Hi there! I'm Lachlan Brown, co-founder of The Considered Man, where we write about resilience and living with intention in modern life. I've also spent the past decade living as a nomad, building businesses from cafes, coworking spaces and tiny apartments. Thus, avoiding burnout has become my survival skill. I'd love to share my insights for CEO official magazine: What I've learned is that burnout rarely comes from working hard — it comes from working without rhythm. Too many founders chase balance as if life were a set of scales they can perfectly calibrate. But in my experience, startups aren't static — they're more like music. You need both intensity and release. If I'm going through a sprint, I lean into it fully — but then I carve out deliberate counter-rhythms. Sometimes that means cooking a slow meal, other times it's leaving my laptop behind and wandering a new city with no agenda. I once spent two hours in Ho Chi Minh City meandering through back streets after a 14-hour workday, and that unstructured pause gave me the clarity that no productivity hack could. So my single tip is this: don't try to erase stress, don't escape it, let it play out, then give it a beat to resolve. That's how you transform chaos into rhythm, and why after years of constant movement, I've built not just businesses, but a sustainable way of living. Thanks so much for considering my perspective! Happy to share more if needed! Cheers, Lachlan Brown Co-founder, https://theconsideredman.org/
One of the biggest ways that I focus on maintaining my work-life balance as well as stress and burnout, is to separate my personas. It might sound a bit weird, but a lot of times our work and personal life ends up getting so twisted, that it makes it difficult for us to separate, well work from life. It bleeds in, and so do the boundaries, what fulfils us and excites us in different areas of our life. Being able to separate those personas, enables us to essentially be the person who calls the shot, and dictate which persona to listen to for specific situations. For example, if you are spending time with your family and friends, but some work thing comes up, as the person in charge, you get to decide if the work persona which would like to get to the work thing, does its thing, or if the family persona who would like to spend time with the family, gets to do its. It gives you a bird's eye perspective, and ensures that you are respecting each areas/persona's boundaries and creating an overall balanced life. It also ensures that at the end of the day, when all the work and responsibilities are taken care of, you get to celebrate with the self-care persona and well, take care of yourself, and do things that will help you relax, destress, and reset yourself. This tip has honestly been a game changer strategy for me, as it ensures that I am taking complete care of myself and focusing on having a productive work day. It also ensures that various aspects of my life are not mutually exclusive experiences, and that they can co-exist without being overpowered by one area of my life. Hope this helps and makes sense!
Leading HypeTribe has been an incredibly rewarding journey, filled with excitement and growth. As we scale and work with brilliant startups, I quickly realized that the key to sustainable success is not just hard work but finding a healthy balance that supports both personal well-being and professional achievement. One of the most valuable lessons I've learned is that taking time to recharge is needed. I discovered that when I prioritize moments of rest, whether it's spending quality time with loved ones, enjoying a hobby, or simply taking a walk, I come back to work feeling energized, creative, and ready to take on new challenges. Another change that has made a huge difference is empowering my team. By trusting my team to take ownership and make decisions, I've not only lightened my own load but also encouraged a sense of collaboration and leadership throughout the organization. This has created an environment where everyone feels motivated and valued, which has been key to our growth and success. Tip for Others: Rest isn't a luxury but a necessity. Embrace the idea that taking breaks isn't time wasted but an investment in your creativity, productivity, and long-term success. Prioritize time for yourself, trust your team, and you'll find that balance naturally creates progress and fulfillment in both business and life.
During my time as Senior Vice President of Sales at a rapidly growing startup, I learned that setting clear boundaries was essential for maintaining work-life balance. I deliberately scheduled non-negotiable personal time on my calendar and treated it with the same importance as my highest-priority business meetings. This practice allowed me to be fully present with my family and engage in activities that recharged me, which ultimately made me more effective when I was working. My single best tip for managing stress is to identify the specific activities that genuinely restore your energy and make them a regular, scheduled part of your routine. Creating this structure helped me avoid the always-on mentality that often leads to burnout in startup environments.
Work-life balance during the early stages of scaling my business was less about balance and more about boundaries. One thing I learned quickly is that burnout doesn't come from working hard—it comes from working without intention. I set very firm boundaries around my time, even when it was uncomfortable. For example, I created "non-negotiable" windows each day to step away from my desk, take a walk, or spend time with my family. Protecting that space allowed me to come back sharper and more creative instead of running myself into the ground. My best tip for managing stress and avoiding burnout is to treat recovery with the same importance as strategy. I often tell clients: You wouldn't skip a critical meeting with an investor, so don't skip the time that restores your energy. When you lead with clarity and protect your capacity, you make better decisions, serve clients at a higher level, and ultimately grow faster without losing yourself in the process.
