What’s Working: Four Practices Helping to Heal My Entrepreneurial Burnout
I’d love to say that this is my first journey with burnout, or to tell you that I wrote this post many moons ago.
Both statements would be lies.
Here’s the truth, just because we’ve battled burnout once doesn’t mean we are immune in the future. In fact, workplace well-being expert Jen Fisher, conducted a Burnout Survey with over 1,000 full-time US professionals. The survey found that 51% of the 77% workers experiencing burnout in their current role, had burned out more than once. And that was back in 2018. According to a recent Fortune article, in 2024 upwards of 82% of employees are at risk of burnout!
Having a career in well-being made it extremely difficult to admit falling back into my old patterns of chronic overwork. I refused to acknowledge the burning and churning in my body and mind. It couldn’t be burnout, I thought. I know better than to let that happen again. I’m supposed to be the life-work alignment person who teaches others how to make time for life and work success.
True, and yet, I was out of control, like a car speeding 110-mph on a winding mountain road, heading for a crash.
My brain stopped first. I couldn’t write. I would sit down to journal my 3 daily pages (something that typically takes me 10 minutes) and tears would trickle down my cheeks. Social media posts that used to come with ease were like trying to write my magnum opus. As a solopreneur, if I didn’t write my posts and blogs, who would?
Despite the check engine light being on, I kept pushing.
I had just launched two businesses and needed to make them successful or what would people think, let alone say about me ? We know by now that I am a recovering perfectionist, so these imposter-like thoughts should come as know surprise.
Then came the body issues. Sure, my stomach had been in knots since March, but that was typical for me as an anxious overachiever, so I paid no attention. One Friday, after putting work aside for a 5 pm dinner with my partner (the one true break, I was taking each day), I found myself unable to keep my head up at the table. On the one minute walk back to our car, my feet would barely work. It’s as if my body was terrified to go home, afraid that I would start cranking away again. I burst into tears, literally sobbing for 24 hours. I know it sounds awful, but the breakdown was needed!
It was time to face the ugly truth.
I burned out AGAIN, and this time as an entrepreneur, meaning I was solely responsible for my meltdown.
What’s Helping Me Heal Burnout 2.0?
Boundaries Around Social Media: For any entrepreneur who considers themselves a content creator and/or a community owner, social media is a necessary evil…Up to a point. I can assure you that most of my usage was gratuitous and unnecessary. If you need to be on social media for work, there are great apps like Later that can be used to schedule posts way in advance. I started using Later prior to my episode of burnout, but was on social media ALL THE TIME—commenting to my commenters, advertising, checking posts, making sure to be there for everything and everyone, except myself.
And when we are constantly on social media, we see everyone’s bright shiny successes on display, which can feel a bit deflating, at least for this brand new entrepreneur. Don’t get me wrong! I fully believe that people, especially women should shine away and share their successes, AND yet when things aren’t going great for us, comparing and despairing come far too easily.
Now, I post on Later, and limit my daily usage of social with Iphone’s Screen Time feature. Bottom line, we need to gate our own social media usage like we would a child’s.
Limiting Access to Devices: As an Apple user for both computer and phone, limiting access is simple. You go into Screen Time, select downtime, and schedule when you want your devices in “do not disturb” mode. Using downtime terrified me at first, because it meant admitting that I had a problem. Hi, my name is Kacy, and I’m a workaholic.
Once the irrationality subsided, there ironically is freedom in locking a phone. I now watch Netflix and Prime in peace. I don’t look at my phone before bed because other than setting an alarm or checking my calendar, it is basically a paper weight. Bonus: I am more present with my partner and puppies, though Mark still isn’t convinced he needs “downtime” (baby steps). Look on the brightside, if you don’t like the downtime, you can always change your settings!
Daily Meditation (it’s baaaaaack): I know, I know, being told to meditate is SO ANNOYING! I agree, AND meditation works. Don’t take my word for it, but know that Green and Kinchen (2021), found that “mindfulness meditation has the potential to decrease stress and burnout in nurses by decreasing self-judgment and overidentification with experience, and by increasing resiliency, compassion, and emotional regulation.” If it works for nurses, who actually deal in life and death, it will work for the rest of us who simply feel like each email and meeting might bring death.
Start small. Meditate 1-3 minutes a day. I am partial to the Calm app, but there are free mindfulness videos on YouTube as well. If you don’t want guided meditation, turn on soothing music and get still. If closing your eyes is claustrophobic, keep them gently open. If you don’t feel like sitting upright, lie down. It doesn’t matter how you meditate, just do it, and know that even the most seasoned meditators struggle to quiet the mind. Meditation isn’t a perfect, but rather a practice.
Scheduling Everything, Especially Downtime: When I was a child, organizing my thoughts, activities and goals had to be an on-paper activity, and creating routines helped me become successful in both school and the corporate years. To calm my anxiety and enable productivity, I was taught to create process flows around everything in my life. My lists had lists.
You may not suffer with anxiety, but routine is critical to running a successful business, and I no longer had routine. Of course, my lists had lists, but I was flipping back and forth between companies. Two email accounts, two social media profiles, and two calendars can get unruly. I was spending so much time in inboxes that real work was happening in between multitasking. I went from doing what Cal Newport calls scheduled “deep work,” to doing multiple things at a time rendering me inefficient and unproductive.
Long story, less long, I bought a beautiful rectangular planner and allocated days of the week to my two businesses. The Fuchsia Tent work happens on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the Kacy Fleming Consulting work happens Tuesdays and Fridays, and above brand work happens on Mondays. I further broke down each day, scheduling breaks, an hour a day dedicated to email, and time slots dedicated to each of my prioritized projects. Getting real with ourselves, and getting clear about our priorities makes a huge difference.
The practices above have been extremely useful in calming my overwhelm and in reprioritizing my life and work. I hope they are helpful to you as well!
If you or your team are struggling with burnout or life-work alignment, I am here to help. Check out my Capabilities page and schedule a free consultation.