Before: overwhelmed by business & unable to relax

After: realistic resting strategy

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Many entrepreneurs struggle with this one:

You’re on the edge of burnout, you can feel it but can’t rest. Even if you try, your mind’s restless. There’s a big milestone coming in (isn’t there always one), so you’ll rest then.

—or when your body stops you, likely at a very inconvenient time.

When faced with an on-the-edge-of-burnout entrepreneur, who knows it, seeks coaching because of it, but does not want to take days off, I usually ask:

How do you get some rest and revitalize?

They look at me with big eyes that say “Don’t you dare tell me what everyone tells me, I can-not take a 10-day holiday”.

I rephrase.

What are some ways you can get some rest without taking a holiday?

Blank stare.

Yes, there is a way to get rest, and to revitalize, in times of hyper something (growth, work, stress, you name it).

It’s more subtle than just unplugging for days but also can be more effective.

Because taking 5 days off stressing about your company, will not allow you to rest.

I know it because I had to learn the hard way.

Every time I don’t get enough rest, every time I over-stimulate or overwhelm myself, my body stops me.

I used to self-judge, call myself lazy for listening to my body. The truth was, I wasn’t lazy, I lacked strategic thinking.

As a business owner, your mind and health must be part of your strategy. Without a clear mind and a healthy body, you’ll hit a wall eventually.

When your business needs a big push, which these past two years, have been the case for many entrepreneurs, you’ve got to learn to be strategic about your energy management.

It’s a marathon, with mini sprints in it. Many of them.

You have to pace your effort like an athlete, not throw your all at it, and then struggle for the rest of the race.

Come join me, on the -almost- relaxed side of entrepreneurship.

Let’s dive in!

Rest as a strategy

There’s a voice in our head, telling us rest is lazy, I call it Lazy Jerry. In this grind economy, dominated by the 5 AM club, we bully ourselves into ignoring our body and mind to push through.

It’s not sustainable.

It’s like burning cash with your company, it may work for a while, as you’re backed by investors, but eventually, you need profitability and sustainable growth.

The same applies to your mind. You can, and should sometimes do sprints when you push through. You should sometimes unplug for a week or so to get some deep rest, but most of the time, you need to find ways to push through, just enough, and keep your energy.

So how do you find that balance?

You work on rest, the same way you work on money. It needs a clear strategy and constant optimization.

Productivity vs busyness

We somehow confuse productivity and busyness.

We keep telling ourselves we have to be productive when in reality we are forcing ourselves to be busy, not productive.

Productivity requires both rest and vitality to effectively manage our time, and get the optimized output based on minimal input.

Busyness means pushing, pushing, pushing inputs, without necessarily monitoring outputs. We default to busyness to feel in control, often because there is a lot of pressure on results.

Your mind is clearer and more effective, hence productive, after a good night of sleep, after meditation, or after a workout. Not when you push in 10 hours of ‘work’ (aka time in front of the computer).

Action: Whenever you blame yourself for not being productive, gently ask yourself, am I aiming for productivity or busyness? Meaning, is this the optimal (most productive) use of my time, or do I keep busy to feel in control?

Dealing with Lazy Jerry

Lazy Jerry is that manager saying he focuses on output over input so you can leave the office whenever you’re done, then ask you if you took off the afternoon when you take off at 6 PM.

Well, a version of it but in your mind.

The thing is, every time you get rest, or revitalize yourself through an activity you enjoy you feel guilty.

It’s not you, it’s a byproduct of society, social media, school, likely your parents’ education, and let’s be real here, a fear of not having what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Many entrepreneurs I talk to have this underlying fear of not being hard-working enough, of not doing enough.

It comes down to control (again). When you run a business or lead a team, many things are outside of your control, only within your influence.

Busyness makes you feel in control, rest, makes you feel shame, and like you’re giving away even more control.

Lazy Jerry is a tad evil. You have to watch for him.

It’s not his fault, he’s simply a part of you full of inner resistance.

He loves to rest and indulges in it when you do (that’s when you take a 5-minute break that turns into an hour of scrolling). He’s torn between his need for rest, which is a real need, and a lack of discipline.

Ironically, you usually lack discipline because you don’t get enough rest and resourcing.

Give yourself what you need so you don’t crave it

or worst, indulge in it.

What do you think works best?

A couple of weeks a year of strict detox, followed by weeks of bad eating because you deprived yourself, or a regular healthy diet, not so strict, allowing cheat meals from time to time?

Don’t get me wrong, a week of detox sometimes is necessary (these are your business sprints), but it has to be backed by consistent, disciplined eating habits.

The same applies to your business, the same applies to your mind.

There’s no such thing as overnight success, it’s a long, steady effort, invisible to most, that yields results.

It’s the small, seemingly insignificant disciplined habits of rest and revitalizing that lead to feeling energized in the long run.

If you deprive yourself of rest, you’ll crave it even more, resulting in more procrastination, more shame, being harder on yourself, less rest… a vicious circle leading to burnout.

Go Micro

Create micro-revitalizing and resting habits, that will ensure consistent breaks and allow you to be more disciplined, because you’re getting what you need.

These habits are low-effort, short-time activities (1 min to 40 min.) that revitalize you (make you feel motivated, happier, more creative) or allow you to rest (make you feel less tired, clearer, etc.)

It may feel silly to meditate just 5 minutes a day or to do a 20-minute workout when you are exhausted. Such small things don’t feel like they’ll move the needle as much.

But these are the pit stops (just like a marathon runner getting water and food micro-breaks) that allow you to manage your energy and push further than you thought you could.

Action: Think about short activities that make you feel more relaxed, creative, energized, etc. Reflect on how often you do them.

One nudge for you

Create a list of 5 resting activities and 5 revitalizing activities between 1 minute and 40 minutes. And yes, you need both.

Schedule in your calendar one of each daily.

Hot tip: you can use these activities as ways to open or close a task. ie. Do a 5-minute meditation before starting deep focus work, or doing a short run at the end of your workday.

I hope this is helpful. As always, thank you for reading, Orianne

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PS: I have 4 spots left for Founder’s Mindset Coaching, where we use our 1:1 sessions to create a mindset toolbox to help you deal with any situation as a founder. More info here .

If you’re new here, welcome! I’m Orianne , I share weekly tools to help you reduce overthinking and boost your self-confidence.

A bit more about me : I coach brilliant humans who perform very well but want to improve their relationship with themselves (their minds). I am a chocolate addict, live by the beach, and always read several books at the same time (currently a French novel and Sell like Crazy from Sabri Suby).

If you enjoyed this newsletter, you can read the previous editions and subscribe here . If you want to improve your mindset, I am launching a 1:1 coaching program for Founder’s mindset. Check it out here .