Burnout / Recharge

3 min readSep 19, 2016

This week we write about how we work through mental burnout.

This blog is a weekly reflection of WorkHound’s time at Dynamo, a logistics-focused accelerator based in Chattanooga, TN. This is week ten.

Burnout

The feeling every founder dreads: Burnout.

It hit me this past Thursday. I had one of those days where the “utility player” role was fulfilled.

Financials. Legal conversations. Cold calls. Sales calls. Implementation plans. Customer success. Pitching. Product. Mentor meetings.

It was all necessary to move the ball forward, but using the brain in so many different ways is draining. It felt like I could not physically or mentally do more.

I’m not the first one to experience this. Venture capitalist Brad Feld knows this feeling all too well. He’s lived it and seen it in the founders he’s worked with. One of the best nuggets of wisdom he shared was his notion that founders need to take time for themselves.

Recharge

Despite the fact that others in the accelerator were jovial drinking beers around me, I told my co-founder Andrew I needed to step away for a while. I headed to the YMCA where I played pickup basketball for a few hours.

I left drenched in sweat with a new outlook on the world. I clearly thought through challenges that were plaguing me. I was in a better mood. The most important part: I was ready to return to the work.

Andrew has his own rituals in place too. He lifts weights regularly at the gym. When he recently hit his own burnout moment he shut down all of his devices and drank a beer by himself on the patio.

After 10 weeks in the accelerator a little recharge is needed. Fortunately, it only took a few hours to get the head on straight.

I learned a few things from this experience

Step away from the screen. I’m in front of my phone / laptop way too often. Yes they are my weapons for work, but they are not my savior for sanity. It was a blessing to leave the information overload behind for a few hours.
Move your body. Exercise is not only good for physical health, but mental health too. Exercise doesn’t require as much critical thinking as the work does. It is pure bliss when I have moments where nothing is going through my mind.
Do something you love. I’ve played basketball since I was six. I’m not the best on the court, but I love the competition. It’s always nice to indulge in a “treat yourself” moment.

Read our previous posts about our time at Dynamo

WorkHound Joins Dynamo // Week 1 Recap // Week 2 // Week 3 // Week 4// Week 5 // Week 6 // Week 7 // Week 8 // Week 9

What is WorkHound?

WorkHound is a software platform built to help carriers keep drivers and improve the truck driver experience. Truck drivers use their smartphones to share feedback and ideas with the carrier, which WorkHound aggregates and turns into actionable insights to help manage and retain drivers. WorkHound is co-founded by Andrew Kirpalani and Max Farrell.