Decisive Zone Managing Partner Manan Shaikh Shares His Insights About Burnout And How He Fights It

Entrepreneurial burnout happens with little to no warning. It begins when decisions start to blur, having no signs of satisfaction and contentment. A good number of business owners equate their value to immense profitability or, say, million- or billion-dollar consortiums, yet forget that going nonstop breeds failure in the long run. Unfortunately, no one is spared, not even the seasoned and highly respected visionaries.

Yes, even Decisive Zone Managing Partner Manan Shaikh. Formerly, he did not want to stop; success for him meant working day in and day out—just hustle endlessly to build his empire. For a time, it was beneficial, reaping the fruits of his labor fast. Then he started feeling exhausted and severely fatigued. This was when he recognized that something was amiss. Therefore, he wasted no second and acted accordingly before things got worse.

More than anything else, now he recognizes his physiological necessity—that his physical body must pause. “I dedicate a quiet moment for me every week. There's actually no specific timeframe allotted. It depends on the demands, so it could be half a day, a few hours, or, if I am lucky, probably even the whole day. Basically, no meeting requests, calls, interviews, etc. This provides a window to assess my next direction clearly,” Manan explains. As Managing Partner of Decisive Zone, he uses this to study expansion opportunities, prospective profitable partnerships, and, most importantly, to examine his human needs and wants.

His days include a non-negotiable break to disconnect. “I take about thirty minutes to decompress if the day would allow me to. I sit still, or walk, or breathe in open space. That reset gives me the stamina for the rest of the day,” he shares. He closes the loop with micro-disconnects that restore mental health. These involve solo drives or solitude in calm, familiar places. “Those resets may be short but very effective. I come back all energized and ready to bring it on,” Manan says. He continues to run Decisive Zone without falling into the same traps that drain entrepreneurs from the inside. Easier said than done, for sure, but he reminds himself to breathe in and out—to breathe in new groundbreaking ideas and expel unwanted stress.