Founder depression and my fixes

Startup founder depression in the technology industry is a serious issue.

I founded and bootstrapped three businesses. I understand the pressures. This is my contribution to the discussion. These activities keep me sane (ymmv):

1. Daily exercise, strenuous and for at least 30 minutes¹.
2. Sleep, whatever works for you but ideally ~8 hours.
3. Drugs, as in "don't do drugs", avoiding excessive alcohol consumption!

The challenge for many founders is that there's personal and institutional pressure to work 100% of the time. Please resist this. It's not good for you, your family, your business and by extension your investors.

An important note: my learnings are applicable to depression caused by lifestyle choices and not those associated with biological, physiological and/or psychological causes requiring medical intervention.

1. The right dose of exercise for a healthy life (NY Times)

Header Photo by Emanuela Boros / Unsplash