Originally published on Forbes.com on February 22, 2018.

As an entrepreneur, it is your job to make sure your business runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. It can be addictive to throw yourself into the role and work day and night to make sure your business succeeds. You may have a strong drive or unstoppable motivation that powers you forward, but at what cost?

You need to understand that your business will survive even if you don’t have a 24/7 watch on it. Working relentlessly can only cause you stress and prevent you from being there when you are really needed. According to statistics compiled by Brandon Gaille, workaholics that average 11 hours a day or more have a 67% greater chance of suffering from coronary heart disease. As staggering as this statistic is, it should be a real wake-up call that you need to take a step back.

Fifteen members of Forbes Coaches Council share why entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics and the advice they have for them, ranging from the ability to prioritize tasks to practicing meditation, confronting your fear, or simply outsourcing some of your projects.

1. Arrange Schedule By Activities

Anyone determined to reach a goal can be seen as a workaholic. Is it being a workaholic or passionate? It’s helpful to arrange your week by activities instead of by office hours. For example, Monday – business building, Tuesday – client calls, Wednesday – social media scheduling/client calls, etc. This way you’re not tied to hours and can schedule a day off, if there is such a thing. – Niya Allen-Vatel, Career Global

2. Focus On Eulogy Virtues

David Brooks speaks of eulogy virtues — those virtues that we want to be remembered by. These can be different from resume virtues — those virtues that bring us professional success. But they need not be. Entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics because they can see the impact they want to leave behind, but can forget the bigger picture. Eulogy virtues will show you the big picture priorities. – Maureen Cunningham, Up Until Now Inc.

3. Work On The Business, Not In It

As much as an entrepreneur wants to get their hands dirty, there is only so much they can accomplish by doing that. A great entrepreneur can only succeed when he or she has the time to work on the business, not in the business. Working on the business is essentially doing the right thing, taking a step back, looking at the business and working on it. – KarFei Cheah, Mindvalley

4. Create Structure To Your Day

Entrepreneurs are visionaries and they want to create. They also want to wear all the hats and do all the things required to get a business off the ground. To avoid overworking, create structure to your day, find an accountability partner to track goals and progress and hire great talent when you’re able to. Just because you can do everything doesn’t mean you should. – Lizabeth Czepiel, Lizabeth Czepiel, LLC

5. Try Daily Journaling Sessions

Overwork is an indication that vision, desire and direction aren’t fully formed (or trusted): Entrepreneurs try to “hedge their bets” by juggling dozens of projects, income streams, gigs, even book ideas, all at once. The result? Nothing gets done. To better attune to instinct, intuition, and desire, I recommend daily journaling sessions first thing in the morning. Sense first, act second! – Dave Ursillo, DaveUrsillo.com

6. Free Yourself To Focus On What Matters

Everything’s on the line for the entrepreneur. My advice: Be strategic in every way by defining the desired culture, hiring the right people who fit that culture, co-creating (with your leadership team) a viable strategic pathway for growth, and constantly assessing (each week) how your identified initiatives are progressing. Otherwise, the business will begin to run you, versus you running it. – Cathy McCullough, McCullough Group LLC

7. Prioritize

What is a workaholic? According to whom? If you want an exceptional life, you do exceptional things. Or do you want to be average? If you have purpose, a vision and are rigorous about your priorities… isn’t that what we all want, in our hearts? To live meaningful lives? Entrepreneurs accept responsibility for their lives and are willing to do whatever it takes to get the results they want. – Christine Hueber, ChristineHueber.com

8. Outsource In A Cost-Effective Manner

Many entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics simply because they do not have the financial resources to hire people that are as talented and passionate as they are, so they end up taking on more tasks than ideal. The best way to change this is to be diligent about outsourcing tasks that can be handled by others in a cost-effective manner. – Donald Hatter, Donald Hatter Inc.

