Avoiding burnout is all about balance. We asked industry experts to share their advice for entrepreneurs who are feeling burned out. Here are the strategies they’ve used to prevent or recover from burnout. Learn how to maintain your energy and focus by setting boundaries, prioritizing self-care, and more.
- Stop Equating Productivity With Self-Worth
- Protect Your Current Energy Levels
- Set Clear Boundaries Around Work Hours
- Empower Others To Handle Tasks
- Reignite Your Passion For Your Work
- Take Short Mindfulness Breaks
- Delegate And Schedule Personal Time
- Listen To Your Body And Rest
- Engage In Mindfulness Practices
- Manage Burnout With Grit And Recovery
- Prioritize Rest And Self-Care
- Eliminate Low-Impact Tasks
- Focus On One Important Task
- Set Boundaries And Prioritize Well-Being
- Rest Is Productive
- Take A Break And Prioritize Health
Stop Equating Productivity With Self-Worth
My best advice for entrepreneurs feeling burned out is to stop equating productivity with self-worth—your business thrives when you thrive. It’s easy to fall into the trap of working nonstop, thinking that more hours mean more success. But burnout isn’t just exhaustion—it’s a signal that something needs to change. Instead of pushing through, take a step back and reassess what’s draining you.
Setting boundaries, prioritizing high-impact work, and building a support system have been key to preventing burnout. I’ve learned to delegate more, automate where possible, and eliminate tasks that don’t move the needle. I also make space for non-work activities—whether it’s time with my son, focusing on health, or just permitting myself to step away without guilt.
When burnout does hit, I don’t force creativity—I shift focus, reset expectations, and allow recovery time. The real power move? Sustainability over hustle. Success isn’t about doing everything—it’s about doing the right things at the right time in a long-term way.
Kristin Marquet
Founder & Creative Director, Marquet Media
Protect Your Current Energy Levels
One piece of advice I’d give to entrepreneurs facing burnout is this: Don’t wait for your energy to come back—protect what you have now. One of the most powerful shifts I made was breaking my workload into clear priority categories—must-do, nice-to-do, and not mine to carry. This allowed me to use focused energy for what truly was important to move things forward instead of reacting to everything.
Equally important? I set boundaries not just with clients and team members, but with myself. I stopped making overworking mean self-worth and started respecting my limits like I respected my deadlines.
Another strategy that changed everything was building non-negotiable recovery time into my calendar—mental space to reflect, recharge, and reconnect with why I started. Because burnout doesn’t just come from doing too much. It also comes from losing sight of what is meaningful.
If you’re feeling burned out, remember this: Rest isn’t a reward for finishing the work. It’s necessary to do the work you set out to do in the first place.
Kamini Wood
Certified Life Coach, Kamini Wood
Set Clear Boundaries Around Work Hours
Don’t allow your working hours to blend endlessly into your personal time. Early on, when building my coaching business, I found myself constantly checking emails or responding to clients late at night. Before I knew it, even my personal downtime felt stressful, and I started feeling exhausted and disconnected from the work I once loved.
What made a big difference for me was getting clear about my boundaries around working hours and enforcing them consistently. I deliberately set firm limits, such as no emails or work-related tasks after a certain hour in the evening and taking at least one full day off each week. At first, it felt uncomfortable, but over time, I noticed a drastic improvement in my overall well-being, clarity, and energy levels. Holding firm to boundaries didn’t just prevent burnout; it also made me significantly more present and effective during my working hours.
So, I strongly recommend that you intentionally set clear work boundaries well before you reach burnout: define your work hours, communicate them clearly to clients and team members, and most importantly, honor these boundaries yourself!
Bayu Prihandito
Psychology Consultant, Life Coach, Founder, Life Architekture
Empower Others To Handle Tasks
Understand what you are really good at, do that, and empower someone else to do the rest.
