Six months ago I was working 70 hour weeks and proud of it. Optimizing every minute. Time blocking. Pomodoro. Wake up at 5am. Cold showers. The whole performative productivity thing. And I was miserable and the business wasn't even growing that fast.
The breaking point was a Thursday afternoon when I sat at my desk for 3 hours and literally couldn't make myself do anything. Just stared at the screen. Brain completely empty. I thought something was medically wrong with me.
Talked to a therapist. She asked me what I did for fun. I couldn't answer. Asked me when I last took a day completely off. Couldn't remember. Asked me if I actually enjoyed running this business. I started crying which was embarrassing but also clarifying.
Here's the thing nobody tells you. Productivity systems are designed for people who aren't working enough. If you're already working too much, optimizing your work just means you burn out more efficiently.
What actually helped was cutting my hours. Not optimizing them. Cutting them. I went from 70 to 45. Felt terrifying at first. Felt like I was abandoning the business. But the business didn't notice. Revenue kept growing at roughly the same rate. Some things just didn't get done and turns out they didn't need to get done.
The 25 hours I got back went to sleep, exercise, seeing friends, and just existing as a human. My actual productive output during the 45 hours is now higher than it was during the 70. I can think clearly again. I can make decisions. I don't dread Monday anymore.
More hours isn't more output. It's just more hours.
Anyone else been through something similar?
Burned out founder here. The productivity advice made it worse. What actually helped was doing less.
byu/Responsible-Radish65 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Responsible-Radish65
2 Comments
I’m glad you realized this eventually.
It _should_ be obvious that constantly keeping your brain in high-alert mode without any breaks whatsoever will lead to a catastrophic decline in productivity and inevitable burnout. And not exercising, not maintaining a healthy diet, not socializing and not keeping your mind stimulated would also have detrimental effects on your brain power.
I could’ve told you this six months ago, and any productivity advice worth its salt would emphasize this as well, but I can also understand if e.g. self-help gurus and lifestyle influencers sell a different story.
The important thing is that you managed to salvage this before it went _WAY_ worse.
Keep that same mindset when you’re running the company at 100 staff. I wish companies realized the key to their employees being more “resilient” is for them to take the foot off the gas and realize they’re human and reduce unnecessary demands on time.