For me, balance comes down to two things: delegation and rhythm. In the early days, I tried to carry everything myself, but growth forced me to trust strong people on the team to own their direction. Once I did, I could focus on strategy instead of firefighting. I also learned to pay attention to my own productivity curve. For example, I reserve mornings for deep work — the big problems that need clear thinking — and push meetings later in the day when my energy naturally dips. That small shift reduced stress more than any productivity app ever could. And while it's tempting to run nonstop in a growing business, I've found it's unsustainable. I build in pauses. Sometimes that's using a slower business cycle to fully unplug, other times it's just a two-day break to change the scenery and reset. Physical activity is another non-negotiable; it clears my head in a way no email break ever will. My advice? Experiment until you find the system that works for you, then protect it the same way you protect client time. It's what keeps you from burning out when the pressure is high.
For me, balance comes from protecting my non-negotiables — morning movement, nourishing food, and at least one daily ritual that's just for me. In the early days of my startup, I tried to operate in a constant state of hustle, but I learned that growth is actually faster and more sustainable when I'm grounded. One tip I always share is to bookend your day with a calm start and intentional end — no screens first thing in the morning, and at night, swap your phone for a self-care practice that signals to your mind and body that it's safe to rest. It's a small shift, but it keeps my energy high and my creativity flowing.
I didn't always maintain that balance well! It took me some time to figure out how to achieve a healthier balance. Over time, I learned that minimizing my screen time outside of work was really helpful. My company is in tech, so I spent my days staring at screens pretty much all day long. Going home and staring at my phone or TV just made my brain and eyes even more tired. So, I began limiting my personal screen time and that also helped me focus more time on things like getting together with friends and being outside.
Maintaining work-life balance while leading a startup is certainly challenging but absolutely necessary for long-term success. I've found that setting clear boundaries around my time has been the most effective strategy for managing stress. This means establishing specific hours when I'm unavailable for work communications and being disciplined about honoring those boundaries. I recommend blocking time on your calendar for personal activities with the same level of commitment you give to important business meetings. Remember that your effectiveness as a leader depends on your mental clarity and energy, which require proper rest and time away from work. Taking care of yourself isn't selfish—it's actually essential for making good decisions and sustaining the focus needed to grow your company.
During our third year at DIGITECH I found myself reviewing pull requests at 1 a.m. and rewriting proposals on Sundays. The company expansion led to my declining decision-making abilities. The solution to my problem emerged when I started treating my time as if it were production infrastructure. The team established an emergency response system and scheduled fixed release times and created a basic status page to prevent clients from contacting me through my phone during nights. That cleared the noise. The daily shutdown script represents my main advice to prevent burnout. Before finishing your workday dedicate fifteen minutes to create three bullet points for tomorrow's tasks and document project blockers in your project tool and write a brief "ship note" for your leadership channel that shows progress and risks and the following action. Then close the laptop and walk away. This single ritual empties your head, reduces late-night ruminating, and gives your team clarity without you being online. The combination of calendar rules which defend maker mornings for deep work and schedule meetings during afternoons will bring you both growth and sanity.
I maintain balance by setting clear boundaries and being fully present in the role I am in. At work I give my all to my team and clients, and at home I protect that time just as strongly. I also make self-care part of my daily routine, even if it is just ten mindful minutes, so I can reset and avoid burnout.
Work-life balance really comes down to the basics: diet, exercise, and sleep. Everyone knows it, yet almost no one practices it consistently, and it's often the first thing to slip when building a fast-paced startup. While building Squiddy, I quickly realised that my mental performance was deeply connected to my physical health. Whenever I ate clean, trained daily, and got enough sleep (even if not perfect), I had sharper mental clarity, better stress management, and more mental space to tackle difficult challenges. For me, that means a non-negotiable evening workout. It's my daily "mental reset", a chance to disconnect from the fast-paced digital world. I leave my phone behind and just train. This physical activity boosts my mood, clears brain fog, and motivates me to eat better and get better rest. The key here is not about perfection, because occasionally you'll skip a workout, have a cheat meal, or sleep less than ideal. What matters most is the discipline to get back on track quickly. Your body and health are your startup's most valuable asset, if you maintain it well, you'll avoid burnout and you'll perform at your best.
I made sure to get away for mini-vacations when I could. I took several short weekend trips to get away and clear my head. During that phase I never traveled too far, but I definitely made use of staycations and destinations within driving distance. These short vacations helped me get better separation between my responsibilities at work and my life outside work. The physical separation helped me achieve better mental separation.
