Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.
By Nathan Parcells
Whether I like it or not, I frequently think about my company while I am sleeping. On occasion the dreams consist of making mega deals, but far more often, my normal and more enjoyable dreams get interrupted by mundane work tasks like sending an email or calling someone back who I need to follow-up with. It’s like my brain has been synched with my google tasks and refuses to shut off. I would be more worried about this if I didn’t talk to a significant number of entrepreneurs and other self-employed peers who experience the same thing. After putting in so many hours every week, and constantly trying to manage the challenges of starting a new company, learning to disengage in a healthy way can be one of the hardest parts.
Work-life balance is a frequent conversation in the business and startup world. Whether a foosball table will destroy your company, how one’s productivity can increase with taking quick breaks, or what secondary activities should never get left behind no matter how hard you work, are all important topics. The successful entrepreneurs I have gotten the opportunity to know are some of the hardest working people I have ever met, but most agree that it is critical to take time off so as not to burn out. However, you then have this recent NY Times article which spotlights “manic” entrepreneurs who work at insane levels, and which praises Seth Priebatsch who happily derides unnecessary side excursions like friends, dating, and going out at night. According to the article Seth’s parents trained him to plan vacations at age 10 like a Green Beret is trained to plan for a mission.
For me, the most critical balance has been finding a small number of outlets that allow me to totally clear my mind and return to work with a new vigor and satisfaction. Often this is easier said than done but here are some ideas that I think about:
Friends, Family, and Health: TeachStreet CEO, Dave Schappell, wrote this blog a few months back celebrating the essential need of giving time to friends, family and health. This insight was really critical to me at a time when I was trying to figure out what was acceptable to put on hold while putting every ounce of effort into growing our company. In the long run these activities are entirely critical to success in the work sphere.
Taking “mini-trips” every day: I have grown to enjoy taking really short trips outside the office that also serve as mental trips. Just putting oneself in a different environment for a short period can have large benefits. Usually a planned trip down the street to buy a drink from a local market gets me away from the office and white boards for a few minutes and allows me to think more creatively about a problem I want to solve.
Forced Compartmentalization: I typically go rock climbing once or twice a week. One of my favorite aspects of rock climbing is that it is impossible to think about anything outside of rock climbing when you are climbing. It doesn’t matter what happened that day, I simply don’t want to fall or hurt myself and so my whole mind has to focus on the task at hand. It is a bit of a cheap trip trick, but it is incredibly useful to know that in 20 minutes I can be out climbing and then come back to the office totally fresh and happy.
I still have a lot of improving to do in finding an optimal strategy that allows me to know I have put my full effort into our company, which is absolutely exciting to me, but that I am doing it in a sustainable and intelligent way. I will always believe I can work harder, but finding the right balance I am sure will be a lifelong challenge. For the time being I don’t mind having work pop up in my sleep every now and then.