Too many CEOs and entrepreneurs act like they have to be the best at everything. This approach is counter-productive in multiple ways. CEOs burn out, staff feel disempowered, output and innovation suffer.
The key is to have the self-awareness and humility to recognize that you are not good at everything and then acknowledge those areas of weakness to your team. Doing so will not only engage your C-Suite to leverage their strengths but also model similar self-awareness and humility for your team. Better still, you will feel better and have more energy to do what you do best.
Brent Hafele, M.A., ACC
President & Coach to Ceos, Vibrancy Unlocked
Reignite Your Passion For Your Work
One critical piece of advice I’d give to entrepreneurs feeling burned out is to actively seek ways to reignite your passion for your work. This might mean taking significant steps like pivoting your business direction, changing your daily routine, or even taking a well-deserved vacation. These actions can provide fresh perspectives and new energy, and help you to see your business in a new light.
For me, pivoting our marketing focus was an exciting strategy and helped me regain momentum. When feeling overwhelmed and stagnant, I reevaluated our core services and shifted towards areas that were not only more profitable but also more personally fulfilling. This change brought new challenges and excitement, revitalizing my interest and commitment.
Another effective strategy is to engage with your team. Open discussions about what excites each member can lead to discovering shared goals or new directions that can invigorate the entire group. This collective enthusiasm can significantly alleviate feelings of burnout by fostering a supportive and motivated team environment.
Overall, addressing burnout requires both personal and professional adjustments. By embracing change, ensuring adequate rest, and harnessing the collective energy of your team, you can sustain your passion and drive as an entrepreneur.
Ari Lew
CEO, Asymm
Take Short Mindfulness Breaks
Running a business is stressful at times; I’ve had moments when exhaustion seems overwhelming. What’s been useful for me is to take short mindfulness breaks throughout the day. Two or three minutes of focused breathing or a brief stretch could help clear my head and make it easier for me to think straight.
Yoga became a non-negotiable aspect of my routine—not just for the sake of physical well-being, but to clear my mind. No matter how busy the day was, a few simple poses or some mindful movements helped me recharge. If you’re feeling burnt out, start small. Take five minutes to breathe, stretch your body, and sit in silence. Listen to what your body and mind are telling you, and make self-care a priority.
Echo Wang
CEO & Founder, Yoga Kawa
Delegate And Schedule Personal Time
To be completely honest, entrepreneurial burnout is inevitable if you don’t set boundaries and build systems early on. One of the biggest mistakes I made was trying to do everything myself, thinking that hustle alone would drive success.
The best strategy I’ve used to recover from burnout is prioritizing delegation and structured downtime. For example, after experiencing severe burnout in my second year of business, I implemented “No-Work Saturdays” and started automating low-value tasks with tools like Zapier and Asana. Within months, not only did my stress levels drop, but productivity actually increased by 30% because I was focusing only on high-impact decisions.
My advice? Don’t wait until you’re exhausted to make changes. Delegate, automate, and schedule personal time as you would schedule meetings. A well-rested entrepreneur makes better decisions, scales faster, and stays in the game longer.
Pallavi Pareek
Founder & CEO, Ungender
Listen To Your Body And Rest
As an entrepreneur, I have pushed myself to the limit mentally, physically, and emotionally to pursue success. In doing so, I hit a roadblock of burnout after many sleepless nights and stressful situations that caused my body to start giving me signs something was wrong. The first tip I have for anyone overcoming burnout is to listen to your body, and if you are exhausted and need to sleep, you need to rest.
Next, I recommend you look at where your energy and time are best served, both personally and professionally. You need to identify triggers that cause you stress, whether this be a romantic partner or business client; if someone is causing your body to go into “fight or flight” mode and raising your cortisol, you need to evaluate whether or not this person is worth your limited time and energy.
