I just turned down a $20k project for a local agency. On top of being a decent chunk of change for the year, this would have raised my profile greatly among many different organizations in the city. I would have also had a direct hand in helping provide information and assistance for local businesses to begin recovering from the economic hit of COVID 19.

I even had time to do the work. Yes it would have meant I had to spend more than my usually 25 hours a week in the office for a few months, but I had the time.

On so many levels, this whole project was nothing but upside. I still turned it down.

It came down to a single thing I kept saying to my wife.

> I just don’t want to do it!

When I started to think of the pricing it would take to make me change my mind, I got to $100k and still said I didn’t want to do it. $100k would mean that I didn’t have to work on anything for a year but this single project.

The idea of that year of freedom still wasn’t worth the trade off of the project in my mind.

It all came down to the requirement that I host the site and be on call for changes and updates. That included some solution for weekend fixes.

> You can support my content by [becoming a Patron](https://patreon.com/curtismchale) or taking one of my [Skillshare courses](https://curtismchale.ca/skillshare). Patrons get my courses for free.

I simply don’t want to be available on the weekend for any price. I have kids to ski with. I have bikes to ride and mountains to run. I have couches to sit on. I have a phone that mostly remains banished to the office.

The truth is that there would have likely been few weekend changes. I have a bunch of clients that have no formal agreement, but will send a message in an emergency on the weekend and it’s always been fine by me. In all likelihood this would have been the same thing. Money traded just in case something happened.

I don’t want a commitment of any type where someone can expect me to work on the weekends though. My recreation time is much more valuable than some money.

What’s the biggest project you’ve turned down that had all the hallmarks of being a great project?

## I Shipped

Monday I showed you how I use the [Taskpaper format in Drafts to automate projects in Things3](https://curtismchale.ca/2021/01/18/automating-things-3-with-taskpaper-templates). I do this three or four times a week for skiing and skating so I don’t forget anything and everyone can get where they need to go.

Today I reviewed [Subprime Attention Crisis by Tim Hwang](https://curtismchale.ca/2021/01/22/subprime-attention-crisis-by-tim-hwang). If you want a economic look at the attention economy and why the author thinks it’s headed towards collapse, like the subprime mortgage crisis, then this is a decent read. If you’re interested in what you can do to stop falling into the attention economy and social media I’d recommend [Digital Minimalism](https://curtismchale.ca/2019/05/08/a-review-of-digital-minimalism-by-cal-newport/) or [How To Do Nothing](https://curtismchale.ca/2020/06/05/how-to-do-nothing-with-jenny-odell) if you’re of a more creative bent.

Over at Nexcess I just published a post on [using WordPress with Composer](https://blog.nexcess.net/using-composer-with-wordpress/). I don’t actually see the point, despite listening to many people’s arguments about why it’s an excellent thing to do. I won’t be worrying about Composer at all for my future WordPress projects.