A Note on Vacations

Some other Youtubers decide to ask other creators to create content on their channel when they go on vacation or are absent for other reasons, maybe you could try to do the same? That's if there is anyone you can think of. I know you don't interact with other creators much (except for Dave of course!) but maybe there's someone you respect who you could try and reach out to.

Everyone needs time off, we all should have a lot more of it. Enjoy your time off, keep up the great work and have a bourbon on me.

Brian Fagan

Enjoy your time off. I always tell my daughter that you have to work hard and play hard. They are both important. We will be here waiting for you after you take you breaks. It is not worth working yourself ragged if you don't get to enjoy time with friends and family also. Anyone who can't respect that you need personal time needs to realize that you are human too.

JTDPR

Enjoy your time off! I'm glad that you will be taking time off. I personally consider the time you take off part of my pledge. If you burn yourself out, or put other aspects of your life on hold, it hurts not only the product but you and others as well.

Andrew Oh

Very wise of you to understand the importance of breaks every now and then. Two videos a week is a ton of work, especially considering the caliber of the kind of videos that you make. You should definitely take as many breaks as you feel that you need.

It really doesn't need to be said but obviously we understand. I'd say the majority of us actually are happy to get less content because we know you work hard and we don't want you to be burnt out. The community may grow and newer viewers may be less understanding, but one great thing about your audience now is that we practically consider you family and we want the best for you, and Erin of course. Enjoy your trip!

Don't burn yourself out! Take breaks whenever you need them, not that you need my permission, haha. Keep up the great work, man!

Michael Ferrari

Good points. I thought 2 videos per week sounded like alot, but I don't make content either. I'd much rather get less videos and lessen the risk of Colin burning out. Hopefully that wouldn't happen either way, but I know that even if you're doing something you enjoy, it can only consume ur life for so long before you stop enjoying it.

You take as much time off as you need Colin! We will be here when you are ready. We prefer you at your best and enjoying what you do!

Chip Corley

Sounds good to me.

Samuel

You're making 4 entire seasons of sitcoms per year. 16 movie-length documentaries. The volume of content, created by one man and a Lola and a quality Erin, is staggering.

Jeremy Meyer

Hey Colin, this is Mike, the guy who posted those flags from the Charleston museum a few weeks back… I think everything you're doing is incredible. That being said, maybe to play devil’s advocate, do you think the format you laid out is sustainable? I'm in the consulting field and work on small teams, think 4-8 people of varying seniority, and one of the hardest things to do as you progress is to learn how to delegate what you previously thought only you could do. Perhaps if you look at all of those tasks you have, and forced your mind to think of a way to delegate them out, the ultimate product might change slightly, but you might find one or two out of ten that could be altered, and free you up. 92 videos is a HUGE amount of content, not to mention subjects! I mean right now, there's a ton to talk about politically and it's easy for Morning Joe and others to have fantastic ratings, but CLS might be experiencing the same surge. If things die down a year or two (hard to believe it's possible) you're going to need a model that affords you more time to research the more obscure topics...my best guess is these first few were top of mind for a while, but down the line it'll require more advance planning. Right now you're in the growing and expanding phase, a year from now, presumably the contributions may slow down and a more mature product might be expected…so reshuffling then might be harder...all that being said though, at that point you'd have the most loyal fans still around so it could go both ways. I guess that’s all a really long and drawn out way of saying, you’re doing an incredible job and YOU literally are the product, but maybe there are points within that production line that could be taken off your plate down the line, in an effort to develop a sustainable long term model.

Mike Calcara

Thank you Erin, for the love and support you provide to help make this channel the best it can be.

four24twenty

Take your time Colin. I don't think anyone is thinking that you've been taking it easy the last few months. I can understand how tired you have to be after the roller coaster that has been these last months. The content you are making is wonderful and I want it to stay that way and only get better. In order for that to happen you have to take your vacations and recharge. With that said, enjoy your upcoming trip to Vegas! Love from the East Coast (real America).

Thank you too

Honestly , with the amount of value you have added to my life, take your time, take an infinite amount of time, and I will support you. You have made me better, in every way.

Everyone needs time off! Don't feel bad about it, it'll help you produce better work at the end of the day. I'm of Oct 9th week for my birthday too =D

Cayne McIver

Take all the time you need! You're working your ass off, and I'd hate to see you become a tired curmudgeon who hates has job, letting the resentment bleed into your videos. I want to see joy in your videos, as well as passion and enthusiasm for the content. This all comes from going at your own pace!!

Jackson

Of course you need time off, and I think we all realize this would be a shortlived endeavor if you didnt.