Finally, you need to realize that if you are spread too thin, per the law of supply and demand, you need to start valuing your time more and not make yourself so accessible so you have more time to unwind and relax your mind from being overstimulated. Having had your body adjust to being in an overactive limbic state, your central nervous system has become addicted to stress hormones. Hence, you need a period to crash and reset and give your body a safe environment to find balance without any stress factors such as unhealthy relationships, stressful work environments, or simply not making yourself a priority.
Daniel Lynch
Digital Agency Owner, Empathy First Media | Digital Marketing & PR
Engage In Mindfulness Practices
Burnout is a sign that we have been pushing ourselves too hard without enough time for self-reflection and regeneration. As entrepreneurs, we often get caught up in the hustle, but it is essential to reconnect with ourselves and restore balance. One key piece of advice is to regularly engage in mindfulness practices and introspective tools that help you process your emotions and thoughts, so you do not carry unnecessary stress.
For me, using tools like the KEYS to your relationships cards has been incredibly valuable. It offers introspective questions and guidance, allowing me to reflect deeply and shift my mindset. It is more than just self-help; it is about harnessing energy to heal, realign, and create space for positive transformation. The process of exploring these tools helps me break free from the overwhelm and find clarity.
To prevent burnout, I make sure to set clear boundaries and practice self-care through activities like journaling, meditating, and engaging in energy-healing practices. KEYS helps me by offering a daily moment of reflection, where I can ask myself insightful questions and address areas of my life that need attention. When I feel burnout creeping in, I turn to these practices to reset my energy and focus on what truly matters.
Zuzana Shogun Valekova
Co-Owner, Mr. & Mrs. Shogun
Manage Burnout With Grit And Recovery
Burnout can feel like a warning sign, but for founders, it’s often just part of the process. It doesn’t always mean something is broken.
1. Grit and Burnout Go Hand in Hand
Grit is a defining characteristic of successful founders. The ability to push through challenges, stay committed, and keep driving forward is what separates those who succeed from those who don’t. Burnout isn’t necessarily an indicator of failure—it’s often a sign that you care deeply and are pushing yourself hard. Learning to manage it isn’t just about survival; it’s a competitive advantage that allows you to sustain high performance over the long haul.
2. Productive Stress vs. Toxic Stress
Not all stress is bad. There’s a difference between stress that fuels growth and stress that drains you. Productive stress helps you stretch your limits, tackle difficult problems, and build resilience. Toxic stress, on the other hand, leads to exhaustion, cynicism, and declining performance. Learning to distinguish between the two helps you know when to push forward and when to step back.
3. Treat Recovery Like a KPI
If you’re measuring business performance, why not measure your own well-being? Recovery should be as non-negotiable as hitting revenue targets. Schedule time to disconnect—no phone, no laptop, no strategy decks. True recovery isn’t just about taking a break; it’s about giving your mind and body the space to reset. When you do, you’ll find yourself more creative, attentive, and patient, which ultimately benefits your business.
4. Zoom Out and Reconnect with Your “Why”
When burnout sets in, it’s worth asking: Are you spending too much time on tasks that drain you? Founders often get buried in operational details, losing sight of what originally inspired them. Taking a step back to reconnect with the mission behind your work can reignite your energy and motivation. Regularly zooming out to realign with your vision helps prevent burnout from becoming overwhelming.
5. Talk to Other Founders
Burnout thrives in isolation. Many founders feel like they’re the only ones struggling, but the reality is that it’s a shared experience. Talking to other founders can help normalize your challenges, offer fresh perspectives, and even provide practical strategies to manage stress. A simple conversation with someone who understands can be a powerful antidote to burnout.
Zein Zaher
Programme Lead, Tramshed Tech
Prioritize Rest And Self-Care
I’ve experienced 4 burnouts over the past 15 years.
Here’s what has helped me overcome them while building multiple companies at the same time:
- Prioritizing rest, breaks, and exercise by scheduling them in my calendar.
- Allowing myself to simply be and do nothing whenever I feel like it. It may feel weird—give it a try.
- Learning to stay present in the moment.
- Working smart, not just hard.
- Delegating.
