I feel like I am slowly going crazy. Without planning it, or perhaps because I didn't, I somehow ended up with two stressful careers. By day I am a middle manager at a large software company. By night I own, with RO, my partner, a furniture, design and home decor store. I try to keep the store's paperwork and finances straight, but I don't always do a good job. When the money is tight I tend to close my eyes. The ostrich method of stress management, so to speak.

I've noticed that I have so many things to do, that I have no time to reward myself. This has put me in a bad situation where goofing off is my reward. I think RO is the same. We've taken on so much that the only way to relax is to ignore the store.

That's not sustainble. It burns you out. It makes you look at your responsiblities as the cause of your problems and not the source of future happiness.

I've got to turn that around-- for our own sanity.