Flow State is My Real Enemy

When I am working on something I am interested in, I often go into a flow state where time becomes irrelevant for me. I stop eating, sleeping, talking to others for hours.

This happens when I am either learning something new or exploring things. I love working under pressure and in chaos. While it gives me an upper-hand, it also makes me vulnerable to burnouts.

In last two years I have learned how to set boundaries for different activities. However, recently I started learning agentic coding using OpenCode + OpenRouter. First few days went fine. Then my small learning objectives started turning into a big project.

Eventually I started adding logins, subscriptions, multiple dashboards deployments etc. It was very fascinating. But eventually I started forgetting flow of time.

After my regular 7 to 5 job, I started putting 8-9 more hours on refining the product. I stopped spending time with my family. It was like I am in front of my laptop for around 18 hours a day.

Realisation: This morning, while looking at my daughter, I realised whatever I am doing is wrong! I already have a job, I already have multiple responsibilities. I should spend my time more wisely.

It doesn't mean, I will stop exploring new ideas, but need to learn where something is enough... when I need to stop exploring something.