How do you prevent or already fight the burnout from work / business?
We know this situation exists, but not many people are openly talking about it.
Being in a highly competitive entrepreneurial environment is challenging on many levels... not only in terms of sales and business growth, but also legal responsibilities, administration, and often handling most things independently, all while managing family and personal stuff.
Even less attention is given to how this pressure is experienced by women, who are often expected to balance their careers with being present mothers, managing households, and meeting expectations that go far beyond professional life.
As a result, the emotional and mental load is becoming heavier.
How do you prevent or deal with burnout?
– Is it about seeking professional support, like a therapist or consultant? Or is it more about lifestyle changes, spending time with friends, stepping outside, and creating distance from work?
– What is the most effective way to actually solve this, in a sustainable way?
Replies
Between client work sprints, jump to something you are building for yourself.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@brian_pofahl I do it, but it is too much for me currently. :)
@busmark_w_nika The feedback loop nobody names: you ship v2 with the same architecture as v1 and call it iteration.
The signal never changed. The interpretation did.
Most founders I talk to aren't short on data. They're executing against a conclusion they never actually reached.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@alex_iliescu What do you mean by this in this topic?
@busmark_w_nika When you're close to burnout, the instinct is to push harder because the signal looks the same as before. The interpretation shifts without you noticing. The body keeps score. The calendar doesn't.
@busmark_w_nika Two things have kept me out of full burnout while running a product portfolio alongside a full time job, and neither is a spa day.
First, treat recovery as a metric, not a reward. I track sleep and energy the same way I track revenue, because they are leading indicators and the work is the lagging one. When recovery trends down for a week, output is about to drop whether I admit it or not, and seeing that on a chart makes me ease off before I crash instead of pushing through and paying double. It is the exact principle I built Cova around for lifters, but it generalises: you cannot manage fatigue you refuse to measure.
Second, protect one full day with no screens and no plausible work. Not to relax harder, but to break the state where every waking hour is low grade availability. That always on background hum wears you down more than the raw hours do.
On the gendered load you raised, most answers will skip it. The honest version is that invisible work does not get fixed by the person carrying it willing themselves to cope. It gets fixed when someone else names it and takes a share. Therapy and support are not a failure state either, it is the same logic as outsourcing anything you are not equipped to carry alone.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@oshylabs Second metric – unfortunately, cannot do it since I do daily customer support, but I can execute the first point. Thank you for the hint! :)
i think burnout is when life starts happening to you rather than because of you. So drilling into the why, original motivation is key... but discipline and just doing the things always going to be a thing
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@davem_0 I should rather have a discipline to know when to stop. 🙈
I think the first step should be trying to step away from some work, rather than seeking profesisonal help.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@memsoph Yeah, I need to re-organise my priorities first :)
the trick for me was catching it early — it shows up in your nervous system (energy, sleep, how you sound) weeks before your head admits it. kind of why i'm building HealthOS. what's your earliest tell?
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@sabber_ahamed TBH, I do not track my sleep, but it is usually 5 or 6 hours :D
@busmark_w_nika 5–6 and still running the business, ha — that's usually right where the nervous system starts quietly racking up a tab. i don't track sleep closely either, i just notice whether my voice comes out flat or wired the next morning.
Sports are my anti-burnout system. I plan my week around training, not the other way around. It’s the only habit that consistently keeps my mind clear.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@pedromlsreis What kind of sport do you train?
@busmark_w_nika I usually go for a run - I find it logistically very easy just to leave home and start, no extra commute needed for that!
On the burnout question itself, the thing that's held up for me isn't a single fix but a few small anchors I protect no matter what.
For me it's a weekly online group where we share written retrospectives, plus running, strength training, sauna, and just trying to sleep well. Not productivity, just fixed points that are mine and aren't about output. The other half is an attitude rather than an activity. Trying to stay open minded about both myself and the world, instead of bracing against everything. What I've learned is that the 'big' solutions like a vacation or a therapist booked for next month don't catch you in the day to day. The small repeatable things do. Therapy and friends matter too, but they work better on top of that daily floor than as a rescue after you've already crashed.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@mincheol_kim Can I register somewhere for that online group too? :D
@busmark_w_nika Ha, I wish I could invite you! It's a paid community that runs entirely in Korean though — weekly essays, peer feedback, all of it 😂
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@mincheol_kim ahh, I need to learn Korean first haha :D
Wellness!
Stress is the silent killer for everyone, and entrepreneurs deal with way more of it than most people.
So invest in your body and mind with regular exercise, nutrition, sleep, supplements.
That's kept me from burning out despite 10+ years as a founder.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@samim_safaei Which part of wellness is the best? Spa? Hiking? :D
@busmark_w_nika Nothing beats a good workout! But I'm also a sucker for the supplements :p
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@samim_safaei All good supplements are in the food :)
To avoid burn out :
1) Prepare for the long haul. Startups are not for short term and quick success. If you get quick success, good. If not, you long term view will protect you from burn out.
2) Avoid Investors as much as possible. They might make you run for their vision which may not be aligned with yours.
3) Keep your 'Sense of Humour' alive. Always visualize size of our earth in the universe. Tomorrow if the earth vanishes, universe will not even come to know. Keep this in mind. Remember, Whatever you are doing is BIG but it definitely NOT BIG ENOUGH.
4) Point 1 & 2 will be supported by this : Be stingy in your finances - both company spending as well as personal spending. Keep it in control. It will help you 'run' for more amount of time.
5) Last but not the least : Choose an area (for your startup) which is your passion. You should never be bored of doing that.
I think if you take care of these basics, you will never get burnt out.