Alexander Moon

You're awesome Colin, hoping you can spend some of our support patron money to relax every once in a while! :-). Thanks for the update!

Ryan Harvey

That plan seems very sound, Colin. I think you could take even more time off and the majority (if not all) of your supporters would agree your recharge time is well worth it. See where you are in another month or so. Definitely don't want you burning out.

Take all the time you need Colin. You work hard and deserve the time to rest and relax. Keep up the great content.

Jesse owen

This is a wonderful show of respect for this community. And, personally, I have been extremely pleased with the content from the very beginning. It's something I look forward to and enjoy without it being too much. You taking time to 'recharge' will only enhance the content, really glad you are looking forward and planning that out for yourself and this community.

You absolutely need time off. We all need time to recharge. Thank you for the thoughtful heads up. We'll all be anxiously awaiting your return each time but please enjoy your time away. 💜

Nicole Webb

Good to hear. I'd rather have quality than quantity. An idea: perhaps during the weeks with no videos, you might suggest books/YT channels/TV/films/documentaries for us to watch to flesh out prior CLS episode content. Thanks Colin

Daniel Ryan

You're a genuinely great person Colin. Take all the time you need man, have fun. It'll only make the content that you come back and make that much better.

Tim Rutledge

I get payed when I take a vacation so should you!💰💸💰

J.S Neveu

Appreciate the heads up, gotta get that time off in there man. Thank you for communicating it with us though, even though you didn't have too.

Owen

Man I don't think any of your supporting fans will have a problem with this. Enjoy your time off!

Taking time for yourself, is always worth it. Refresh your mind, reevaluate your content, and come up with new ideas. We both win in this situation.

GrisWold Diablo

it must feel weird to think about taking time off when your business is crowd-funded, but everyone needs time away from their work to recharge and reset. you are working a full time job (and then some)... you are entitled to time off! we all understand ❤️

I appreciate your thoughts. I know you love us and that's why you are sharing this. Please feel free to choose your own holidays mate : )

Take the time off you need. You deserve it!

Joey Finelli

I see there are a lot of comments in front of mine so you may never see this. Anyway my opinion is you've earned whatever time off you need to keep this going. I know your work ethic and I don't question that you will be putting in the hard work. I just think that everyone deserves time away to recharge and I think the content will be better for it so I saw take as much time as you need. I'm sure we can survive for a week or so every once in a while without a video or news burst. Anyway, have fun where ever you end up going. Take care.

Dan Phillips

One month off a year? What are you- European? Nah, just kidding. Glad you decided to do this. We all need time off to recuperate and refresh. Our brains need it.

Burnout is a real thing..... it must be prevented at all cost.

Will Curry

Take the time off to really be off. I would say even stay off of patreon so you can spend those times present in the moment of your life. We won't go anywhere. - Heather

Jose Oliver

Thanks for the heads up. It's totally unecessary but nice of you to do. I hope when you do take time youre able to get away, enjoy time with family etc, and relax and recharge. Keep up the great work Colin.

Josh in Tampa

Do you think man. Enjoy your time off. I look forward to your videos no matter when they are released. <3

Alvin Toro

Take the time you need. No need to get burnt out.

Jonathan Rice

I think the way you're cultivating this community gives you a ton of freedom with your schedule. Personally, I don't post or message a ton, but when I have, you've gone out of your way to thoughtfully interact with me. It's rare and certainly appreciated. So you do you. We'll be here.

Jason Kelley

hell yeah dude. Thanks for being honest about the breaks. Hope it's a good vacation.

djKENTO

Please take breaks! More if needed or impromptu. Whatever it takes to keep creating the quality content. Thanks again for the great videos!

Dane Hansen

Sounds completely sensible and firmly in favour. (I know you well enough to know that you noticed the "u" right away, ha!). It's important to take those breaks and the content will likely be all the better for it. Thanks for sending the message out, much appreciated!

You're here making wonderful content but why aren't you trying to sell us Blue Apron? You think we can just go to a grocery store, buy our own groceries, and make simple recipes on our own?! You think we're adults or what?

Take the time bro, better that than seeing you burnt out.

Agree with what everyone else is saying. Thanks for all the great work!

Dojan

The fact that you're giving us a heads up lends you the credibility to do basically whatever you want. You could take 20 weeks off a year, in my opinion we're getting way more than we bargain for. Keep kicking ass

Drew Packard

Dude, take some time off!! And don't feel guilty for it! We don't expect you to work 24/7, 365 on this. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and that means outside of work too. Thank you for the update, but please take this time off. And if you ever feel you need a few more days off, I'm sure no one here will fault you. Just under 100 episodes in (less than) a year is something to be proud of. You're killing it with the content and some time off will only help you stay sharp and continue killing it in the future.

