Running a tech company generally involves long hours and quite a few sleepless nights. Throw in the rush of the holiday season and you often have a recipe for total chaos.
To stay sane, many leaders come up with rituals or habits to keep them feeling relaxed and productive as they move into the new year. Here’s how eight tech leaders maintain work-life balance during the winter months:
Zagster CEO and founder, Tim Ericson, said a bike ride and a glass of decent wine is often the best way to relax.
How many hours per week do you work?
I don't quantify how many hours I work per week because it varies. I work until I've accomplished everything I need to finish in a given week and the hours adjust accordingly.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
Launching our new dockless bike share brand, Pace. Our industry is rapidly changing and we need to ensure we are positioning ourselves properly to build off our incredible success to date.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
I plan a lot of great activities that force me out of the office. I find this makes me more productive and keeps me happy inside and out of work.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
A bike ride, of course, followed by a great glass of Chardonnay.
David Safaii, CEO of Trilio Data, a startup offering a comprehensive data protection, backup and recovery solution native to OpenStack, finds joy in his baby daughter — and landscaping his yard.
How many hours per week do you work?
If you are an entrepreneur or wired for startup life, I don't think this is a number that anyone really tracks. It's about getting the job done, pushing limits and setting big goals. I am looking for an eighth day during the week!
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
As a company, it's having the rest of the world keep up with our pace. That is the beauty and crippling aspect of startup life. The speed of business is never fast enough.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
My family keeps me grounded. In particular, my 16-month-old daughter. She is the single greatest responsibility in the world. Unplugging and focusing on her smiling face daily is important — there is always time later in the evening to plug back in. She also reinforces my work ethic. I know who the real boss is.
What is your favorite way to unwind?
Seeing live music and attending museums allows me to exercise the other side my of brain. Keeping your creative juices flowing is important in problem-solving. Without art, there is no science. Outside of this activity, it’s landscaping my yard. I enjoy getting my hands in the dirt.
Laila Partridge, CEO of Wegowise, a real estate company focusing on building analytics and utility benchmarking, finds peace in yoga and skiing.
How many hours per week do you work?
It is hard to say, but on average I probably work 80 hours per week. More is not uncommon (especially when I travel), but my productivity goes down. I strive to always take Saturday off, otherwise, burnout risk is too high.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
Growth is the name of the game for all tech startups, so the fourth quarter of any fiscal year is always intense. It is challenging managing that strong sales push on top of other year-end activities, like budgeting. In my current company, a meaningful amount of our sales come in during the fourth quarter, so it is quite busy.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
It helps a lot that I do not need much sleep. I prefer five to seven hours a night and get cranky from too much sleep at eight hours. It is not uncommon for me to jump out of bed before the alarm goes off, wide awake after five hours.
However, compartmentalizing is probably the most helpful. I focus on being in the moment of whatever I am doing and switching gears throughout the day. Thus, my personal and professional lives often bleed into each other. I also rarely feel guilty about how I spend my time. If I am with my kids, I am with my kids. If I am working, regardless of location, I am working. I can concentrate in the most chaotic of environments and sleep in an airplane seat at the drop of a hat.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
Downhill skiing! Unfortunately, I don't get to do that as often as I like, so I settle for a good high-intensity interval workout or yoga. On a cold, wintry day, I love to curl up with a good book in front of a fire. In the summer, I hang out on a deck in Cape Cod, overlooking two kettle ponds.
Eliza Becton, co-founder of smart water cooler startup Bevi, uses cooking as a creative outlet.
How many hours per week do you work?
This is a bit hard to quantify, since I pretty much work whenever I'm not with my two-year-old son. I would say 60+ hours on an average week.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
Building the right team. At Bevi, we have a very specific culture of collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving. We also look for people who are fundamentally nice and fun to work with. No divas allowed! This combination of hard and soft skills is sometimes hard to find.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
It's not easy to balance a high-growth startup with a baby troublemaker at home. I do my best to spend as much time with my little guy and husband as possible. There isn't much else that fits into my life beyond that. But every now and then, I try to fit in dinner with friends and family, and the very rare workout.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
Cooking! That's one of my current creative outlets, and I really enjoy trying new healthy recipes.
