5 tips for avoiding burn out

Burn-out is one of the most feared phenomena among indie hackers working a full-time job while also doing their best to get their side projects off the ground. Even writing the word “burn-out” gives me this feeling of anxiety in my stomach.

So how can you prevent it?

Prevention is better than cure.

Being in the web development business for a little while now, I know how a seemingly innocent (side)project can turn into a dumpster fire, ready to suck up all your joy and energy.

The hours you would normally spend on your side hustle are now slowly getting eaten away by the urge to do nothing because you just don’t feel like doing anything.

Where I am from, the Netherlands, we have this saying “voorkomen is beter dan genezen”, which translates to: “prevention is better than cure.”

When you spend most of your days juggling your job with your side projects, you need to consider that burn-out is a threat to your success and, more importantly, your health & happiness.

So rather than thinking, “it won’t happen to me,” take a brief moment to think about ways you can reduce the risk of getting burned out.

To give you an idea of what to think of, here are my five steps to avoid burn-out:

1. Go to the gym regularly and get in shape.

Being in good shape does not only unlock a lot of physical energy, but it also gives you a lot of mental clarity. Think of it as a game; every hour you spend in the gym increases your health, energy, and maybe even your intelligence stats.

Two years ago, I found myself 45 kilos (99 lbs) overweight and feeling sluggish. I wasn’t performing the way I wanted to, and I was brain foggy more often than I liked to admit at the time. When two of my close friends talked me into going to the gym with them, I got hooked. I started working out two, then three, and now five times a week.

I started noticing the positive effects of having more energy and mental clarity throughout the day with each couple of kilos I lost.

Also, there is another benefit: When you have a set of weights in your hand, you can’t check your email. Whether I am having a very good or a terrible day, I disconnect from everything for a couple of hours once I start working out. So while lifting weights help my body to get stronger and fitter, working on myself and disconnecting for a couple of hours helps my mind destress and, in a way, get stronger.

2. Eat healthily.

When you eat shit, you’ll feel like shit. So make sure that you are mindful of your nutrition.

To lose weight, I count all my calories inside MyFitnessPal to make sure I am burning more calories than I am eating. But I got the most significant upside from counting calories when I started to look at my macros (carbs, proteins, fats).

When you lose weight, one of the easiest things to do is drastically decrease your carb intake. However, when I did that, I would rather spend my day on the couch than behind my desk. So I went back to the drawing board and experimented with my diet until I found a balance that worked for both me and my weight loss.

I know dieting is not fun and feels like a very annoying chore for most. But try to see it as having more data on yourself. We are all unique, so the diet that works for me might make you feel like shit. Try gathering data on yourself, and I promise that what it cost in annoyance, you’ll get back ten folds by the positive effect it has on your day-to-day life and performance.

3. Do more things that are out of your comfort zone.

This advice might sound odd because doing things out of your comfort zone doesn’t exactly sound like a great way to avoid burn-out.

However, not being challenged is my biggest pitfall towards feeling sluggish, annoyed, and eventually burning out. If I don’t challenge myself to do things out of my comfort zone, I get bored and fed up with the project I am working on.

I think it has something to do with the drive and the feeling of accomplishment I get from having done something I either didn’t know I could get done or that I really had to put in the work for.

Now, I am not telling you to get out of your comfort zone every day. Try to strike a balance between doing things that you love, that are scary, and even things that might be boring. You might not have a perfect balance every week, but you set yourself up to get the best out of your weeks by working on it actively.

4. Take more breaks.

Contrary to what many people believe, working more hours is not equal to getting more work done.

Sometimes I need to go out for a walk or play a couple of games to reset for an hour. By taking frequent breaks during my workday, work feels more like a part of my life than a chore.

Taking breaks not only helps me relax, but they are also a great way to get unstuck. Whenever I am getting fed up with a problem, I take a break and often find that when I get back behind my desk, I magically know the solution to my problem or at the very least have thought of a new angle to approach it.

5. The weekends are mine.

Besides taking breaks for day-to-day problems, I find myself needing time to unwind and allow some things to work themselves out in the back of my mind.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t do any work over the weekends. But when I work on the weekends, it’s because I want to play around with something or I came up with a solution, and I am excited to see if it will work.

Sometimes we forget that by unwinding for more extended periods, we allow ourselves to get inspired and maybe even bored, which is great for our creativity and health.

Don’t be too harsh on yourself.

This last section is more of a “thing to think about” rather than a point I wanted to include on the list. A piece of advice that you can do something with right after you watch this 1-minute video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3e6Pnstx-w

Take care of yourself.

If you got any value from this post, please check out my blog Remote101, where I published more productivity, lifestyle, and of course, remote working tips!

With love.

Twan