Entrepreneurs often pride themselves on their ability to work harder and longer than other people - and especially in the trial-by-fire of the early stages, this is a basic requirement. For some, 100-hour weeks aren’t uncommon, and neither is doing five of them in a row. But such a relentless work schedule can take an emotional and physical toll. If you don’t carefully monitor yourself for the first signs of burnout, you risk complete collapse, which will have catastrophic consequences for both you and your business.

Ravi Mikkelsen is co-founder and CEO of Atmos Financial, and long-time entrepreneur. We sat down with him to chat about ways of preventing burnout, and the actions you’ll need to take as soon as you realize it’s taking hold.

Essential steps to protect yourself from burnout

1. Give up some equity
If you own 100% of your company, you’ll feel the responsibility for growing the business lies solely at your door, and put in the hours to match. But by sharing equity among your employees and co-founders, you’ll create the incentive for them to carry some of this burden, which will result in a more even distribution of effort and protect you from exhaustion. In extreme cases, this might look like each co-founder doing two 100-hour weeks, rather than you taking on four by yourself. 

2. Get as physically and mentally strong as possible
To get through exceptionally busy periods without harming yourself, you can’t overlook the basics. That starts with making sure you’re getting enough sleep every night. Sleep might seem like an inefficient way to spend your time when you have a never-ending list of things to do, but it’s absolutely essential for helping you perform at your best, reducing stress, and keeping burnout at bay.

Exercise also helps immensely with stress as well as boosting your energy and endurance, and your diet matters too — if you’re eating crap, you’ll feel like crap. You should also make time for your spiritual practice if you have one, or build your mental focus through meditation. 

The strength of your relationships is also pivotal — having a partner or group of friends who can lend an ear and offer support will help get you through the rough patches. Therapy or coaching can also go a long way.

3. Consciously adjust your speed
The dominant hustle culture narrative leads many people to believe that working extremely long hours at a breakneck pace is the normal state of things, so they build their business around this idea — and inevitably burn out.

But there’s another way — go at a more sustainable speed, setting goals that are ambitious but that you won’t damage your mental and physical health trying to achieve. You can even implement regular working hours at your business, making anything beyond this an exception, when it’s really needed. 

The key here is managing expectations — it’s possible to have a conversation with your investors or board about the revenue you can hit without working everyone to the point of burnout. Remember that it’s your company, and the kind of business you build and culture you create is up to you.

4. Expect failure
To succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to be able to operate with total conviction in the face of repeat failure. The unavoidable fact is that fundraising is incredibly difficult — 99% of the time you’ll get ghosted, rejected, or let down. To lessen the sting, ask other founders about the worst experiences they’ve had so you can mentally prepare yourself before the process kicks off. And remember, all of the most successful companies have come to the precipice of shutting down at least once upon their journey to success.

5. Get an outside perspective 
Relying on your own perception of whether you’re burning out sometimes isn’t enough. You need to consistently check in with other people in your life to ask how they think you’re doing - this will give you a more objective view that will cut through any delusions you have.  If you can, hire a coach who can provide a safe space to vent, share hard-earned expertise, and guide you through the difficult times without any adverse incentives driving the advice. A network of fellow entrepreneurs and founders can also play this role, and the only cost is reciprocal support — even more rewarding!

What to do when you’re starting to burning out

1. Stop and delegate
The only way to stop burnout before it takes hold is to act as soon as you get the first signal it’s happening. When it does, you need to step away as much as you can. Along your recovery process, you’ll still have periods of sprinting so don’t expect this to be a perfectly restful recovery. The alternative is a full separation from your company — choose the path that’s best for you. Elevate your team so they can take on some of the work you’ve been holding onto and delegate to them when burnout strikes. 

Delegation is also a key part of the transition from founder to CEO.  For more on this and other tactics to uplevel your leadership, check out our piece with John Belizaire.

2. Say no
Don’t fall into the trap of chasing every opportunity because you’re scared it could be the thing that makes your business blow up. Learn how to say no, even to good ideas, or there will always be far too much on your plate.  For more on learning how to prioritize your time and say no, check out our piece with Nick Herinckx. 

3. Know where your limit is — and don’t cross it
You need to understand your own health as much as you do your company’s financial health, so that when something starts to go wrong, you’ll know. Don’t wait for an emergency to force you into addressing any issues — take steps now, like getting blood labs and monitoring your sleep. 

This also extends to your employees, so make health and wellbeing something you actively promote within your company. Your business has a runway — and so do they. You can’t afford the consequences of either running out.

Ravi Mikkelsen is the Co-founder and CEO of Atmos Financial, a financial technology company that offers the most climate-positive bank accounts on the planet and transforms banks and credit unions into climate lenders. 

Ravi has been fighting climate change since August 2000 when he had a Hollywood-like moment of epiphany that his  mission in life was to help the world transition off of fossil fuels. Ultimately, he came to the conclusion that finance was the “Archimedes Lever'' needed to facilitate change. Since 2013, he has been connecting climatetech startups with corporate and project capital providers, from small angel investments to billion-dollar private equity transactions.

Through Atmos Financial, Mikkelsen is working towards catalyzing a global movement for a greener, more resilient future. Outside of Atmos, Ravi enjoys spending time with his wife and three year old out in nature.