Mark Gally, CEO of marketing tech startup Zaius, finds that a pre-dawn run helps put his mind at ease.
How many hours per week do you work?
I’d love to say I work a 40-hour week, but Zaius is a growing startup. Realistically, I work between 60 and 70 hours a week.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
We’re always busy with new initiatives but right now we’re particularly busy completing 2018 planning while closing out the year.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
It’s hard, but my goal is to make sure that I’m always present when I’m with my family. I have to make sure I compartmentalize. When I’m working, I’m working. But when I’m not working, I try not to think about work. How do I do this?
A while back I went to a CEO peer group and when they asked me for a personal goal, I responded: “Stay at the office longer.” Everyone looked at me in shock. I explained that if I stay at the office a little longer, I am fully engaged at home because nothing is hanging over me. I’m not worrying about what I left unfinished. Staying focused when I’m at home and at work allows me to maintain a work-life balance.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
Running. I love pre-dawn runs because everyone is still asleep and there are no distractions. And because I always run the same route I’m able to create some white space in my mind to work through things — allowing me to disengage and unwind.
Jules Pieri, co-founder and CEO of The Grommet, a startup helping launch undiscovered consumer products, commits to exercising five or six times per week to take the edge off.
How many hours per week do you work?
Between 50 and 60.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
We have a complex organization because we are a mashup of a media company, an e-commerce site and a community. With no COO I am doing double-duty to straddle both roles. Fortunately my direct reports are very capable of being self-directed and we have strong shared goals and communication practices.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
I don’t really think of it as balance because that implies equal proportions of priority. After family, Grommet is my top priority and it gets the lion's share of my energy. You can’t really expect people to follow you as a founder unless you are making their success central to your own life. Having said that, I commit hard to exercising five to six times per week, eating well and freeing up my mind at least one hour per night. And I do recharge a lot over each weekend. I am kind of an Energizer Bunny that way. A little down time goes a long way for me.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
I should say something impressive like writing sonnets or kickboxing, but the truth is I really enjoy watching TV with my sons best of all.
Cory Munchbach, executive VP of strategy at marketing tech startup BlueConic, enjoys a long walk in the woods with her dog to unwind.
How many hours per week do you work?
I try not to count hours; instead, I have my to-do list and I set goals for myself every week. I take a “don’t stop until they’re done” approach, especially on things that other people are waiting for, or things that are necessary to keep the ball moving. That means weeks can vary in intensity but are consistent in productivity.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
We’re in a very exciting growth phase where a lot of the processes and structures we developed when the company was smaller are getting tested out on a bigger scale. The most challenging part is foreseeing what isn’t working before it breaks or causes issues. These are good problems to have, but still can be stressful!
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
I pride myself on my time management and the ability to set expectations for myself and others about what I can deliver. This helps me make time for the stuff I need to do to keep myself energized, focused and sharp for work — things such as exercising, reading, playing the piano and spending time with family and friends.
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
Taking our dog for a long walk in the woods. If that doesn’t work, there’s always ice cream.
Gina Ashe, CEO of retail tech company ThirdChannel, manages a work-life balance by refraining from checking emails on Saturdays.
How many hours per week do you work?
Over 70.
What is the most challenging part of your job right now?
Our company is growing rapidly. As the senior management team works to onboard new staff members and scale our infrastructure, we must be sure to maintain the high-quality experience our customers have come to expect.
How do you maintain a sense of work-life balance?
I have a hard and fast rule: emails shut down on Friday night at 9 p.m. and I don't look at them again until Sunday morning. Friday night and Saturday are mine!
What’s your favorite way to unwind?
I love to get lost in a Netflix series; sometimes I'll watch five episodes in a row. My son and I are addicted to Shark Tank too, and love to yell at the TV when entrepreneurs are making bad decisions!