- Setting clear boundaries with team members, stakeholders, and clients.
- Shifting my perspective on life—work is just work, after all.
- Focusing on tasks that leverage my zone of genius and put me in a flow state, so work no longer feels like “work” and instead energizes me.
Never hesitating to take sick leave or a vacation when I feel I’m nearing burnout.
My biggest lesson over the past few years—while building companies and helping thousands fundraise and scale—is that rest and self-care are a must-have.
Raja Skogland
Scaling Companies, Building Personal Brands & Board Efficiency. Top 100 Most Influential Women in the European Vc & Startup Space in 2023 & 2024, Serial Entrepreneur, Investor in 100+ Startups
Eliminate Low-Impact Tasks
Stop doing busy work! It’s easy to get caught up in low-impact tasks, but they barely move the needle and are a major drain on your time.
Instead of trying to do everything, I use the TACO method to cut the clutter:
- Terminate tasks that don’t need to be done at all.
- Automate anything repetitive with AI tools like ChatGPT, Zapier, or Fathom.
- Consolidate tasks by batching your work to avoid multitasking.
- Outsource anything that doesn’t require your specific set of skills.
Trust me. The more you clear off your plate, the more time you have to focus on what really matters—and that’s what keeps burnout from creeping back in.
Carey Bentley
CEO, Lifehack Method
Focus On One Important Task
I focus on doing just one thing that truly matters. Not the to-do list clutter, but the single task that actually moves the business forward. If I get that done, the rest of the day can fall apart and I still feel like I’ve made progress.
That 1% win builds momentum. It cuts through the overwhelm and reminds me I’m not stuck; I’m still building. Most burnout comes from feeling like you’re spinning your wheels. One clear win a day helps break that cycle.
Eric Gantz
Co-Founder, Verena Street Coffee Co.
Set Boundaries And Prioritize Well-Being
As a founder, I got completely burned out towards the end of 2024. It was a wake-up call: overwhelm is real, even if you love what you do.
After taking some much-needed time to reset, reflect, and prioritize my well-being, I’m back stronger and more focused than ever!
Here’s what I’d tell any entrepreneur who feels in over their head: Set boundaries, prioritize self-care, and listen to your body when you need rest. Specifically, that can mean putting your phone on silent after 5 p.m., outsourcing things that don’t need your attention, and regularly taking time off—before you feel overwhelmed.
Luca Kuhn
Founder & CEO at Luca® | Women’s Cycling Wear Brand, LUCA®
Rest Is Productive
Rest is productive. It’s easy to think you have to push through exhaustion, but that just leads to more stress and less creativity. Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Taking care of yourself isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Ashley Peña
National Executive Director of Mission Connection at Amfm Healthcare, Mission Connection Healthcare
Take A Break And Prioritize Health
To recover from burnout, you have to take a step back and look at what’s important in life, forget about work for a while and prioritise your health. Book some time away, I’d suggest two weeks, email clients and staff and let them know you’re going away, give essential instructions only and tell them you’ll see them in two weeks. Turn everything off, don’t be contactable by work, don’t check emails, nothing.
As an entrepreneur it can be scary thinking about leaving your business for a couple of weeks and thinking everything will burn down without you, but the reality is, people will understand and it will almost certainly be in a very similar position when you get back with minimal damage. Whereas the damage from burnout and the effect it has on you running your business in future is much more severe.
So whatever your situation, go somewhere that makes you feel good, with family, friends or alone, somewhere you can ideally be in nature and connect with yourself again. Come back in two weeks feeling relaxed and rested and pick things back up again.
To ensure it doesn’t happen again, enforce strict boundaries between work and personal life. For example, if you don’t want to work weekends and someone asks you to, simply tell them you’ll get to it on Monday.
I’d also recommend finding a source of energy outside of running a business, something that you do just for pure enjoyment—could be anything, but it needs to be something.
Dan Lacey
SEO Specialist, DanLacey