9. Set Time-Bound Milestones

When you work for someone else, you have specific tasks and projects. Your role is clearly delineated. When you own your own business, it falls on you to get everything done. Instead, set specific, time-bound milestones. Measure each milestone’s impact on the growth of your business and celebrate each accomplishment. By creating your own boundaries, you avoid burnout and workaholism. – Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC

10. Don’t Fall In Love With All Your Ideas

Entrepreneurs tend to hold ideas close to their chest and do way more on their own than they should or need to. As an entrepreneur, you are really excited about your idea, so you want to execute on it as soon as possible. Don’t fall in love with all your ideas, as some of them will fail. Those failures will guide you better than working around the clock as they’ll help you triage your tasks better. – Donna Karlin, No Ceiling, Just Sky™ Institute

11. Confront Your Fear

It’s not true that you need to do everything all the time. The 80/20 principle suggests that 80% of what you do isn’t that important anyway. Just the thought of not working creates intense anxiety for a lot of entrepreneurs –indicating that fear is the driving force. Get clear on essential actions and take a weekly inventory of what not to do. Outsource, strategize, and trust. – David Butlein, Ph.D., BLUECASE Strategic Partners

12. Find Balance

There are different phases to a business. In the startup phase, working long hours is necessary, as is the inclination to say “yes” to every opportunity. But as your business matures, so must your boundaries and clarity about which are right ones for your business’ growth. Because that unrelenting push is not sustainable in the long term. Adjust your self-expectations as your business matures. – Debra Russell, Debra Russell Coaching, LLC

13. Work As If You Were An Employee

The best advice I can give a new entrepreneur to avoid being a workaholic is to wake up and get dressed each morning just as when you had a job. Communicate your office hours to your significant other (if there is one), and let them know during those hours you are working. Otherwise you’re in your pajamas all day… and in front of the computer. – Dr. Josh Luke, Health-Wealth.com

14. Manage Your Energy And Focus

Many entrepreneurs are workaholics by necessity. We take on many roles until we build the financial capacity to hire others to take on these roles. My advice is to manage your energy to ensure you are able to sustain the pace and prioritize the projects by month. Also, make your ongoing resilience and rejuvenation a key item on your priority list! – Maureen Metcalf, Metcalf & Associates, Inc

15. Meditate And Keep It Fun

Many entrepreneurs started because they had something to prove. For me, bullying and not feeling good enough drove a lot of success, but also robbed me the fun of life for years. Meditate and spend 30 minutes focusing on the things you used to love; this can be tough but keep going and explore online ideas. The key is to remember that fun unlocks creativity which will help your business even more. – Simon Lovell, Fitpreneurs

