78. The Impact of Burnout on your Mind and Business

The stress of running a business can take a toll on even the most seasoned of business owners.

let's be real about the less glamorous issues that come with the territory. On this week's episode of the High-Performance Marketing podcast, we're getting into the nitty-gritty of burnout, its effects on your emotional and mental health and how not to feel like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Transcript

Welcome to The High Performance Marketing Podcast, a show focused on helping entrepreneurs and small business owners connect with their ideal customers using simple marketing and quality content. I'm your Marketing Guide, Ali Garbero.

In 2010, I worked a corporate 9-5. At the time I had a young daughter and I remember thinking how magical working from home seemed. I imagined taking care of my little girl, hopping onto my laptop and working while switching loads of laundry. Working from home was a goal I wanted so badly. It just seemed like it was the perfect way to be a parent and add some income to my family. I’ve always been extremely self disciplined and never really needed anyone to manage me, so again I just felt like I could get the job done from anywhere.

In 2013, when I asked my manager to let me work from home, she said no. Because if they did it for me they’d have to do it for everyone else. So I left. Started my own thing and have been in the space of entrepreneurship for 10 years. I didn’t immediately start working from home because I was in a new business and needed to surround myself with an environment of other real estate agents that could teach me how to grow my business.

But in 2020 something changed. Not only did I transition into growing a second business - the one I own now is Write Brand Marketing, a freelance marketing agency. Of course the pandemic happened too. And instead of going into the office for a few hours a day, the way I was accustomed to doing - the world completely shut down.

Working from home became the normal, and it seemed - finally my dream of wearing sweatpants to work had come true. Over time though, and without realizing it something happened. It didn’t happen all at once though. It came on slowly and has slowly grown into a deep, massive feeling of burnout.

Burnout appeared in small ways. Ways I brushed off as - oh we moved into a new house and I’m just having a harder time waking up early. Politics is stressful and dark, the world is fighting and deeply divided, sugary foods will cure me. My workouts became sluggish, but the worst of it all - was when I couldn’t sleep anymore.

I’d have a few days a month, where I’d stay in bed for hours without the ability to fall asleep, and just say “well if I can’t sleep, I might as well get some work done.” I’d work through the night and by 6:30 in the morning, my body finally shut down and I slept for two or three hours.

When I tried to sleep my mind couldn’t shut down. It was racing. It was thinking, analyzing all the moments of the day, the ways I felt like I was falling behind. Telling myself I wasn’t good enough so I just worked harder. My anxiety and depression increased. Which is odd for me, because I’ve never been a depressed person or had any issues with mental health, and yet there I was, feeling like my life had no meaning.

How could it? I had allowed a vision of work from home flexibility to completely overtake my life and drive me into almost complete isolation. There were days I wouldn’t even leave my house. Because I have a gym in my basement, I’d work out, go to bed, wake up and walk across the hall into the room I’ve dedicated into my office.

It wasn’t until recently that I moved into a new office space, that I started sleeping again. Dreaming. You have no idea how glorious sleep and dreaming feel until you’re unable to do it. The separation of work spaces has allowed my body to recognize the difference and to shut down from the busyness of the day.

So today’s episode of the podcast is a simp