6 ms·

Take a vacation, preferably to a beach. Use it to learn what processes at your company are dependent on you. Then when you get back, start documenting and deleg

Take a vacation, preferably to a beach. Use it to learn what processes at your company are dependent on you. Then when you get back, start documenting and delegating every process until you are no longer a critical dependency. Then take another, longer vacation. Sounds like you need one.

benmarten 9y ago
I agree. It's your company so you should be able to do whatever you want with your time, now that the company is able to support you. Why not take a sabbatical, work remotely from anywhere on the world etc.? Basically find whatever you really want to do without giving up the responsibility as a CEO (yet)
amorphid 9y ago
+1 for vacations. I used to vacation only when I burned out. Now I plan in advance several months ahead. It helps me pace myself so I don't burn myself out before the vacation shows up. Personally I try to schedule two week vacations, leaving the work laptop behind when I go. Letting people know you'll be traveling, so they can plan around it, also helps decouple you from the work. If everything catches on fire when you are gone, they will realize it's necessary to reduce their reliance on you.
alexashka 9y ago
This is very solid advice
misiti3780 9y ago
+1 on vacation, also maybe read a book like Deep Work, he has some interesting concepts that might be helpful involving exercise.
_e 9y ago
+1 for learning what processes your company depends on you for. The vacation is a bonus.
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Beaches aren't for everyone. In burnout situations, I find going backpacking (mountains/hiking, canoeing in the Canadian wilderness) to be even more relaxing than a beach. None of these annoying humans that seem to be always present on beaches and at workplaces. And also none of the attention-sucking internet access.
- aklsjdalksdjk 9y ago
  > None of these annoying humans that seem to be always present on beaches find better beach :D
- dnautics 9y ago
  Those are probably more effective venues for killing burnout not for the reasons you give, but because those activities usually incur some goal (covering certain mileage, getting to a destination) that restores the association of reward with effort... Versus being at the beach, which simply doesn't.
  - misium 9y ago
    I love the beach, but it's passive, so I'm still turning over work in my mind as I'm there. Swimming, hiking, camping, etc. give me tasks and actively distract me.
    - transitorykris 9y ago
      Yes! I've also found that having to focus on something different relieves stress. My go to activities for this is either driving in the hills down the peninsula from SF or cooking dinner. If I'm not in the moment it's either dangerous or I ruin dinner.
  - bhalperin 9y ago
    Wow, this gave me the realization I needed about why I've been procrastinating on a project. Thanks.
- jamesrcole 9y ago
seibelj 9y ago
This is the "E-Myth Revisited" route, which to summarize is about decoupling the business from yourself and enabling other people to take "critical" work off your plate (because it really isn't that critical).[0] [0] https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495750996&sr=1-1&keywords=e-myth+revisited https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abo...
BinaryIdiot 9y ago
The problem here is the founder thinks he / she is so indispensable that it would fail if he quit. So taking a week off for vacation is likely to just lead to more stress. However, the longer vacation is good advice. When I was severely burned out at a previous job (start-up) I was eventually fired because I couldn't continue the 70 hours a week and have the same, high output as I originally did when I started (I was averaging 70 hours a week for almost two years in addition to a long commute time and this is after working with the same people at a job before that where I was working about the same 70 hours for almost 3 years where I was also expected to have high output). When that happened I ended up having roughly 3 months off of work. Joined a new company and it was amazing. My burn-out, which plagued me for years and caused an anxiety attack so strong I thought I was going to die of a heart attack (very severe chest pain; tried explaining to my 2 year old what to do if "daddy passes out") to feel essentially dissolved. Burn out isn't fixed within your typical vacation period at a job. Most of my friends who have been, or are still, burned out have never had it go away until after taking months of time off.
- mgkimsal 9y ago
  If things are "that bad" at a particular work environment, I'm not sure any amount of time away will "fix" the root problems if you still have to go back there. You described taking time off (months) but you didn't go back. I have to think that the switching of jobs had something to do with your anxiety level going way down but I'd agree it would still have been "go go go" if you just switched employers overnight and started at a new place the next week.
  - BinaryIdiot 9y ago
    Yeah, since the vast majority of companies in the United States don't give more than a few weeks off (which is far below what you really need, in my opinion, to undo burn-out), you pretty much have to quit. I guess I didn't really make that clear :) Essentially what I was getting at was: a short vacation isn't going to do anything. If he can make it so he can take a very long vacation then that means he either transitioned enough so others can run it for him or he quit. Either way sounded like it would work out for him at least which is what I was aiming for with my comment.

