Burnout

Every day, I see people doing nothing but work.

They mistake more hours for more outcomes.

They mistake more work for more productivity.

But that’s wrong.

Let me make something clear: I absolutely believe that working hard is inevitable. But when I talk about hard work, I mean strategic work that truly moves you forward.

Work that maintains a balance between your career and your health.

Many people think this is useless, but if you have no balance and are constantly working, you will burn out.

And burnout is the absolute enemy of entrepreneurs.

When it comes to consistency, you shouldn’t work too little, but you also shouldn’t work so hard that burnout forces you to take two months off.

I recently stumbled upon this post by Justin Welsh and reposted it:

It sums up exactly what I want to express here.

Burnout isn’t something you can be proud of.

It’s not an indicator of hard work.

It’s a constant cycle of misery.

And what’s even worse?

It’s proven that burnout and chronic stress can shorten your lifespan.

So take this seriously.

You don’t want to regret losing years of your life just because you put in a few more unproductive, low-energy, tired hours every day.

Burnout prevention

I’ve never had burnout, because I try to avoid it as much as I can.

I developed a system that allows me to stay energized and less stressed while working as efficiently as possible.

Almost a year ago, I started making sleep an absolute priority. Sleep is your number one recovery tool, and it helps you avoid burnout, too.

In fact, if you don’t prioritize your sleep and sacrifice it over a long time, it can also shorten your lifespan.

Another habit of mine is taking walks.

At least once a day, I go into nature, think, and calm down.

If you don’t take walks, you can’t imagine how productive this actually is.

Only you and your thoughts. You’ll come up with a lot of new ideas quickly, while slowing down and avoiding chronic stress.

The next one is meditation and breathwork.

I’ve developed some meditation times throughout the day when my energy is low and my stress level is high.

Then I meditate for 15 minutes, completely slowing down and preventing stress from taking over.

After that, I do a less-stressful task, so I don’t head straight into new stress.

Breathwork has also become a really powerful tool for me over time, because you can control a lot of your body’s feelings with it.

To relax, I simply exhale for twice as long as I inhale, which makes my body feel safe and relaxed.

Challenge

Now I want you to do the same.

You need to prevent burnout, no matter what you do, so I created a list of things you should follow to start:

1. Schedule your workday

• Set a clear number of hours you want to work each day.

• Set off-times when your workday is done and don’t sacrifice sleep.

• Identify times when you have high stress (often directly after a deep work session).

2. Take intentional breaks

• Try to meditate for at least 10 minutes.

• Do some breathwork exercises.

• Take walks.

3. Reflect on your day

• Did you feel stressed?

• Plan your breaks more intentionally at times when you feel stressed.

4. Don’t be too active

• Set time away from your phone.

• Turn off notifications.

• Don’t go online.

5. Prioritize sleep

• Have a clear sleep schedule.

• Sleep 7–9 hours every day.

That’s a pretty solid starting point for a burnout-free journey.

Quote of the week

Now here’s the quote of the week, introducing what you should focus on:

Try unplugging yourself for some time and see the results.