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Recently I found a job announcement from an American boutique agency that said:
“If you prefer a clock mentality, we don’t fit well” and
“Specific work hours do not matter when you are hungry to grow.”
I have been around the block enough to know what it really means: long hours, emails on the weekend and a blurred line between work and everything else.
We like to believe that we have moved the busy culture and in the era of the welfare of the workplace. But work publications such as this show that many employers are still selling exhaustion, only wrapped in the language of “ambition.”
I have lived both versions of the Journey Founder: the Always-on Grind and the reconstruction of well-being. I know exactly what takes your hustle, and how small intentional changes can help you feel better, lead better and build a business that does not burn you.
Related: Do not underestimate the importance of employee’s well -being. Your business will suffer more
When the bustle becomes your identity
And why is that a problem?
The start culture glorifies the idea that more hours is equal to more achievements. And of course, the first victories feel good: that dopamine blow keeps us grinding. Until one day, hustle is Your identity.
In the first days of my company, I lived with this mantra: “If you go home and the lights of your competitor are still on, turn around.” It worked. We climb from three Scrapy founders to a 500th global team but Oraly, I realized: if I did not put the well -being of my team first, we would last. Playing the long game takes more than resistance: sustainability is needed.
The data support this. In a recently survey of 138 startup founders, approximately informed media for exhaustion experienced in the last year. Two thirds had seriously considered away from the same companies they build. That is not the sand, it is a system failure.
Even high profile success stories are not immune. Take the co -founder of Loom Vinay Hiremath. After helping to climb the company at an almost billion dollars, Hey admitted: “I am rich and I have no idea what to do with my life.” Your solution? He returns to the busy culture, because it is the only thing he knows.
Exhaustion is a silent epidemic. The World Health Organization formally recognized him as an “occupational phenomenon” in 2019. Rarely appears in the holders, but the focus, clear decisions and, ultimately, the longevity of the businesses we are building.
Related: 5 leadership strategies that really prevent employee depletion
What I did to break the cycle
The performance of health fuels, and starts with you.
When the leaders are well rested and committed, everything works better: decision making, equipment morals, product speed. And it’s not just a theory of feeling good. A 2024 Gallup study of 183,000 companies in 90 countries discovered that prioritizing employee’s well -being is a commercial advance. This is what they found:
- 78% less absenteeism
- Up to 51% lower employee billing
- 32% less errors and defects
- Up to 20% higher productivity
- 23% higher profitability
These results are not magical, they are the composite effect of cultural elections. And those elections begin at the top.
For me, the turning point was simple: I got tired of being tired. I went from obsessing with the hustle to the construction of a rhythm that supported the performance and Welfare.
This is how that was seen:
- I established hard limits in working hours. I used to use days from 14 to 16 hours as an honor badge. But after 8 pm, double in basic tasks. Now, I intend to wrap at 6:30 pm, which forces a better focus, and leaves energy for life outside work.
- I prioritized the consistency over hacks. No detoxification or cold leaves. Only a stable rhythm or short breaks between meetings to stretch, breathe and restart. Prevents mental fatigue from being built.
- Instead, I moved my body or had coffee. Short training replaced endless caffeine. Only a five -minute break helps to restore my energy and cognition. Trying new sports also improved my mental flexibility in a surprising way.
- I let my mind roam on purpose. Some of my best ideas appear when I do nothing, Rolando, meditating or scribbling thoughts in a notebook.
- I protected my attention as if it were my most valuable resource. Two hours or the deep approach every day, no, no, without meetings, without multiple tasks, they let me explore ideas, the strategy of form and think in the long term without working late.
And it was me. Welfare suit to our team’s culture with walking meetings, breathing breaks and cheerful well -being challenges. Because a business is as healthy as the people who build it, not just the founder.
Related: why being ‘always on’ is killing his innovation and how to really disconnect
If you do one thing, do this
Give yourself permission to disconnect completely. When you log in, Reaxly Disconnect.
There are no weekend electronic emails. There are no Slack messages late at night. Don’t say you have “limited access” in your message outside the office. Let’s say you are offline and say it. This is how you build a culture where rest is respected, it does not bother.
The truth is that I still have a completely touching. When you are building something that matters to you, it is difficult to let it go. But if you want what you are building last, you have to protect the person who builds it – You. Welfare is not a retirement. It is not a reward. It is your base.
And if we want a new era of work, it begins with the construction of companies where people prosper, not just survive.