Justin Follin
Justin Follin is a founding partner and CEO at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He is a CEO coach and organizational consultant with primary expertise in the areas of visionary leadership development, cross-functional strategic leadership, solving complex adaptive challenges and innovation. He is the primary designer of the BLUECASE Leadership Development Process for fast-scaling, mid-market companies and M&A environments. He has led hundreds of Executives, Directors, and Managers through cross-functional leadership development and has coached public and private CEOs, business leaders, TEDx presenters, academic professors, musicians, and athletes to perform at optimal levels. He has also designed or executed leadership development and consulting approaches delivered inside some of the world’s largest oil and gas, construction, and mining companies.
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Justin Follin
Justin Follin is a founding partner and CEO at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He is a CEO coach and organizational consultant with primary expertise in the areas of visionary leadership development, cross-functional strategic leadership, solving complex adaptive challenges and innovation. He is the primary designer of the BLUECASE Leadership Development Process for fast-scaling, mid-market companies and M&A environments. He has led hundreds of Executives, Directors, and Managers through cross-functional leadership development and has coached public and private CEOs, business leaders, TEDx presenters, academic professors, musicians, and athletes to perform at optimal levels. He has also designed or executed leadership development and consulting approaches delivered inside some of the world’s largest oil and gas, construction, and mining companies.
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Christine Trevino
Christine Trevino is Chief Operating Officer and efficiency extraordinaire at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. She has a strong commitment to ensuring our processes create an exceptional experience for our clients and our internal team. After spending nearly a decade within one of the nation’s largest health systems, Christine knows the foundational infrastructure necessary for operational efficiency, conflict management, resolution strategies and creating connections to truly understand what is wanted and needed and how to best accomplish it, whether supporting the business or supporting people. Christine has served in other mission focused organizations, like Texas Exes (Hook Em’) and Whole Foods Market where she had the opportunity to be a servant leader and contribute to making an impact in the lives of others as she also does through our work at BLUECASE. Christine is married to her high school sweetheart and they have five children. She enjoys the outdoors, photography and volunteering in various organizations.
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Christine Trevino
Christine Trevino is Chief Operating Officer and efficiency extraordinaire at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. She has a strong commitment to ensuring our processes create an exceptional experience for our clients and our internal team. After spending nearly a decade within one of the nation’s largest health systems, Christine knows the foundational infrastructure necessary for operational efficiency, conflict management, resolution strategies and creating connections to truly understand what is wanted and needed and how to best accomplish it, whether supporting the business or supporting people. Christine has served in other mission focused organizations, like Texas Exes (Hook Em’) and Whole Foods Market where she had the opportunity to be a servant leader and contribute to making an impact in the lives of others as she also does through our work at BLUECASE. Christine is married to her high school sweetheart and they have five children. She enjoys the outdoors, photography and volunteering in various organizations.
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David B. Greenspan
David Greenspan, Ph.D., is the Founder of BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He has a PH.D. in High-Performance Psychology with expertise in why certain individuals and teams perform at exceptional levels, even in suboptimal circumstances. BLUECASE facilitates strategic planning and teaches managers and executives at fast-growing companies how to create seamless cross-functional collaboration, feedback-rich cultures, and high levels of engagement. An expert in creating high-performance corporate cultures and teams, David is an energizing leader, coach, and facilitator known for his capacity to galvanize groups to generate breakthrough results. David has over fifteen years of experience working with senior executives at Fortune 100 companies and executive teams of fast-growing PE-backed companies with between $50 Million and $2 Billion in annual revenue. Notable clients include ESO, Vida Capital, Intersys, Four Hands, AffiniPay, Logix, University of Texas, Maidbot, Bypass Mobile, Austin Fitness Group/Orange Theory Fitness, Kerbey Lane Cafe, ShippingEasy, Triangle Services, Allegiance Mobile Health, and YPO.
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David B. Greenspan
David Greenspan, Ph.D., is the Founder of BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He has a PH.D. in High-Performance Psychology with expertise in why certain individuals and teams perform at exceptional levels, even in suboptimal circumstances. BLUECASE facilitates strategic planning and teaches managers and executives at fast-growing companies how to create seamless cross-functional collaboration, feedback-rich cultures, and high levels of engagement. An expert in creating high-performance corporate cultures and teams, David is an energizing leader, coach, and facilitator known for his capacity to galvanize groups to generate breakthrough results. David has over fifteen years of experience working with senior executives at Fortune 100 companies and executive teams of fast-growing PE-backed companies with between $50 Million and $2 Billion in annual revenue. Notable clients include ESO, Vida Capital, Intersys, Four Hands, AffiniPay, Logix, University of Texas, Maidbot, Bypass Mobile, Austin Fitness Group/Orange Theory Fitness, Kerbey Lane Cafe, ShippingEasy, Triangle Services, Allegiance Mobile Health, and YPO.
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Christel Frietsch
Christel Frietsch is the Operations Administrator at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. She has 30 years of administrative experience with expertise in scheduling, correspondence, logistics and project coordination. Prior to joining the BLUECASE team, she was the Director of Operations for an Austin based CPG healthy lifestyle company, an Executive Administrator for a land use consulting firm, and an Executive Assistant to the CEO of an international disease prevention and wellness company. Originally from Austin, TX, Christel graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, and completed her minor study in Psychology. She is an IIN Certified Integrative Holistic Health Coach and an IPHM Certified Energy Healer. Christel currently lives in New Braunfels, TX with her partner and two rescued dogs. She enjoys spending time in nature, gardening and reading.
