I arrived in the Bay Area in late 2012 and started to build on a problem, one that I thought had massive opportunity.
But there were a couple of pending issues because of which I was dealing with many world class lawyers. Unfortunately, they were for all the wrong reasons. Since, I am not at the liberty to disclose what happened, we’ll leave it at that.
Murphy’s law was in full effect. The first product completely failed because, Integration with the largest ad platform on the planet Google, failed.
This was because of some silly misstep in the agreement document. And they wouldn’t reconsider. It cost us tens of thousands of dollars in to integrate with them. And with more than 6 man months of effort, server costs ($10k+) and $50k in prepayments, they pulled the plug on the agreement. Remember, we were and we are still a self funded company.
All that stress was getting to my head and I was headed towards a burnout. Burnouts are bad and with one fast approaching my body was telling itself to slow down or shut down.
This blog is not a guide, but merely my own experience on how I avoided a burnout. I made a few changes in my lifestyle and I have listed a few things that I did and still continuing to do, to avoid a burnout.
- I stopped overworking. It is hard to be in the valley and not overwork. 7.00pm is when Apple campus seems to be alive. 7.00pm is when there are folks in many a startup, slogging away with pizzas and beers. I decided, it was not for me. At least, not at that moment of time.
- As a Muslim, Ramadhan gave me the perfect break away from everything. I fasted and prayed and calmed myself down at every opportunity. I look forward to this break every year and the spiritual experience is priceless.
- I started reading a lot more, and more of physical books. Having shifted heavily to digital content for many years, eye strain was a big issue with quality of content being the other. You can always jump back to some junk viral content or end up looking at Facebook feed. I also did that, no doubt. But I surrounded myself with books that I loved and that I wanted to read.
- I exercised a lot more. I hiked, walked, did weight training, cycling and a lot more. I also partied a little more, when I could and I partied hard.
- I spent time with quality people. I made a lot more friends. A coffee or a lunch with a friend can go a long way.
- I’ve mended broken relationships and continue to do so. Hatred and negativity can only take you so far. It is far easier for everyone to be sorry for what they did, than to live in regret and hatred all their life.
- I changed my schedule or I should say, I have been trying to change my schedule. I used to work late nights so much that my body refused to sleep during a regular pattern. Most of it has changed now and I regularly wake up between 6.00 to 7.30. I intend to change that to 5 am and I think I’ll get there soon. Sleep is still hard (for me) but not as bad as it could have been.
- I limited my intake of food, especially that which has high carbs or high sugar. I’ve had never liked soda or junk food, so consuming that during stressful times was never an issue. Anything in moderation was alright. Caffeine consumption is still out of control but I plan to fix that.
- I tried to be frugal, but you can live on noodles only for so long. I tried to keep costs low for a very long time only to see that the overall quality of life deteriorating and this added further pressure. I decided that this was enough and because I could, I made sure that the quality of life got an upgrade.
- Lastly, I kept restating goals. I kept writing it down and I kept reminding myself the obvious so that I could remain focused.
Thanks to many of these changes, I’ve never had any single sick day in the past two years. And, I did not end up with a burnout that I thought I’d be in.
I’ve never regretted what I’ve been doing — running a startup, chasing my dreams and waking up to yet another exciting day.
Be, in relentless pursuit of your endless dreams.
But, don’t forget to take plenty of breaks.
