Happy New Year.

It felt great to unplug and to spend quality time with my family; do some volunteer work; and take some time off and get some sun and fun in. It also felt great to get some sleep and to get some healthy workouts in with regularity. I really needed to recharge.

I must admit that I was feeling a bit burnt out heading towards the end of the year.

I am receiving more than 300 emails per day now from people that have issues and questions regarding the Washington Capitals; Washington Wizards; Washington Mystics; and Verizon Center. This is becoming unmanageable for me as I do all of my email personally and I was starting to feel like a customer service desk and a call-in radio show host plus a psychologist all combined.

I also was very disappointed in how some people dealt with us and me personally during our 8 game losing streak at the Caps and after the first episode of HBO’s 24/7. You certainly get to know who your friends are when things get tough.

I also blog frequently every day. There are numerous comments to deal with on my blog as well.

I have a Facebook account, too. I receive about 200 emails per week on Facebook. And I get Twitter and get re-tweeted a lot.

And I also am very open and transparent and interactive with the media and the blogosphere.

There are so many requests and so many issues to deal with and so many needs and asks. To be honest, I was glued to my computer and was missing the forest from the trees. Plus I wasn’t very happy with this role and I was spending so much time with a few people online that I was neglecting many important issues and people in the real world.

I have to admit that my family has to come first in my life. They are my priority.

I must also strike a balance between my work and ownership with the teams and my work with SnagFilms; Groupon; Clearspring Technologies; MediaBank; American Express; and Rosetta Stone, etc. That is an important goal for the New Year. I am not writing any more books. I am not making any more films. I am trying to claw back time for myself.

I also need to have the time to have some fun on my own accord; to be able to have some “me” time to work out and be healthier in the New Year; take some more frequent vacations; do some things that are meaningful for our family outside of sports; and pursue some work with charities that move me. Pursuit of a higher calling is a key motivator for me.

So here is what I will try to do in the New Year:

I will blog less. I don’t feel I have to blog after every game and comment on a day by day basis on the teams. I will blog more about other issues. Ted’s Take is not a Washington Capitals blog. It is a personal blog and I will feel comfortable with blogging about what moves me and won’t feel compelled to blog every day.

I promise to read your emails but I am not going to be able to respond to you as much. I simply cannot. I may pass your emails on to some folks to follow up for me when needed. I will also only read my email twice per day. I just can’t be responding in a real time manner any longer.

I will not respond to people about players, coaches and team play in email on a regular basis. And as I look at my email, I see the same people sending me the same emails over and over again. It starts to feel abusive from about 15 people who email me 2 to 3 times per day so I honestly can’t deal with you in the way I did in the past. It isn’t healthy and productive so I am officially unplugging to gain back some time for more productive pursuits. I apologize if this offends you in any way. “It isn’t you – it is me.”

I also will not read and respond to any Facebook mail. I don’t check that account that often and most of the email is from Facebook community members and deals with requests and asks. People can send me emails at my accounts that I can read and deal with. The last thing I need is another email account to check with regularity so – heads up – please don’t expect me to respond to emergency situations on Facebook email. I am being serious here. I just can’t respond to you all on Facebook. I love being a member of this community but there are 500 plus million people on Facebook all with the ability to ask me for something via email and I can’t open that door. It would become a full time job. Thank you for understanding.

I will also start to be less available to media and bloggers. There are many people that can speak for all of the enterprises I am involved with. I don’t need to spend as much time with the media and in giving speeches. I just want to reclaim just a bit more time and take control of my bandwidth. I hope you understand.

I am hopeful that folks will respect this new way of working. I am trying to gain some perspective and push away from the keyboard a bit more in the New Year. I want to spend more time with people face to face. I want to focus a bit more on my self and my happiness. I want to focus more time on my family and time is flying by and my children are growing up quickly.

Here is to a healthy and happy and productive New Year.

A little less keyboard and a lot more real world living is my mantra for 2011.

I believe in transparency. I believe in interactivity. I am just trying to strike a better balance to be a better person and a happier and healthier person as well. Thanks for understanding.