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Lori Darley
Lori brings nearly two decades of experience as a transformational coach and consultant and has worked extensively with leaders and C-suite executives in many industries. She coaches organizations from multi-national corporations, such as Ferro Chemical, a global cosmetics firm and a Fortune 500 “Class One” rail transportation company. She has also worked with a wide variety of entrepreneurial ventures and individuals in non-profits, manufacturing, financial services, management consulting, commercial real estate and the arts. Lori is a certified somatic coach, recognized by the Strozzi Institute, and a certified Peak Potentials trainer. Additional certifications include Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership, Gallup Strengths-Finder, the Myers/Briggs Personality Assessment and the EQi-2 (an Emotional Intelligence assessment and 360 feedback model).
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Robin Knudsen
Robin combines 20 years of international corporate experience with that of leadership development to bring insight into creating diverse and inclusive cultures and improving how teams function. As a coach and facilitator, Robin has worked with a broad range of companies across industries from Fortune 100’s through to entrepreneurs and SME’s. Robin holds a BA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Organization Development from St. Edward’s University. She is a certified executive coach, trained in NLP, HeartMath, and Reiki.
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Shawn Clark
Shawn Clark is a certified Executive Coach who brings extensive hands-on leadership experience to every coaching session. His business background includes senior leadership roles for mission-critical teams and initiatives with global Fortune 500 companies and U.S. Government agencies. Shawn delivers powerful, effective and efficient coaching experiences which enables his clients to achieve results that were previously unattainable. Shawn strives to ensure the coaching journey is a fulfilling and enjoyable experience loaded with exploration, discovery, creativity, growth and achievement.
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Trish Perevich
Trish brings over 10 years of experience as an Executive Coach and has coached a range of professionals from emerging leaders to C-Suite Executives. Her experience includes individual and group coaching; design and delivery of corporate training and coaching programs; and facilitation of SVP and C-Level Peer Advisory Groups. Trish has worked with a range of organizations from startups to Enterprise Fortune 100 companies including Genentech/Roche, Google, NASA and the United States Airforce. She has served dozens of industries including technology, finance, life science, construction, healthcare, education and more. Supporting her experience is a BS Degree in Business/Marketing from The Rochester Institute of Technology. Trish holds the PCC coaching credential along with certificates in Conscious Business Coaching and Team Advantage Coaching. Outside of work Trish enjoys golf, hiking, yoga, fitness classes, cooking and travel.
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Kan Yan
Kan has worked as an international humanitarian for the United Nations, a lawyer for the US Federal Courts, and a management consultant for McKinsey & Company where he consulted Fortune 500 clients across numerous industries with a focus on organizational health and leadership development. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Law and Diplomacy from the Tufts Fletcher School.
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Paulin Laberge
Paulin has co-founded two technology companies and has served as CEO of five. After more than 30 years of senior leadership roles in the technology industry, Paulin recently made the transition from running companies to helping teams grow their companies. His most recent engagement was as CEO of iCompass Technologies, a SaaS company that delivers solutions that strengthen open and efficient government, and which resulted in a successful exit at the end of 2017. He has been an advisor and mentor to numerous technology companies. Paulin has firsthand experience in building organizations, developing effective strategies, securing financing, developing market-leading products, establishing strategic alliances, marketing, and selling domestically and internationally. He has worked with boards and management teams to help them precisely execute critical corporate objectives and business strategies, create performance-centric cultures, and engaged, motivated teams, focused on driving results. Paulin has been an Entrepreneur in Residence at the British Columbia Innovation Council, where he established a province-wide mentor program. He was also actively involved in the development and delivery of growth, strategy, and market validation programs widely used by several technology accelerators. Paulin started his career as an Electrical Engineer after graduating from the University of Alberta. Throughout his career, Paulin has trained in numerous areas including, strategy, finance, sales, marketing, negotiations, organizational development, mentoring, and coaching. He resides with his wife, Lea, and their dog Huxley, on the west coast near Vancouver, BC.
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Lisa Jaecklein
Lisa is well known in high tech industries for her work in developing and leading high-performance teams. She has “walked the talk” as President and CEO for private and public engineering based companies in Satellite Communications, Telecom and Commercial Enterprise markets. Lisa’s corporate background includes leading an IPO, Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions and integration of global teams. She draws from her diverse market experience and passion for coaching to support professional development of executives and senior management teams. Her focus areas include supporting development/ refinement of strategic plans, executive coaching to advance leadership capabilities and organization alignment necessary to support strategy implementation. Lisa brings a unique understanding of the interdependencies of people and business that drives results and ways to sustain a positive level of energy in her clients personal and professional lives. Lisa holds a BS in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and has served as Director on a number of corporate and not for profit Boards.
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