benmarten 9y ago

I agree. It's your company so you should be able to do whatever you want with your time, now that the company is able to support you. Why not take a sabbatical, work remotely from anywhere on the world etc.? Basically find whatever you really want to do without giving up the responsibility as a CEO (yet)

amorphid 9y ago

+1 for vacations. I used to vacation only when I burned out. Now I plan in advance several months ahead. It helps me pace myself so I don't burn myself out before the vacation shows up. Personally I try to schedule two week vacations, leaving the work laptop behind when I go. Letting people know you'll be traveling, so they can plan around it, also helps decouple you from the work. If everything catches on fire when you are gone, they will realize it's necessary to reduce their reliance on you.

alexashka 9y ago

This is very solid advice

misiti3780 9y ago

+1 on vacation, also maybe read a book like Deep Work, he has some interesting concepts that might be helpful involving exercise.

_e 9y ago

+1 for learning what processes your company depends on you for. The vacation is a bonus.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

Beaches aren't for everyone. In burnout situations, I find going backpacking (mountains/hiking, canoeing in the Canadian wilderness) to be even more relaxing than a beach. None of these annoying humans that seem to be always present on beaches and at workplaces. And also none of the attention-sucking internet access.

aklsjdalksdjk 9y ago
> None of these annoying humans that seem to be always present on beaches find better beach :D
dnautics 9y ago
Those are probably more effective venues for killing burnout not for the reasons you give, but because those activities usually incur some goal (covering certain mileage, getting to a destination) that restores the association of reward with effort... Versus being at the beach, which simply doesn't.
- misium 9y ago
  I love the beach, but it's passive, so I'm still turning over work in my mind as I'm there. Swimming, hiking, camping, etc. give me tasks and actively distract me.
  - transitorykris 9y ago
    Yes! I've also found that having to focus on something different relieves stress. My go to activities for this is either driving in the hills down the peninsula from SF or cooking dinner. If I'm not in the moment it's either dangerous or I ruin dinner.
- bhalperin 9y ago
  Wow, this gave me the realization I needed about why I've been procrastinating on a project. Thanks.
jamesrcole 9y ago

seibelj 9y ago

This is the "E-Myth Revisited" route, which to summarize is about decoupling the business from yourself and enabling other people to take "critical" work off your plate (because it really isn't that critical).[0] [0] https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495750996&sr=1-1&keywords=e-myth+revisited https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abo...

BinaryIdiot 9y ago

The problem here is the founder thinks he / she is so indispensable that it would fail if he quit. So taking a week off for vacation is likely to just lead to more stress. However, the longer vacation is good advice. When I was severely burned out at a previous job (start-up) I was eventually fired because I couldn't continue the 70 hours a week and have the same, high output as I originally did when I started (I was averaging 70 hours a week for almost two years in addition to a long commute time and this is after working with the same people at a job before that where I was working about the same 70 hours for almost 3 years where I was also expected to have high output). When that happened I ended up having roughly 3 months off of work. Joined a new company and it was amazing. My burn-out, which plagued me for years and caused an anxiety attack so strong I thought I was going to die of a heart attack (very severe chest pain; tried explaining to my 2 year old what to do if "daddy passes out") to feel essentially dissolved. Burn out isn't fixed within your typical vacation period at a job. Most of my friends who have been, or are still, burned out have never had it go away until after taking months of time off.

mgkimsal 9y ago
If things are "that bad" at a particular work environment, I'm not sure any amount of time away will "fix" the root problems if you still have to go back there. You described taking time off (months) but you didn't go back. I have to think that the switching of jobs had something to do with your anxiety level going way down but I'd agree it would still have been "go go go" if you just switched employers overnight and started at a new place the next week.
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  Yeah, since the vast majority of companies in the United States don't give more than a few weeks off (which is far below what you really need, in my opinion, to undo burn-out), you pretty much have to quit. I guess I didn't really make that clear :) Essentially what I was getting at was: a short vacation isn't going to do anything. If he can make it so he can take a very long vacation then that means he either transitioned enough so others can run it for him or he quit. Either way sounded like it would work out for him at least which is what I was aiming for with my comment.