Focused

241: Less But Better, with Austin L. Church

103 snips
Oct 21, 2025
Austin L. Church, a freelance business coach and founder of Freelance Cake, shares his expertise on avoiding burnout and building sustainable work systems. He recounts his own journey through burnout and highlights the importance of recognizing warning signs like irritability and low energy. Austin introduces a four-part framework for diagnosing problems and emphasizes the interdependence of work and personal systems. He also shares practical tips like taking real vacations and using reflective questions to prioritize what truly matters.
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ANECDOTE

Hard Burnout Reset

  • Austin burned out in 2015–2016 after combining high capacity with chronic overcommitment.
  • He lost energy, patience, and joy, which forced a permanent renegotiation of his identity and priorities.
ADVICE

Create Margin Fast

  • Take inventory and cut everything non-essential immediately when you smell smoke of burnout.
  • Create meaningful margin fast and ask for help with radical vulnerability and candor.
INSIGHT

Unsustainable Hustle Is Self-Defeating

  • Doing unsustainable things to reach sustainability is a lie that accelerates burnout.
  • Evaluate long-term sustainability before adopting high-effort short-term tactics.
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