Are We Returning to ✨Toxic Productivity✨?
Thoughts on work-life harmony, poll on audio courses, an AI hackathon and my episode of Motherkind 👀
I read an article this month that gave me chills… but not in a good way.
It was a piece about a famous billionaire. He claimed that work-life balance is a lie. On that point, I actually agree. But I couldn't get behind what came next: that employees should go home, have dinner with their families… and then open their laptops again. Apparently sleeping under your desk is just part of the startup journey.
This kind of advice only works if there's someone else (usually a wife) picking up the slack at home. It usually means kids growing up with an absent parent and a vague promise that “one day, when this is all over, we’ll have time.”
There are two big problems with that idea. Firstly, most startups fail. Whether founders and employees burn out or not, the stats are the stats. Secondly, even if your company (or the startup you work for) does make it, your kids might not want to spend time with you as teens or adults if you’ve consistently put work before them.
The billionaire argues that if you don’t work relentlessly in a startup, you’re out of a job. And yes, startups are intense. I’ve lived it. Sometimes you do need to push hard for a season. But there’s a big difference between focused seasons of intensity and full-blown martyrdom.
Linking success exclusively to suffering isn’t just unhelpful, it’s an insidious lie. Because even if we define success in the most traditional way (money, status, wealth), we all know people who’ve reached those heights without sacrificing every hour of their lives and neglecting their families. And we also know people who gave everything to their work and still didn’t “make it.”
But this doesn’t stop those with obvious material success, and some investors, from going on and on about how much you have to grind and abandon yourself and your loved ones if you want to make it.
The reality is, tending to your relationships, being present for your kids, caring for your body, mind and soul are things that not only help you live well, they actually boosts your chances of sustainable success.
Studies show that people with strong social support, regular exercise, adequate sleep and a sense of purpose perform better in their work and report higher levels of satisfaction. Research by University of British Columbia & Harvard Med School found that Regular aerobic exercise appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning. Exercise also improves mood, sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety: factors that all affect cognitive performance and productivity.
Insufficient sleep is linked to reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and higher rates of workplace accidents whilst high-quality sleep improves decision-making, emotional regulation, creativity and focus according to the CDC research on Sleep and Productivity. Plus an 85+ year longitudinal study run by Harvard found that close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy and healthy throughout their lives.
I could go on. But I won’t.
I guess the article bothered me because I started this newsletter to help me figure out life after giving way too much to a startup and ending up having an exit that was far from my ideal anyway.
My new business is almost a year old. It hit five figures fairly quickly and has turned a modest profit, which is something I’m proud of. But it hasn’t been consistent and it’s been crazy stressful at times. Plus my other two projects are growing at a different pace than I first planned (better in the long run, but different to my expectations.) So though I had a lot to say about the article, my first thought was: who am I to talk about this if I’m not yet financially free?
But success isn’t just about money. True success is a life full of family, friendship and freedom. It looks like good health, meaningful work, spiritual growth and being present for the moments that matter, and yes, material wealth is a part of that too, it’s just not the whole story.
This community has helped me learn a big lesson: building a successful life, one intentional step at a time, is a joy in and of itself.
Here’s to more holistic, harmonious success for us all.
In this month’s Newsletter:
Project Updates: Chat & Audio Course Polls + Motherkind Pod & Black Ballad Article
What I'm Learning: Do Dates > Due Dates
What I'm Loving: Whispers in the Earth
Short Stories: The Agency 🖊️
Events & Opportunities: Transmission Roundhouse Podcast Academy & AI Hackathon
Project Updates
My plan is for this community to level up together. The tools for that plan are monthly thought-provoking newsletters, regular chats, quarterly meet ups, audio courses, and, eventually, creative entrepreneur retreats.
The meet-ups and retreats are delayed, but in progress. More on that soon, I promise! In the mean time… I’m thinking of moving the chat off platform, but I’m curious to know your thoughts.
Thanks for the lovely feedback on the Dream-Plan-Do Audio course! I’m working on a new one around Time Optimisation (all included for paid subscribers). Keen to know what courses you’d like to have next.
Recently I’ve been talking a lot about Work-Life Harmony. Listen to my conversation with Zoe Blaskey on the Motherkind podcast here:
And read my piece for Black Ballad here:
What I'm Learning
Do Dates > Due Dates
I’m a big fan of scheduling priorities rather than prioritising whatever ends up on my schedule. Recently I’ve had big challenges on some of the boards I serve on. I’ve needed to hyper prioritise due to emergency meetings and additional workload and I’ve realised that relying on deadlines alone just doesn’t work.
I had a big workshop and a major client pitch in the same week and they crept up on me. But thankfully, I’d done the work already. When I booked the workshop I’d scheduled 3 slots to prep my slides and when I got the invite to the client meeting I scheduled an hour block to prep. Then forgot about them both as other things took over my attention. But those do dates worked in a way that due dates often don’t and I was able to deliver a workshop that got excellent feedback and have a positive and productive client meeting despite having an unexpectedly demanding week.
So I want you to think about your big goal and make a commitment. This week don’t read about doing the thing, don’t plan to do the thing by a vague future date. Scheduling non negotiable time to DO the thing right now. It will take a couple of minutes and it could change the course of your life.
What I'm Loving
Whispers in the Earth has shipped! If you pre-ordered, thank you for supporting the project. If you’re waiting to buy it, we should be on sale in just a few weeks.
It’s full of incredible stories from around the world; modern takes on ancient folklore. Also feels great to hold an anthology in my hands featuring one of my short stories!
Short Stories
Still editing the novel! Here’s a story I wrote back in Jan that my writing group called the best short story I’ve written yet. Hope you like it too!
Events & Opportunities
The Transmission Roundhouse Podcast Academy is now open for applications. Ideal for people aged 18-25 with a passion for audio and podcasts and suitable for both experienced young people and total newbies.
& Ada Ventures are running an AI hackathon. The winner gets a £100,000 investment offer plus over £200,000 of cloud services.If you know any great potential founders, builders or product talent, share this link with them. https://www.adaventures.com/ai-hackathon. 🚀
That’s it from me! I hope your month is beautifully aligned with your values, hopes and dreams.
xoxo – Rachael
p.s. What did you find most helpful about this post? I’d love to hear your thoughts by email or in the comments. If you loved it please do forward on or hit the restack button to spread the word
Agree - and I find myself looking for more ease in work and less struggle - wondering whether more grind necessarily = more success.