A founder’s schedule can be relentless. While many of us may be able to enjoy evenings, weekends or holidays uninterrupted by work, founders building companies often can’t afford to totally switch off.
In Sifted’s 2025 founder mental health survey, the majority of respondents said they struggle to make time for themselves. That means social plans, holidays and even things like exercising and eating healthily fall by the wayside. It’s no wonder, then, that over half of founders told us they experienced burnout in 2024.
“Founders are constantly told that to protect our mental health, we need to meditate, work out, journal, eat clean and maintain rock-solid boundaries between work and life. It’s well-meaning advice, but in all honesty, it’s not always realistic,” Molly Johnson-Jones, founder and CEO of Flexa, a platform for jobs with flexible work options, tells Sifted.
“Being a founder is a high-stress job, and there are constant demands on our time. So instead of trying to tick every self-care box to zen our way out of stress, or divide our time perfectly, we need to be realistic. We can’t do it all.”
Instead, Molly says, founders need to do more of the things that support their wellbeing while being aware that “stress is unavoidable.”
Wondering how to start? Here are some ideas.
Molly Johnson-Jones, founder of Flexa
Molly founded Flexa in 2021 to give job seekers a better sense of a company’s culture and flexible working policies when choosing roles to apply for. She’s a big advocate for people designing their work lives in a way that suits them best, believing it helps drive employee happiness and retention.
Be introspective
- Start by understanding how you work best. Some people are hyper-focused and can power through their to-do list in four hours. Others prefer to pace themselves across a longer day with breaks. Neither is better. What matters is being honest about your working style and planning your time accordingly.
- Figure out what helps you recharge. Yoga and meditation are often put on a pedestal, but they don’t work for everyone. For me, exercise helps me clear my head and switch off; others might prefer a pint at the pub or collapsing on the sofa in front of the TV. Find what genuinely restores and de-stresses you and make them non-negotiables in your week.
Embrace work-life integration (not work-life “balance”)
- Instead of trying to keep work and life completely separate, think of your week like a puzzle. Slot in the most important pieces first: your key work commitments and wellbeing non-negotiables. That way, you’re not continually postponing the things that support your wellbeing for some mythical quieter time that never comes.
- That might mean taking a longer lunch to work out, or starting your working day later after getting coffee with a friend. It’s not about striking a perfect divide between work and life, it’s about designing a week that feels realistic, flexible and sustainable.
Tristan Lim, founder of Beyond Founders
Tristan previously worked in high-growth startups before founding his own coaching and advisory service, Beyond Founders, in Berlin. He helps leaders and teams become more aligned and build systems to reduce chaos and improve performance. He thinks a combination of short-term tweaks and long-term perspective shifts is what can save founders from burning out.
“After speaking to founders for the past year, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not 'I can't find time' but rather 'this isn't painful enough for me to find time.' Maybe what's needed is a mindset shift from 'I don't see this as a priority' to 'this can really save me from burnout and 10x my company’s growth,’” he tells me.
Tune in; it’s a marathon not a sprint
- Building self-awareness is one of the most important skills for founders. It helps anchor you in your own beliefs and values, ensuring you keep to your own pace undistracted by those who are sprinting.
- Practical tip: Ask yourself “How are you really?” every single morning. Journal on that question for up to five minutes to tune into how you’re feeling and assess your priorities.
Redefine success
- “A big source of stress is chasing a version of success that isn’t actually our own (who are we really building our company for?),” says Tristan. “Most founders I work with hit burnout because they’re running someone else's race, trying to prove themselves to others like their social circle or VCs.”
- To figure out what race you want to run, Tristan recommends asking yourself these questions every Sunday: What will success look like this week? What’s enough? What will you let go of?
- Tristan also recommends reading The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, a memoir by Bronnie Ware. It’s helpful for getting perspective and asking ‘why’ you’re really doing all this, he says.
Marta Schafstall, leadership development expert and therapist
Marta helps leaders navigate the inherent pressures, power dynamics and performance expectations of leadership. Her methods include “somatic self-leadership” which emphasises the connection between the mind, body and emotions to enhance intuition and self-awareness.
She says that 6pm yoga sessions and bullet journal checklists are often “nothing more than status symbols” that make a lot of people feel guilty. “It's fine if someone celebrates self-care for hours on end, but we need quicker remedies.”
Daily quick hacks:
- Lunchtime exile. Turn off your screen. Go for a walk alone or with a colleague. Even short bouts of movement can refresh your mind and enhance productivity.
- Use tech for therapy. ChatGPT and others are inexpensive mirrors. For example, you can ask AI: “Help me sort out my feelings.” It doesn’t replace a real-life therapist, but it can be a useful stopgap.
- 2-minute workouts: Do 10 pushups, stretch or sprint up a flight of stairs at least once a day. Making this a daily habit is better than no movement at all.
- Block a daily pause in your calendar to do something unrelated to work — and keep it non-negotiable.
- Take a “social sabbath.” Turn off Slack notifications at least one evening a week for better recovery and performance.
On the subject of... Mental health
🧠 Strategies for improving mental health at work, according to the Harvard Business Review.
🤖 Can AI therapists replace human help? Some feel chatbots could be a stopgap in an overloaded mental health system.
🕰️ From the Sifted archives:
- How to really take time off. Tips for switching off during the holidays.
- How to manage burnout.