Adam Niksch

Colin, I won't ever take issue with you taking care of yourself and enjoying the fruits of your labor! Take vacation when needed. I think giving a heads up about what dates to expect you to be "gone" is the way to go moving forward. Love the content and you!

You definitely need to take breaks as often as you see fit. We all know your working your ass off and that 24/7 will burn even the best out. Take whatever time you need we'll still be here :)

Please take these breaks Colin! Take care of yourself. Our support will be here when you return!

Jeshua Anderson

Nobody should be expected to work 24/7 without a break. No problems. Keep up the great content!

Rick Rodriguez

Take all the breaks you need man. You're doing a great job!

Dan117

Enjoy it we all need a break here and there. And keep pumping out awesome content!

Erik Castillo

I work in the mental health industry and it is vital that you take time. Like others have stated, you will experience severe burn out if you keep pushing. From what I've witnessed over the last several years following your career you are definitely the kind of individual that puts in a ton of effort and are your own worst critic. We understand the need for time off. We also know that your motivation and focus will be renewed if you do, this can only help the quality of your content. Get some R&R sir, you deserve it.

Justin Neal

Agree with you on this. Everyone needs some time off. It wouldn't be right if us as a community to deny you that. We'll always be here.

Kevin Dunkel

This is not bad for business at all. That would be you burning out. Enjoy your time away, you have more than earned it brother!!

Absolutely take time to recharge/re-focus.

Colin, you've been steadily putting out content for well over two years, I think your audience understands your commitment and thanks in part to the transparent nature of business, we understand your at times seemingly agoraphobic nature. This being said, I would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't think you deserve the time to chill. And besides, if you get to chill a little, you might just come up with some more amazing video ideas. Do your thing brother!

Campbell Jones

Also. Maybe one day we can have a discussion on some of these items if your business grows or on psn. Thanks for what you do. You and I have a lot of the same views, but you push me to think about things differently and challenge my thought process.

Jimmy Valentine

Colin. From one workaholic to another, take breaks! It's needed and you deserve it.

Jimmy Valentine

Definitely take the time that you need, even if it is more time. Just a note on your workflow... do you a have a plan for future growth? Do you want CLS to be more than it is now at some point? I ask because I feel like there's the potential to get burnt out from your current process.

I chimed in on the other tread where you mentioned vacations, but take as much time as you need and maintain a healthy work-life balance. And besides, a rested, happy Colin will produce better videos than if you are burned out. You may be riding the high of loving this new stage of your life now and that can carry you through being tired for now, but eventually that will fade at least somewhat. Establishing behaviors to keep you happy and healthy long-term is what's best for everyone here, but most importantly you.

Shawn Price

I believe (and the few comments I glanced through support this) that as long as you communicate with your Patrons, no one is going to stop supporting you just because you take some time off. I do hope you can get to the point that you can get ahead of yourself a bit. Basically have some videos "in the can" that you can release if you suddenly find yourself sick or other unexpected events happen.

You don't owe us anything, take the time you need, and just don't burn out :)

Joaquin

Colin, I am 100% OK with you taking some vacation days during the year. We all need time to recharge. I appreciate the open communication about when it is going to be. My support for you, both financially and in spirit, does not wane.

Ray Briggs

The fact that you justify your own vacation in this way is one of the reasons I think you're awesome Colin. Everyone needs to time to recharge. I think I speak for everyone still here when I say I understand. I'd rather have informative videos from an upbeat Colin than see you exhausted, just tying to push the next one through. I hope you enjoy all time off you have planned. I'll be here when you're back.

Russell Garrett

Colin, you could not release a video for months, my pledge ain't going anywhere

Colin - Thank you for providing this update. I'm always looking forward to the content and it would have been jarring to not see your usual post! You're fantastic. ONE REQUEST - Can you let us know what books you're reading along with any of the news bursts? I love the book reviews! Thank you!

Enjoy your time off I say! You deserve it 😊

Andrew

You deserve it man. I wouldn't worry about it hurting business, I'm sure everyone will understand. The ones who matter will, anyway.

"He only does everything" is now more applicable than ever.

Scott Rabideau

Absolutely take vacations man! Trust me, everyone supporting you on here knows you, and wants the best for you. Don't wear yourself too thin. Do what you gotta do! We'll get by somehow those few weeks! :)

Sean White

Everyone deserves time off. Enjoy man. Thank you for the heads up on when videos will not be the normal times. Thanks again for all of your hard work.

