Overcoming Entrepreneurial Burnout, Part 3 – Take a Rest

Our most recent entry on how to handle burning out as an entrepreneur promised an easy-to-remember 4Rs – sort of the Reading-wRiting-aRithmatic of overcoming this unfortunate yet all too common occupational phenomenon.  In our last article, we addressed the first of these: Reasses, as in reassessing why you got into your business in the first place.

In this article, we move onto one more of the Rs: Rest. The reflective time you spent on reassessing the Why of your business hopefully got you centered once again and clear about why you are on this adventure in the first place. More likely than not, to get there from burnout, you’ll need a few Zzzzzz. 😴

Rest
Take a rest while you’re in the midst of building your business? We know you’re probably thinking that’s insane, impossible, or both. Consider this, though: not taking the time to rest and rejuvenate is probably what caused your burnout in the first place.

To understand how rest impacts sustainability in your business as well as get recommendations on the amount of rest you should get based on research, check out the transcript of this podcast by two business strategists.

Psychologists site three different types of burnout, yet one of the key solutions they have in common is taking downtime. Whether you allot a time of day, a day of the week or a period each quarter, the best, most common advice across the board is  to allow yourself the mental, emotional, and physical space in your calendar to rest.  (Explore the growing movement of the digital sabbath – a great option to keep burnout at bay.)

Depending on the extremity of your burnout, your budget, your country’s lockdown and your time, this may look a little different in each case.  Rest for you could mean anything from shorter workdays for a period to a vacation or a stay-cation that takes you away from business duties, phones, emails, etc. 

Time away from having to think about and make plans for your business is essential. Period. You take care of your business – this is taking care of the caretaker. Cue the buzzword: Self-care. As a form of self-care, rest also covers getting sufficient sleep on a regular basis. And if you’re wondering about its value, here’s why self-care isn’t just good for you, it’s also good for productivity and more on why rest may be the secret to entrepreneurial success.