Where business coaches are all talking about ‘what’ to do in business, let’s also talk about ‘how’ to do it so you can build your business on top of your job in a sustainable way and still feel free and fulfilled.
How?
Here’s the truth: Burnout isn’t caused by overworking, it’s caused by under-recovery.
Humans are capable of very high workloads. We didn’t evolve over 500,000 years for nothing. So it’s not that we can’t sustain high loads of work, it’s that we can’t sustain those loads if we are not recovering adequately.
Think about Olympic athletes, they train for crazy hours every day and to sustain it, and their recovery regime is equally as serious.
The first step is to audit your work-recovery ratio to illuminate how you’re using your time and see if you’re working harder than you need to. From there, you need to start being radically intentional with your time so you can get more business results in less time, still perform in your employed role, and avoid burnout.
This can be achieved using this 6-step process:
- The audit
Look at a typical week in your calendar, and highlight with different colours how you use your time and energy, hour by hour. What do you need to do less of and what do you need to do more of to reach your business goals, faster? - Pinpoint your primary goal
Get clear on your most important goal within the next 6-12 months so you can consistently prioritise your weekly tasks. This is important because how you work will be extremely different if your goal is to go full-time in your business at any cost versus simply having an outlet that allows you to do what you love. - Pinpoint the three priorities of your weekly life
Other than the non-negotiables in your week (eg. work and appointments), write down the top 3 lifestyle aspects you need in order to happily sustain this routine. Maybe it’s going to the gym every weekday and seeing your family and friends at least once a week. - List all the other parts of your life that you will de-prioritise or stop (For now)
I love the saying: You can have it all, just not all at once. So if you want to avoid burnout, you don’t have to stop things you love, just what you don’t love as much. During this season of focus, maybe it’s time you put boundaries on watching TV or seeing friends more than twice a week. - Identify up to three daily non-negotiables that will optimise your state
Whenever I sleep 8 hours, eat whole foods, and exercise in the morning, I feel invincible for the day. Knowing this, I allow my schedule to fill up as much as needed, as long as it doesn’t compromise my non-negotiables. Of course, there may be short periods where this needs to be adapted, but this is the exception, not the rule. - Timebox your week using this data
Now that you have all the fundamental building blocks for a well-balanced week, you can timebox your ideal week that is progressive towards your primary goal, while still honouring your diverse needs as a human being.
Remember, you don’t have to do everything at once. You may be excited to do it all, but burnout will only set you back further. So, do what you can, and run your business as a marathon, not a sprint!
