Comments on: Smell That? I Think Its Me Burning Out

By: Burnout – Jon Fox

Burnout – Jon Fox — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:33:30 +0000

[...] it dangerously close, but still maintaining control (at least at some level). Then I read Micah’s recent post about burnout and had to re-examine my current condition. According to him, here are some telling [...]

By: Sarah B

Sarah B — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:00:07 +0000

The best advice in this post is to laugh a lot. People in startups often take themselves and their company too seriously. It’s just a high-risk, high-reward job, not a quest :)

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:38:45 +0000

hey Micah, let me ask you something. Do you think its necessary to take breaks when you own your own company, because I think one of the biggest reasons for feeling burnt out is that many people have this constant burn to produce more, get better, more efficient and earn more, thus many people, myself included view taking breaks as a loss because we're not working on the company.

in my case, its very hard for me to sit at a social gathering and not view it as a complete waste of time, because its lost opportunity cost, I could have spent that hour calling customers, looking at other investments, I enjoy this and do it for fun, but are taking breaks necessary?

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:38:45 +0000

By: LilBiker » Out of the house and into an office.

LilBiker » Out of the house and into an office. — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 06:12:41 +0000

[...] family wasn’t so frustrated with my absence. This made a lot more since to me after reading Micah’s post on burning [...]

By: electromute

electromute — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:49:34 +0000

Nice, post, Micah.

I found doing something physical like cycling, hiking with friends and yoga really help keep me from burnout. The times I need these things the most are the times that they are hardest to do. It's certainly a struggle to keep these balancing aspects in my life, but when you put your whole heart into a project/startup/team and you have nothing else to hold on to (such as these activities, especially with friends) the failures seem that much worse and you end up super discouraged and deflated.

Also, each time I start on a new project or a new endeavor when things are new and exciting, I remind myself to expect the down time and to expect the roller coaster ride. (when talking to friends, I sometimes say, "remind me about this happy/successful moment when I'm about to cry at some point in the future, please").

By: Jim "Genuine" Turner

Jim "Genuine" Turner — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:09:57 +0000

Oops I hit publish too quickly. I meant to add “Smell That? It's Roses Dummy.”

By: Jim "Genuine" Turner

Jim "Genuine" Turner — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:08:10 +0000

This has much more to do with life than just being in a startup. This is a universal problem. I see it in many other aspects of life, be it relationships, business, parenting, anything. Great post as always Micah. Happy Hanukkah to you as well.

By: Deb Louison Lavoy

Deb Louison Lavoy — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:32:30 +0000

i sent kids and hubby to grandma's for the week. I may recover yet.

By: Kary Rivera

Kary Rivera — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:43:46 +0000

Thanks for the post, you hit it dead on. It is so easy for a startup to consume your life, but I think that is part of it. if you do a startup you have to be willing to lose yourself to it. It is challenging, stressful & frustrating but there is nothing I would rather be doing. When I feel these symptoms I try to think about that rainbow at the end of the tunnel & why I am doing what I am doing. I also take time out to do stuff I really like-boarding, running, video games. I also like to try to take one day a week where I try not to touch a computer. When I do these things I come back refreshed & more productive. I think you said it best when you mentioned the trick is to not let it suck you up.

By: Sabac

Sabac — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:21:20 +0000

Perhaps that was the only reason for quitting my 2 jobs in past and joining internet marketing bandwagon. Surprisingly I never be cautioned or threatened to be fired but I felt that I was doing the worst type of job ruining all my life. I am more than happy to leave all challenges and challenging job roles.

By: Jim Kukral TheBizWebCoach

Jim Kukral TheBizWebCoach — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:12:11 +0000

Tough lessons to learn. I learned those in my early 30's, (I'm now 37). What I do now is create fun projects that entertain me and are fun to do. For example, I just bought playauke.com and I'm turning it into a free video course about how to learn how to play the ukulele, just like I did, online.

Unfortunately, these lessons are hard to learn. For me, I had to have an anxiety attack and think I was having a heart attack before I started to change my thought process from "holy crap I've failed" to "big f-ing deal, tomorrow's another day and it'll be fine". Good post.

By: micah

micah — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:25:13 +0000

Thanks Jim. Its funny. I write post titles of posts I am interested in
writing (I have a dozen or so), and had written this title about 4
months ago. When I saw my friends starting to burn out, I figured it
might be interesting for a larger group to write about how I deal with
it…

By: MB

MB — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:11:01 +0000

I took up a hobby that challenged me as much as my work did but tapped into a different part of my brain and would potentially kill me if I didn;t give it my undevided attention, I learned to fly a plane.

If the stakes were not any higher I might have been tempted to split my attention on my hobby and my work. Not flying a plane. There are so many things to think about, communications, deminsionality, mechanics, etc. Using my right brain most of the time for work this put an intense demand on the left lobe. Both exhausting and refreshing AND a total 2 hour distraction a few times a week.

It may not be flying for you, but find something that tugs on the other side of the brain at a level that demands your attention and at a pace that's not overwhelming but is not casual either.

By: iamkrissy

iamkrissy — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:19:51 +0000

I sit back and refocus. First I think, what will make me feel creative? It can be something in my work, or something without. It has to be something I have passion about! Then I set down some goals! Yes, goals! You would think that would make further burn out, but for me it doesn't. For me focus brings direction, and direction brings new satisfaction and accomplishment! With accomplishment comes pleasure.

Helping others brings particular pleasure, especially volunteering. So does using my mind to figure something out. Using my mind to solve a problem for others is even the best yet!

Finally, to not burn out, I plan for self care also. This means getting enough sleep, eating correctly, exercising, spending time with my husband, etc. Finally, keeping up my spiritual life is of utmost importance. I need to pray and meditate and contemplate. Spending time with my Lord means the world to me. Just talking to Him about everything -- the pressures, the stresses, the joys -- makes them all easier, and defuses them!

Hopefully, you are doing that already every day. Being creative, taking care of yourself, taking time out for yourself, praying and meditating. If you are, you won't find yourself snapping or being irritated or reaching burn out in the first place!

Okay, hope that helps somebody!

krissy knox :)
http://sometimesithink-krissy.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/iamkrissy