“Work-life balance”. A phrase that the startup community is sick of hearing, because everyone knows it’s necessary but hasn’t quite mastered how to put it into practice whilst juggling life as a startup founder. Removing this #basic phrase from our vocabulary here at Fishburners, we’ve decided to coin a new term for our ‘Burners with the purpose of reminding our members that life goes on outside of our 4 colourful walls, and as much as we love and support you, please go and find what gives you peace and inspiration.
Please give a warm welcome to our new motto, Don’t Burnout.
The term “burnout” was coined by Herbert Freudenberger, an American psychologist, who used it to describe ‘The consequences of severe stress and high ideals’ in health professions during the 1970s (U.S. National Library of Medicine). Today, we recognise burnout as a state of emotional, mental and/or physical exhaustion caused by excessive stress from work – sound familiar Fishies founders?
“Founding a business is a demanding pursuit. Many entrepreneurs work long hours, well above the normal working week. The long hours required to grow a startup take a toll on work-life balance, and physical and mental health and wellbeing. This, in turn, affects business performance” (KPMG Enterprise Fitness, Fulfillment and Foresight report). Considering a typical day in the life of an early stage tech startup founder begins at 6am and finishes at 12am with several “hats” worn throughout the day, from sales and marketing, product development, balancing books and creating contracts, it’s no wonder most founders describe themselves as stressed and burnout. The struggle is real.
“The cause of burnout stems from ignoring those early emotional signals telling us to reevaluate some aspect of our lives. Give yourself what your body and mind are telling you that you need, and you will return to being productive” (RocketSpace).
While recognising personal emotional signals that tell you to “recharge” are different for everyone, there are common prevention practices you can adopt to avoid burnout, check out some of Fishburners new initiatives to support startup founders and employees whilst they hustle to scale their startup.
At Fishburners we understand that one size doesn’t fit all. For that reason we provide a wide range of events to help our members take time for themselves. Whether it’s our weekly rooftop Stretch & Unwind class designed to slow the mind and body, our Female Fishies coffee catch up to empower our boss ladies in the building, or, perhaps something a little stronger like our Whiskey Wednesday club to cheers to hump day! If you prefer to sweat it out then our Fit Fishies group training class is for you! If you need some “zen” in your life then book in for a monthly member massage or join our Mindfull Fishies mindfulness group. Finally, if you just need to put your head down and get your work done then we will be there with open arms on Friday at 5pm to offer a beer, wine, coffee, high five or hug!
How do you recharge? We are always on the lookout to support our members, share your ideas and we’ll see what we can arrange to support our growing community.
Community is everything to Fishburners, as human beings, we need a sense of belonging, and that sense of belonging is what connects us to the many relationships we develop. Join our Fishburners community and let us help your startup grow!
If you are looking for a passionate community of startup founders and employees and want to know more about Fishburners Brisbane, join us on Wednesday at 1pm for our weekly tour, register here.
