My four "work modes"
How I avoid burnout and optimize for a healthy productive life.
I’m not a big fan of the “work-life balance” philosophy. Mostly because it’s unrealistic to achieve full balance all the time, but also because I think in real life, there are times you must push harder at your work, and sometimes you want to just relax in a way you don’t risk losing everything you’ve achieved professionally.
So, I’ve laid out the four work modes I live by.
Burnout Mode: That’s the work mode you don’t want to be, ever. It’s when you’ve pushed so hard that you know you’re literally sick, unmotivated, and dealing with serious levels of anxiety, stress, and sadness. You get there by working your ass off without any type of rest (mental and physical).
Auto-Pilot: That’s the work mode when you’re not motivated enough to be in the Optimized Mode or in the Hustler Mode, but you need to keep things running smoothly. It’s when you do the minimum, or the basic, of what needs to be done. You get there after long periods in the Optimized or Hustler mode, and it’s a healthy mode because it allows you to rest without losing your job, your results, and/or your reputation.
Optimized: That’s the work mode in which you perform at your peak, while you have a healthy life - you eat well, exercise, connect with other people beyond your work, etc. It’s where you want to be most of the time because it means you’re achieving a lot, but also giving yourself the time and mental energy to have a healthy recovery, so you don’t need to go as far as Burnout Mode.
Hustler: That’s the work mode that is the opposite of Burnout Mode. When you’re here, nothing else matters besides achieving your work goals. It’s like a sprint - you know it can’t last long enough, but you know it’s sometimes necessary. You want to be here sometimes, especially if you’re at the start of your career and/or own your business, and see yourself in a critical phase in which you have to push harder to achieve whatever you want to achieve.
In short, you want to be in Optimized Mode most of the time, but be aware that sometimes you need to go Hustler (it could be for a few days or a few weeks, but never more than one month). Then, when you start feeling overwhelmed in the Hustler mode, you should immediately go to the Auto-Pilot mode for a while (like one or two weeks), since it will give you enough space to recover without making you lose anything you’ve achieved, and avoid being in the Burnout Mode, which is the most destructive mode and definitely a place you don’t want to be, ever.
The cycle should look something like that:
