Yes, You Can Do This! How Women Start Up, Scale Up, and Build The Life They Want

Chapter 14Balance Life at High Speeds: Make Time for Yourself

What you'll take away from this chapter:

In this chapter, we'll explore the ways in which a startup can be all-consuming and can lead to burnout. We'll dig into ways to identify burnout and rethink what balance can look like as you work to build your business and the life you want.

Running on Fumes

Maria felt like she was running on empty. Since she took the funding, she was working around the clock to make the business succeed, but it didn't seem to be helping morale.

“Maria, can I have a frank conversation with you?” Hannah was tiptoeing on the subject a bit.

Maria looked up, surprised. “Of course.” Hannah had really become a trusted confidante in the business, and Maria welcomed her feedback.

“No, really. I need to know that I'm talking to you as the friend from the neighborhood rather than one of your first hires right now.” Hannah felt the need to set this boundary and make it clear.

“Okay…” Maria wondered where this was going. Hannah hadn't usually had trouble talking to her about work situations as they arose, so she wondered why Hannah was being cautious now.

Hannah hesitated for a moment, and then just said what she was thinking. “You look godawful.”

“Come again?” Maria was taken aback, as she automatically rubbed her lower eyelids wondering, if her eyeliner was smudged, and wiped her mouth, imagining there might be some leftover lunch lurking there.

“It's not your makeup.” Hannah quickly reacted to Maria's ...