How do you keep yourself from burning out?
I have a full time job. Outside my work, I am preparing contents for explodingniches.com, setting up automations. Overall, I'm working crazy hours every day.
My free time is almost non-existent. However, there are a few personal things that I make sure I do:
- Getting enough sleep. It's about 6 hours, enough for me.
- Exercise for 20 minutes a day.
- Meditate for 5-10 minutes.
- Writing in the reflection journal.
What are the things you do everyday to keep yourself going?
Trending on Indie Hackers
Work less. Find ways to do fewer things. Ruthlessly cut unnecessary tasks, even the ones you're excited about. Stack projects so that you accomplish 2-3 objectives simultaneously. Shrink your ambitions to something small and manageable, and worry about the bigger goals once you've hit your small ones. And set hard time limits on your work, so you don't allow it to expand to fill entire days or weeks.
That's what I try to do. Easier said than done, though.
Yes, Working less works, but when I pause work for a day or two, I go on a guilt trip.
As redundant as that may sound, time/willpower management is key to me. I believe that It's highly personal and each person will need to experiment and find what works for them. Personally:
-I can hardly be "productive" if I haven't slept properly. Or if my diet isn't optimal (again, highly personal)
-Switching from different type of tasks regularly
-Scheduling "procrastination/recreational" time on purpose helps a lot to rest/re-energize myself before getting back to work:
I personally like to practice sports (soccer, working out), listening to audiobooks, browsing my daily sources of information, meeting with friends, walking outside
-Having people around me to talk about my progress and reflect on them is surprisingly energizing too
-I'm also into "Nootropics". While some will say it's placebo, I've seen drastic improvements in my ability to focus with Lions Mane and an increase in energy with quality Cordyceps or Tongkat Ali.
I'll honestly admit that I've tried tons of things that didn't make a difference. But these mentioned above are precious tools.
This is what I do, I train atleast for one hour two times a week, I like what I do (so you need to love what you are doing) and get enough sleep (for me that is 7-8 hours a day). Other than that, a startup and life in general is tough so there is no hack really to avoid the hardship.
This is tough. For me, building something is one of my hobbies, so I don't do it for the sake of doing it. I actually enjoy it much more than going out to night clubs or going to friend's gatherings that are just gossips and fun. I guess when you enjoy it, it gets easier.
But yeah to reduce burnout, I would say take breaks! Get out of the house and get some fresh air, also talk to someone you can trust and get a different perspective. Sometimes you're grinding yourself too hard.
Burnout right now, across almost all industries, is a hot topic. One of the sub-topics I follow for my own newsletter is business leadership- within, especially this past week, are a lot of burnout articles and how to combat it.
There's no shame in admitting it- but one does need to take care of it. Great list of personal care too.