The most effective strategy I used was **"brain dumping" everything onto paper** - getting every task, idea, worry, and commitment out of my head and into a written system I could trust. During our rapid growth phase, I was constantly switching between client calls, team meetings, service decisions, and operational fires. The mental load of trying to remember everything was exhausting and created constant anxiety that I was forgetting something critical. I realized that my brain was spending more energy trying to hold onto information than actually processing it. I started carrying a simple notebook everywhere and would immediately write down anything that entered my mind - from "call the lawyer about contracts" to "remember Sarah's presentation is Thursday" to random product ideas that popped up during dinner. At the end of each day, I'd transfer these notes into organized lists and calendars. The relief was immediate. Once I knew everything was captured somewhere reliable, my mind could actually focus on the task at hand instead of constantly cycling through my mental to-do list. I stopped waking up at 3am panicking about forgotten commitments because I trusted my written system. The key insight is that work-life balance isn't about perfect daily equilibrium - some days will be 14-hour sprints, others might allow for longer family dinners. But when your brain isn't constantly juggling loose ends, you can be fully present whether you're in a board meeting or at your kid's soccer game. Writing everything down creates the mental space to actually engage with what's in front of you.
Maintaining work-life balance while leading a fast-growing startup was one of my biggest challenges, and I learned the importance of setting non-negotiable boundaries the hard way after experiencing burnout. I found that deliberately blocking time on my calendar for family dinners became a crucial anchor in my daily routine, giving me something meaningful to look forward to and helping me structure my workday more efficiently. This simple practice of protecting personal time forced me to prioritize my most important work tasks and delegate the rest, which actually improved my overall productivity. Additionally, I incorporated small but consistent breaks throughout my day, like five-minute stretching sessions every hour, which helped reset my mind and reduce stress accumulation. By treating these personal commitments with the same importance as business meetings, I discovered I could be both a better leader and a happier person.
Personally, I have been on the wrong end of this particular scenario on several occasions. What has been helpful is to take a step back and reflect on the situation when you feel like you are running on fumes. The struggle often is to take your eyes of the professional goal you've set for yourself and look at your life as a whole. If you take stock of the situation early enough and often enough, you realize what boundaries you need to set for yourself. It becomes super important because at some point you'll reach a tipping point where going harder at your work is going to be less productive and overall completely detrimental to your health and well being. My one tip would be surrounding yourself with people who will bring to your notice when you have crossed that tipping point. Self reflection may be hard, but having someone who you can trust to highlight it on your behalf may be invaluable. Sometimes we need that external perspective to recognize what we can't see ourselves.
I tried to spend a lot of time with my family outside of work. I knew that filling my cup on the life side of my work-life balance was an important way to make sure that balance remained at least somewhat even. So, I did my best to be as present as possible with my family, making sure to do things like put my phone away during meals and go on outings on the weekends. This definitely helped ground me during a stressful time.
As a founder and dad to two little girls, I had to get disciplined about shutting down at a certain hour--no exceptions, even if I had deals pending. One thing that helps me avoid burnout is purposely switching gears by spending time on hands-on projects with my kids--whether it's building a Lego house or planning our next backyard improvement, stepping away from screens gives my mind and spirit a full reset. If you're leading a fast-growing team, my tip is to create small, meaningful routines with your loved ones; those moments of normalcy keep you grounded and energized for the next challenge.
Leading a company that exists completely remotely has given me the opportunity to explore what balance actually looks like. When your office itself is a corner in your living room, I find it is easy for work to bleed into everything. My solution has been what I call "hard scene changes" - I literally change my environment over the course of the day to reset my brain. In the morning I might take Zoom calls standing by a window getting sunlight, mid-day I will work from the balcony or a cafe, and and in the evening I switch back to my home office. It helps create a sense of movement and closure for myself, despite not actually leaving the city. These physical changes decrease stress in unexpected ways. They provide variety to my days, create micro doses of energy, and also communicate to my family (and myself!) when I am in work mode versus when I am not in work mode. It creates more of a written chapter of the day - as opposed to what can easily feel like an extended zoom meeting. My advice to other remote leaders: do not underestimate the power of switching up your scenery. You do not have to plan a big trip or take a week off to reset yourself. Sometimes simply going from the desk to the kitchen table to get to to a fresh environment is all it takes!
When my business was scaling fast, I made it a point to get on the river--sometimes all it took was half an hour of fishing or just sitting near the water, soaking up that Lowcountry calm. That ritual didn't just help me decompress; it was a reminder of why I work so hard in the first place. My advice: find a nearby place that brings you peace, and make it a habit to go there regularly, even if you can only spare a little time.