3 Simple Ways Startup Founders Eliminate Burnout
Learn how to cultivate sustainable success by optimizing your mental, physical, and emotional health.
Startup founders face unique challenges. Building and scaling a successful business is more complicated than merely designing a great product or service that people love, optimizing product-market fit, and maximizing TAM.
It’s also a race against your tendencies, limitations, and habits.
Stress is ubiquitous. Burnout is abundant. And the non-stop pressure to hit KPI’s takes its tole on your physical and mental health, straining your relationships and contributing to an unsustainable lifestyle.
Given these complexities, the most successful founders are the ones who learn how to structure each day in a way that enhances sustainability.
Here are three ways for founders to create an environment that optimizes your physical, mental, and emotional health:
1. Make physical health a top priority.
Physical health and safety is the foundation to wellbeing.
Most people in the US live in their minds, disconnected from their bodies. We tend to overindulge ourselves with tasty foods and drinks as a way to fill emotional needs, which often deplete our energy levels and fail to address the root of our emotional suffering.
If you want to get serious about sustaining your wellbeing, then you need to start by improving your physical health.
Set a sleep and wake schedule. Go to bed and wake up around the same times each day to synchronize your circadian rhythms. Once your body gets used to this pattern, these biorhythms will naturally increase energy levels throughout the day. When you have high energy, you can direct it where you please.
Stay hydrated. Dehydration can create headaches and muscle cramping, and often leads to overeating. The more you can support your body with a steady stream of water, the better you’ll feel, and the more productive you’ll become. Measure it out and drink at least one gallon per day.
Eat nutritious meals. Cut down on the number of meals you eat at restaurants and start taking the time to bring healthy, home cooked meals with you to work. When start eating more protein and vegetables and less sugar-filled carbohydrates, your body will feel lighter and healthier. With healthy prepared meal options for those with cashflow, you don’t have an excuse.
Create an ergonomic office. This is a must. Get a comfortable chair that supports good posture, purchase a large exercise ball to strengthen your core, and get a standing desk to change up blood-flow throughout the day. These small tweaks make a significant difference long-term.
Exercise. For busy founders unable to take 30 minutes out of their day to exercise, taking small breaks — five to ten minutes — between calls and tasks is a great time to get your heart rate up. Pushups, jumping jacks, jumping rope, lunges, core work, there’s infinite options if you’re willing to push yourself. These little sprints throughout the day will improve your focus and keep you alert.
Get out of the office. Working from home or a traditional office doesn’t matter if you don’t leave the space. Even on the days you’re swamped, change a Zoom to a phone call and get out in the natural elements. This is a small way to get exercise and shake up your routine. It’s novelty that helps you reset.
2. Sharpen your mind.
As a founder, your mind is likely over-active.
However, learning new things prevents you from growing stale and uninspired in your current venture.
If you want to keep your mind fresh, stop checking out after a long day and start tuning in.
Read on a consistent basis. There’s no shortcut — the most well-rounded and intelligent people read books. Pick a subject of interest and then take the literary plunge! Reading will improve your vocabulary and your ability to think — both of which will enhance all areas of your life, including your motivation and work performance.
Write. I don’t care if it’s a personal journal or articles you intend to share. Writing as an outlet exercises new parts of your brain that help you formulate your thoughts on the fly and teaches you how to speak with conviction. Formulating your thoughts refines the quality of your assertions and keeps you mentally engaged.
Learn online. There’s an endless quantity of quality information online, you can teach yourself just about anything. Pick an interest, set a goal, then continue watching videos and reading articles on that subject. Engaging in critical thinking and expanding your knowledge base will give you an edge up on the competition and keep your mind sharp.
Reach out. Find other people — founders, VC’s, angels — and build your network. Not only will this improve funding when you need it, these conversations themselves will broaden your perspective and teach you to think differently about yourself and your business. Surrounding yourself with people who challenge how you think will continue to sharpen your mind.
3. Invest in your mental health.
Founders often neglect their mental health.
A 2015 study found 49% of entrepreneurs have experienced mental health conditions and an estimated 65% of high potential startups fail due to interpersonal issues in the cofounder partnership.
If you don’t want to be a statistic, you need to invest in your mental health.
Start a new hobby. Think about actives you enjoyed earlier in life that you had to relinquish due to the demands of being a responsible adult. Whether it’s playing an instrument, painting, sports, hiking, writing, or playing board games, make time for yourself to do something for fun. Engaging in creative activities supports emotional wellbeing and can help re-energize your depleted levels of motivation.
Meditate on a consistent basis. If you want a hobby that costs nothing and will have an immediate positive impact, try meditation. Sitting in silence or using guided meditations each day will help you get in tune with your thoughts, feelings, and the present moment, leading to greater motivation, productivity, and performance. Apps are your friend for developing the habit.
Speak to a startup or entrepreneur therapist. Denying and suppressing feelings wastes valuable energy that could be allocated to achievement. The most successful individuals, the ones who achieve both materialistic and intrinsic success, are the ones who are self-aware. If you want to increase emotional intelligence and authenticity, both of which will fuel your motivation and ability to succeed, then find a founder psychologist who specializes in working with people like you.
Burnout is a complex issue because it has several interrelated causes. Founders physical health impacts their mental wellbeing both of which impact their concentration, decision-making, and relationships with team-members.
To avoid burnout and increase sustainable achievement, entrepreneurs and cofounders need to build a routine of practices that prioritize themselves rather than getting in the trap of letting the day dictate their schedule.
Easier said than done.
Everything in you is telling you to put yourself last and your business first. But if you don’t start fighting for your wellbeing, then you won’t taste the success you desire.
Recognize the importance of your physical, mental, and emotional health so you can develop a balanced routine full of gratitude, peak performance, and maximum productivity.