Your Opinion Is Needed (Patreon)

I've been thinking about this for awhile, but I don't seem to be making any progress with commissions lately. I'm sure it's obvious to some how I'm still behind and still slow, but because of it, I'm not making progress at clearing my to-do list. Every time I finish a story, another 2-3 come up that I need to work on. Fortunately, many of you (if not all of you) that support me are very patient and understand this year has just been rough and mentally draining. And that is incredibly appreciated. I wouldn't be able to do this if you weren't all patient and understanding.

But, I don't enjoy being behind like this. It's incredibly overwhelming and terribly draining. To the point that I've thought about just shutting down shop all together for a few months and relaxing before trying to come back. However, that's not fair to any of you that have been, and are still, waiting on me to do work for you.

So, I need to figure out just how to approach this. Being so far behind ruins any motivation I have to work, having so much work on my plate with more coming in means I'll never actually catch up, and on top of it, things are hitting a point where I'm not making enough to really call myself "covered" financially. (I can make do, no problem. But if something comes up and needs repairs, I'm fucked.)

What your opinion is needed for, is I want to hear some ideas about how I can approach a solution to this. I don't want to take away the rewards I owe anyone each month, I don't want to just cut stories that I owe anyone, and I don't want to just close up shop to try and catch up because that hasn't worked (I'd be willing to try again, but Patreon rewards would be closed for 2-3 months straight this time around and that doesn't feel fair to anyone at the higher tiers).

I want to make it clear that I'm not asking you to come up with an end all, be all suggestion that's a perfect fix. Just some ideas. What would you be okay with me doing in order to minimize the overwhelming amount of work I've got on my plate?

And let me end this off on a good note by saying I am still working. I am doing what I can to get as much work done as I can. I'm not giving up. I just need a different approach to handle this better.