What you need to know about Founder Burnout Stages

Founder burnout has many stages. Long before you feel exhausted, you are already sliding down, being less productive than you should be. That is when you should halt the process, but you need to recognize the founder burnout stages to do so. Let’s dive into this deeper.

Stage 1: Honeymoon

It feels so good to start a new project! From brainstorming to researching your new market to building the first framework, it’s all exciting and new. That’s what makes it so attractive, and I guess you could easily say that many founders are simply in love with their project during this phase. 😍

All is extremely well during this stage. High levels of energy, job satisfaction, optimism, and productivity combined with free-flowing creativity and a compulsion to prove oneself are the key characteristics. When you are in this stage, you will recognize the exciting combination of motivation, creativity, and drive when everything still seems possible.

Of course, this stage doesn’t feel like burnout and isn’t a real danger. Every founder goes through this stage and if you adopt the right strategies, you might even stay there.

Some might say it is nonsense to define this phase as a burnout stage. But there are actually a few dangers lurking in the shadows in the early days of your startup.

Building a Startup Is a Marathon

During this stage, you should watch out for 2 pitfalls: the drive to prove yourself and how the optimism of the moment will fuel your energy. You are inclined to make long days and work non-stop.

1. But building a startup is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Stage 2: Onset of Stress

The second stage of founder burnout is almost inevitable, but most founders don’t recognize this stage as being part of the road to exhaustion. Unless you can perform true magic, you will experience setbacks and plenty of stress, as all startup founders do. But things don’t have to be disastrous for you to experience the symptoms of stage 2 burnout.

Many founders complain about lack of focus and loss of productivity. Sometimes, these are just signs of a temporary drop, and you will get back on your feet in no time. But if it persists, or occurs regularly, there is no doubt that you have entered the second stage of burnout.

Take it seriously

As said before, avoiding this phase is almost impossible. It doesn’t have to be a problem either, experiencing a little stress can be a good thing. But if you don’t take this stage seriously, you might end up in trouble.

Most founders end up in this stage because they haven’t developed the right coping strategies during the first stage. If you haven’t been recharging enough, or worse, depleted your energy levels, it gets a lot more difficult to focus and keep productivity at a high level when faced with more challenging and boring tasks. Who likes to do all the work that comes with selling a product, for instance?

Besides loss of focus and decreased productivity, stage two founder burnout comes with symptoms like reduced sleep quality and decision paralysis. Founders might also start neglecting their personal needs and experience a lack of social interaction. After all, when the going gets tough, you’ll want to work instead of play. So when your friends invite you to a dinner party, you might decline, even when it would be wise (and fun!) to say yes.

Stage 3: Chronic Stress

The next phase occurs when stress builds up and becomes part of your everyday founder life. You will not get up as easily in the morning, feeling persisting tiredness, and procrastination enters the scene. The lack of social interaction turns into withdrawal, while you deny the problems that are arising.

This is also when you might start experiencing feelings of powerlessness, cynicism, and resentfulness. Other signs that might show you are well on your way to having a full-blown burnout are:

• Escaping into gaming (instead of working out or recharging).
• Drinking more coffee or alcohol than usual.
• Feeling pressured or even panicking.
• And yes, even spending hours on social media or creating memes might be a sign!

This is probably the moment you are wondering whether you are starting to burn out. The answer is yes, you are!

The best way to act during this phase is to acknowledge the situation and take better care of yourself. Instead of letting yourself slide down that downward cycle, curb the unwanted behavior and start building better routines.

That doesn’t mean you have to turn your whole life around. Just take little steps to balance your energy again.

Stage 4: Burnout

Once you have entered the fourth stage, there will be no denying: this is burnout. You will feel it, mentally and physically. It’s not just exhaustion, but also illness: you may experience headaches, bowel issues, or other physical symptoms.

In this stage, you might also feel the desire to withdraw from social life and maybe even society as a whole. Your optimism during the honeymoon phase has now turned into a pessimistic outlook, and you obsess over problems. Encountering this backlash makes you doubt yourself more than ever.

Still, you’ll want to hold on to your dream, so you just ignore the little voice in your head and neglect your own needs.

Stage 5: Habitual Burnout

Not every full burnout turns into the final stage where the keyword is chronic. You will be chronically exhausted, both mentally and physically, and experience chronic sadness. A lot of founders experience depression too.

During this stage, it has simply become impossible for you to work on your startup.

If you are in this stage, you probably need to take a serious break before going back to work. Give your body and mind time to rest and recharge, while also working on your physical condition. For more tips on how to recover from burnout, see our Ultimate Guide on Founder Burnout.

Summing up the founder burnout stages

Of course, you want to prevent ending up in stage 4 or 5. And everybody will start with stage 1, where everything seems just wonderful. If you succeed in learning the right coping strategies during this stage, you will be fine.

The most important stage to be aware of is stage 2, where you start to feel unfocused and indecisive. This is when you need to become aware of the routines that are drawing energy and change them. You might only have to take small steps here, but they are important nevertheless.

If you are in stage 3, you will experience more stress and respond accordingly. Again, you will need to change your habits and make sure you recharge fully.

In other words, it is key to recognize the early signals, like the ones from stages 2 and 3. If you experience a loss of focus and have trouble making decisions, don’t bury your head in the sand. Acknowledge what is happening and take action.

Turn it around with the new 50x Smarter Program

No matter what burnout stage you are in, now is the time to turn it around! Check out the online 50x Smarter program and learn how to reduce your stress.