Making space for life and all its intangible, unmeasurable untidiness.

I work around (and live around) a lot of sustainability-minded folks. I use beeswax wrap and avoid using disposable plastic and cleaning papers as much as possible. Conserving resources isn't as much a conversation or to-do list as it is the way we live.

Plastic and paper and compost are all very tangible, measurable items. Energy, emotional resilience, and time are less tangible, less measurable, and less objective, but all of those are important resources, too. In small businesses, the idea of the hustle is pervasive and can easily become dangerous. We powerload our client list, seeing gaps where we can fit one more client in to make expenses for the month, or planning clients several months in advance in hopes of avoiding a dry spell. It can be very, very difficult to rest when the only one responsible for your success or failure is yourself.

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But life is full of a number of things, and you never know when that overloaded client list is going to coincide with a death in the family, an illness, or a daycare shutdown. Suddenly you have too much work and too much life and everything feels like it's falling apart, which can very, very quickly lead to burnout.

The key is in remembering that the responsibility is multifaceted. You are responsible not only for the financial success of your work, but also for its sustainability. Most people can't hustle full-tilt forever; either they have to make space for their full life and all its intangible, unmeasurable untidiness, or life will make space for itself. Try not to set your bar at the full-tilt limit; set it instead at the going-steady limit. Find a pace you can sustain with all the areas of your life in relative balance, and make that your benchmark.