

Ask HN: Dealing with anxiety as a founder? - anxiousandy

In recent months there have been a lot of posts about leading a balanced life while founding a startup. Things along the lines of<p>- "Only work 40 a week!"
- "Make time for friends, family, etc. outside of work!"
- "Keep a healthy social life!"
- "Get a lot of exercise!"<p>I understand the merit in those, and actually strive to do so myself. But as a founder (technical, at that) with anxiety issues I find I often struggle to do so--perhaps more than others.<p>Because of this, I worry a lot and can easily justify my 80+ hour weeks: "If I don't finish just <i>this one more thing</i> we won't make it!" It actually can be rather poisonous, as I can be anxious about the team I've built: "I hope Jim does X the right way or else we'll be in trouble..."<p>Any other founders with chronic anxiety have any advice on how to cope? I have previously (when I was younger, over 10 years ago at this point) been on medication for it and am considering it again. Anyone else medicate to handle it? How did has it gone?
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whichdan
I assumed anxiety is the norm and not the exception?

I'm sure you've heard the term "rubber duck debugging"[1] - maybe you need
something like that for your business? Someone, or something, that lets you
say "nope, this really won't make a difference whether I finish it today or
tomorrow."

Besides that, the main issues you've listed are things that everyone has to
deal with. Need a healthy social life? Dedicate one or two nights a week as
"work-free" nights. Need more exercise? Find something you can enjoy doing,
and do it. During the nicer months, I'll walk five or ten miles around Boston
with a pair of headphones. It's really healthy, but doesn't /feel/ like
exercise. I also consider it necessary downtime from staring at an LCD screen.

For what it's worth, have you considered that working 80 hours a week is just
a bad habit? The same thing as playing World of Warcraft 10 hours a day. They
can both be equally consuming, stressful, and hard to break free of.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging>

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orangethirty
You seem to have a health issue that you should look into. Being an
entrepreneur is stressing and is not for everybody. Don't do it unless you are
confident in your ability to deal with it. It's not worth it becanse
entrepreneurship is quite shitty in real life. Lots of work and stress for a
small chance of return.

Now, realize that your success is mostly luck. So, work a normal schedule,
plan your work week, and just hope for the best, but don't count on it.

Quitting a business because its too hard is nothing to be ashamed of. I have
done it myself and am better off. Don't worry about things. You can always try
another business.

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vellum
A few things:

-Have you shipped yet? If you're doing the what-if game, or bugging out about tiny details, I suggest doing an MVP first. Then use metrics to find out what really moves the meter in terms of revenue. Doing triage with your to-do list will help.

-If there are any startup meetups near you, I suggest going to some. It will help if you can find some peers to talk to. They've probably been where you are and can show you how they balance work/life.

-If it's really a problem and things get dark, see a psychiatrist.

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kefs
Relevant:

<http://www.startupsanonymo.us/>

Yesterday's discussion:

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5388219>

