Avoiding Burnout with Smart Time Management

Working less makes you more successful. Burnout is not a business plan. Hard to hear, but harder to ignore. During my last startup, I hit rock bottom. 18 hour days. Constant stress. Total burnout. For what? Revenue flatlined. My health collapsed. I nearly lost my marriage and I pissed off Investors. Then I discovered a really obvious truth: Strategic rest isn't a luxury. It's your secret weapon. Work fewer hours, close bigger deals. Fact. When I cut my hours by 20% and added intentional breaks: • Creative solutions I couldn't see before suddenly became obvious • Decision quality improved dramatically • Revenue grew faster than during my burnout phase A 2019 Microsoft Japan experiment proved it: They tried a 4-day workweek and saw productivity jump 40%. Here's what actually works: 1. Use the 52/17 Rule -52 minutes of focused work. 17 minutes completely off. -Your brain naturally works in cycles of focus and recovery. 2. Take a real lunch break -Not at your desk. Not scrolling emails. -One of my peers added 30 minutes of complete disconnect daily. -Her team's output jumped 24%. 3. Schedule deep recovery -Block one 2-hour window weekly for pure thinking. -No screens. Just you and big questions. 4. The power pause -Before every major decision, take a 24-hour cooling period. -This single habit saved me from three potentially catastrophic choices this year. 5. One complete day off -Your brain solves problems in the background. -Give it the space to work. I now get more done in 40 hours than I used to in 80. Not because I found a productivity hack. Because I respect my brain's limits. What's one way you'll build strategic rest into your week? ♻️ Repost to save someone from burnout. 🔔 Follow me (Charlie Lass) for more counterintuitive truths about success.

I used to think hustle was the key to high performance. Then I learned the real secret: REST is the most powerful RGA. Most sellers grind themselves into dust chasing performance. But I’ve coached 100s of top performers—and the highest earners don’t work more hours. They master their energy. Here’s how I worked 40 hours a week (never work nights or weekends) and still outperformed 99% of reps: Let’s flip the script on what it takes to be a top performer in sales. Everyone talks about RGAs—Revenue Generating Activities. But no one talks about the energy required to do RGAs well. If you want to prospect with intensity, sell with presence, and close big deals— You need rest. At a mastermind recently, someone called it the “Ultimate RGA”: Rest Generating Activities. Because without rest, RGAs fall apart. You’ll be foggy. Reactive. Distracted. You’ll confuse activity with impact. Here’s how I train reps to recharge intentionally—so they can win without burnout: 1. Plan 4 Vacations a Year I pre-block 4 weeks off annually. They’re non-negotiable. It doesn’t matter if it’s Hawaii or your local mountain trail— The key is knowing you are unavailable. Not half-working. Not checking Slack. Fully present. Fully off. 2. Track and Protect Your Sleep I use a WHOOP. You can use anything. But if you're not sleeping 7+ hours, consistently, you’re underperforming. You can’t bring intensity to your calls when you’re running on fumes. Sleep is a performance multiplier. 3. Calendar Block Your Breaks My calendar is blocked 12–1 PM every day. Lunch with my wife. A walk. Or just quiet. Three hours of deep work → 1 hour of recovery → back for the final sprint. Burnout doesn’t happen from work. It happens from nonstop work. 4. Ruthless Time Boundaries I stop work at 5 PM most days. No nights. No weekends. Ever. You don’t need 70 hours a week to crush quota. You need to stop saying yes to distractions and start owning your schedule. Parkinson’s Law is real: The less time you give yourself, the more efficient you become. 5. Say No to Busy Work I use the 12 Week Year system. Everything I do ties back to a goal. Internal meetings? Minimized. Slack and email? Batched and time-boxed. If it doesn’t move pipeline or drive impact, I don’t touch it. If you’re working 60+ hours and still missing quota... It’s not your work ethic that’s broken. It’s your calendar. Stop measuring your week by hours worked. Start measuring it by energy invested in what matters. You don’t need to grind harder. You need to recharge better. Work less. Sell more. Live fully.