Six months ago, my wife was about to give birth to our second child. Shortly after our baby was born, I took on a really big client project with a firm deadline. I also signed up for a Creative Writing class, not sure if I'd be able to juggle it all.

I barely pulled it all off thanks to my wife's support. When the project was delivered and the course ended, I desperately desired something different.

I desired rest, comfort and relaxation. I desired simplicity. I desired peace and quiet. I desired being fully present with my family.

What I really desired was a different quality of life, one that I'd only experience on holiday. I wanted to wake up with a clear and quiet mind, to hear the birds chirping and the breeze in the trees instead of worried thoughts. I wanted to move slowly, with all the time in the world.

I've always set ambitious goals for myself. I feel like I've been going as fast as I could for years. For the first time, I had a different goal: to live a cozy life.

Sure, I had major constraints: we had a new baby, an older son, and I still needed to do freelance work.

I didn't have to work on any side projects, though. I could let my blog and newsletter go quiet for a while. I could say no to filling up my calendar. I could stop making To Do lists and allow myself to do a lot less.

I had to remind myself that the bare minimum is, by definition, good enough. As long as my family was taken care of, as long as I was making enough money to cover our expenses, I was doing okay.

Within days I was daydreaming about new big projects I could start. I had ideas for courses I wanted to launch, books I wanted to write. I had to learn to say "no" to myself too.

After a week or two, I started to get really bored for the first time in a long time. I decided to limit myself to low-stakes activities, things that didn't matter if I did them or not. I was happy to read books, especially books that I started long ago but never finished. I enjoyed playing video games, and I even finished the original NES Final Fantasy I'd started 30 years ago!

I started getting excited about programming again, and I found myself watching videos and reading about web development. I was enjoying work more too, because I wasn't stressed out or in a rush, and I was able to enjoy the interesting challenges.

Every day that went by, I felt myself recharging. It felt like I was unlocking new levels of rest, new mental states I hadn't had access to in a long time. The less that I did, the more I could do.

I had the cozy life I wished for, and I finally had room to breathe.