Bill Gartner

Think it's unanimous here. Take as much time as you need anytime you need it. We're not going anywhere!

IMO, you should take more time off, maybe 1 week a month, or maybe even 1 week with only 1 episode, or even more. I may be falsely generalizing, but I feel like your CLS community is a little older and have careers and professional lives (medical school myself) that prevent us from consuming entertainment very often or as often as we would like. It would create less of a back log, and allow you to maintain that high quality product I enjoy so much. And don't underestimate the improvement in your quality of life that I'm growing to appreciate more and more as I get older. But that's just my opinion I guess.

Tasur Seen

Take it from a therapist, self-care is one of the most important (and ignored) things you can do. I'm all for going dark for a week or two, if it means the content when you return is gonna be as good as it has been lately (or better!). Keep up the great work, Colin!

Jeremy Echols

Haha Col, you don't need to explain yourself for wanting to take a break my dude. Go crazy, you've earned it.

Jake Watson

From someone that could be another self-described workaholic, I fully endorse taking time off and making sure to step away completely. If anything, you could probably do with more time off! Appreciate all the content you are putting out, especially the news bursts. Enjoy the rest and vacation good sir!

Craig

I'm so happy that you're not killing yourself over production. I prefer quality(not video/lighting) over quantity myself and to me this is art, which is not something anyone can demand.

Michael Renner

Take the time you need <3

Jon Cordeiro

Take your vacations man. You need them!

Glad you are taking vacations. They are essential to not getting burned out, and I think everyone should understand. Thanks for being so transparent.

John Quinn

Seems like an entirely reasonable plan Colin. Enjoy the much deserved time off!

Mike Smith

Nice job Colin, love how open you are with us! You are a super hard worker, take all the time you need when you need it!

Liam Argent

Finally! A good drink with your woman and maybe a sunset or two! Project plan to play is In full effect. About time Colin!

Dan Cadogan

Dude, do you! If you need even more time off, then that's fine by me.

Khalil Sadi

You are NO good to us dead, Colin. The time away is essential not only for the business, but for yourself. Your schedule looks great, so enjoy the time off as a reward for the hard work you (and Erin) put in.

Bart Labeda

Just my 2 cents here, I think as long these breaks don't result on people missing out on their tier specific rewards, it's really not too much to ask for some much deserved down time.

Mario Miranda

Exactly!!!

Colin, seriously, take a break. We know the content will be best when you're fresh.

No worries, Colin. We will be here waiting for more CLS. Appreciate the transparency a lot. Roll out!

I'm just happy for the transparency. 92 videos even seems too much. I don't envy your workload, but I'm appreciative of your commitment and passion.

Michael Bruchsaler

Awesome to hear, love how open you are on here.

I support you, the content is secondary.

Nicholas Amato

Recharge those batteries. I think the people who continue to support you on here realize how much work you are putting and that you are only one person.

Britton Dowers

I appreciate the transparency, professionalism, and accountability. Now go enjoy the fuck out of Vegas!!!

Steven Camilo

Take your time! A much needed rest is necessary for putting forth great work, no matter what your occupation is. Your community definitely understands. You're killing it, Colin!

Fred Bence

Dude - by all means, the schedule sounds great! Thanks for sharing.

No need to worry Colin, enjoy your vacation, you've definitely earned it, have a great time!

James Ashmore

Do what you gotta do! Have fun Colin!

In my opinion u should take Federal holidays off, get a week off for spring break, yours and Erin's birthdays, thanksgiving to go visit family and the last two weeks of the year. Do do you Colin I support you in your choice don't feel bad that need a vacation

Hose A Contra Razz

No reason to work yourself to death, enjoy any vacation you need to take. Just make sure you smoke a bunch of cigars in Vegas and don't worry about letting anyone down.

You'll still be getting my money regardless. Taking time away from work is crucial in any position and helps make better products in the long run. We all need to recharge from time to time. You should be entitled to the same. I think everyone in this community won't mind one bit. Thanks again for all you do!

Derek Kelsheimer

Enjoy your time off, my man! You certainly have earned it

Rolando Vargas

Absolutely understandable and welcome. We all get vacation time, why the hell wouldn't you?

Enjoy your time off. We'll be here when you get back!

Robert Byers

No worries buddy! Won't make a difference on my pledge.

Daniel short

92 episodes of editing along with all of the Q&A's is a whole lot to ask of one person. Enjoy your much needed vacations. That's part of the job, too!

Nathanael Haller

Are you coming to Louisville for any of those? I'd love to buy you a glass of bourbon