I'm bootstrapping and have been working a ton in recent weeks. By Tuesday of this week I was so worn out.
I'm with family and still thinking about what needs to be done and where I'm behind.
Any tips to just not think about the business, when that's all I ever do? Thanks.
Tell me work can wait until Monday…as a founder
byu/Comfortable_Win4678 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Comfortable_Win4678
9 Comments
Work can’t wait until Monday (you’re welcome)
Bro I feel this so hard. What helped me was setting specific “no work” hours and actually putting my phone in another room during family time. Also started doing something completely different that requires full attention – for me it was learning guitar but could be anything that forces your brain to focus elsewhere
The guilt is real but your family deserves the present version of you, not the stressed entrepreneur zombie version
First thing to do is unplug , this is what i do when I need to be present for social interactions. All devices shut down for a time period ( let’s say 8 hours)
Schedule your worry time . E.g. if you are worrying about work , assign 20-30 minutes , your subconscious mind will know that you will do the task and it’s scheduled . The urge to go back to work wil be lesser.
Spending quality time with family is rare, and once the holiday is over the work will begin again.
Treat resting and relationship maintenance as part of your work.
Can the work survive if you unplug for a few days? If yes then you need to use those opportunity to rest your mind or you will burn out eventually.
But if things caught on fire then you gotta do what you gotta do.
Unless there is an emergency you’re fine dude.
I got this issue too recently with a web development project, need to finish a design in figma and some backend code to send to the developer… But in all reality. Whether he gets it next week or the week after it doesn’t really matter. It’ll get done and life will go on.
Recharge and relax, you might end up getting things don’t quicker and more efficient after you’ve given your mind a few days to disconnect.
Treating rest as a risk management is a great mental shift you can adopt. A tired founder makes worse decisions, pushes wrong principles and creates more work later. If nothing will actually break this weekend, then the highest-leverage move is being respectfully present, resetting your nervous system, and coming back sharp. Your kids won’t remember your pipeline numbers but they will remember whether you were there or not. Monday will come either way.
If you don’t take breaks, your body will decide on its own. It’ll make you sick, and you’ll wish you could get back to right now and choose to take a breath.
Don’t confuse business with progress. Unless you’re working in an emergency room, nothing is time sensitive.
One thing that genuinely helped me reduce mental clutter is a “do later” list.
Any task, follow-up, or random “don’t forget this” thought that keeps looping in your head goes straight onto that list. The rule is simple: once it’s written down, it’s no longer allowed to live in your head.
I use the same approach for things I can’t control or irrational worries. I write them down and revisit them after a month and honestly, most of them either resolve over time or stop feeling important once there’s distance.