Mat De Sousa

As a solo Shopify developer since 2020, people could easily assume that AI made my work lighter. Ironically, in some ways, it’s been the exact opposite for me. Over the past few months, I’ve started struggling with sleep for the first time in my life. My brain just doesn’t seem able to switch off anymore. Before the AI era, I could actually disconnect. I could travel, enjoy weekends, step away from work without constantly thinking about the next feature or project. Now everything moves so fast that I feel permanently “on”. Even on weekends, I end up reopening my laptop, launching Codex or Claude, and finishing “just one more thing”. I genuinely love building with AI and I’m excited by what’s happening right now, but the pace and constant possibilities have changed the way my brain works. Instead of working less, I feel like I’m thinking about work more than ever. And honestly, it’s exhausting sometimes. I’m more tired than before, my sleep is getting impacted, and I’m realizing how difficult it has become to truly disconnect. Curious to know if other solo devs or entrepreneurs are feeling the same lately.