All of us experience stress differently, and if you commit to starting something yourself that gives a return on your investment, you might be surprised how long it takes to make it more than just a hobby.
Which held true also for me. The past few years were very stressful and for many reasons, most stuff did not pan out the way I wanted to. I hit the breaks for the first time this year because I was spiralling down an unhealthy path.
Here are three unhealthy habits I saw myself and other entrepreneurs around me leaning into - usually when we were overworked.
These are diligently tested and tried strategies that speed up the time until your Burnout (TUB) I see in solopreneurs, freelancers, indiehacker and self-starters.
working on even more projects in parallel
I consider myself a creative person and I want to try out everything I can. (To some degree)
Now, I tried a lot of content forms and did tons of things in parallel - from board duties, to various forms of content creation, fixed job (to make money), a venture studio and much more. I cut down my social media over time because it stressed me out to have so many platforms I had to produce content for.
To maximise my TUB, I should have cast my net wider, producing even more content on even more platforms.
Instead of going through my system of market testing and MVP processing and disregarding 90% of my BS ideas, I should have lowered my standard to what I deem worthy of pursuing and try out even more things to see which stick.
After all, a larger net can cover a wider area, right?
Skipping all physical activities
With things amping up, I started to have less and less time for physical activities.
I would work long hours and, with my relationship demanding attention as well, I would usually cut activities, like sport and hobbies.
Which works pretty well; to combat the backpain which started to stack up, I tried to add some five minute exercises in the morning and to go for occasional walks, which felt like way enough.
Which was a waste of time if I had known about the TUB.
There is a reason we have painkillers.
Cooking with my SO? Wasted time. I should have ordered food like that productivity dude does, the one I saw on Youtube.
Without these 5min of daily exercises, cooking and cleaning sessions I could have easily saved hours per week that I could have worked even more.
consuming more sweets, more caffeine and more alcohol
When adding more and more projects, you need a proper system of self-organisation to have time to eat and move properly. I tried to somehow keep this up, which got increasinlgy harder the more tired I felt.
My head was in too many places because I need some gigs to make money, but because I could not give enough attention to the other things it felt like I started to forget things, was not doing enough and ultimately, I started to rush things and make more mistakes.
To speed up my time until burnout, I should have done what thousands of the most successful wall street guys (and youtoubers) preach - increase my productivity.
Tired in the morning? Amp up that caffeine, and get a stronger roast.
Got a low in the afternoon and the caffeine does not do anything anymore? Build a red bull stash.
Still tired? Make that stash even bigger.
Ready for bed but can't sleep because of too much caffeine? Blast some alcohol starting in the late afternoon. You will feel tired.
Well, you will still feel tired and shitty the next day. But that's ok. Because you got that red bull stash, remember?
🚀
(I actually got lifelong allowances from a Germany based Craft - Brewery called MetabrewSociety, sending me free beer every quarter... no kidding. 😅 Not the best idea I ever had)
The Aftermath
There is a massive difference between being overworked and truly burning out.
If you work a regular 9 hrs per day full time job, have a relationship or even family, try to move your ass once every other day AND you want to build up a proper business on the side, you are up for one hell of a demanding task.
There are many ways how you can make it work. Focusing on one endeavour for a longer time, delegating as much as you can, as early as it makes sense and doing the things you say you will do when you say you will do it will bring you really far. Also when you have only 2 hours per week.
Luckily, my relationship was starting to fall apart before I completely burned out, and it made me hit the emergency breaks and reflect for a while.
Sometimes it takes a signpost to make us see the obvious. 🤷♂️
If you feel you are not doing enough, maybe consider whether it may be time to consciously put a stop on a few of the activities you are doing.
Maybe it is worth it, after all, there is no point in being the richtest guy in the graveyard.
Cheers to us.
Andy