? In this case I don't think there is any shame in cutting back to a 3 pages a week when that is more then most webcomics put out anyways.