When You’re Overloaded—and Delegating Isn’t an Optionby Frans van Loef and Jordan Stark by HBR

If you're a young entrepreneur, leader, or startup founder, chances are you’ve heard the golden rule of leadership: “Just delegate.” But what happens when you've already delegated everything you can, your team is maxed out too, and you're still buried in work?

Welcome to the modern leadership burnout trap.

This article breaks that trap wide open—and offers three powerful ways to take back your time and energy. If you’re hustling in San Antonio, Houston, Austin, or anywhere in the entrepreneurial world, this is for you. Whether you're managing a small team or still figuring out how to lead yourself, these strategies will level up your thinking—and give your vision some breathing room.

Let’s dig in.

1. 🎯 Redefine Excellence: What Does “Good Enough” Actually Look Like?

Here’s a hard truth: aiming for A+ work all the time is a silent killer of energy and momentum. In the early days of leading a startup or building a brand, everything feels urgent and everything feels like it has to be excellent. But the truth? That mindset is unsustainable.

Leaders who thrive are the ones who know when “B+ work” is good enough.

Let’s break it down:

• Fit-for-purpose thinking: Before starting any task, ask: What’s the actual goal here? Does this report need perfect formatting and deep analysis, or is a short bullet-point summary enough to move the conversation forward?

• Lead by example: One CEO told their board: “I’ll send unedited weekly brain dumps. They won’t be pretty, but they’ll be real.” That decision saved hours of wasted time while keeping the board updated.

• Reduce the pressure to polish: One executive trained her team to send rough first drafts instead of polished, time-consuming plans. She also encouraged bullet-point updates over lengthy memos.

How to apply this as a young entrepreneur:

• Hosting events or launching products? Don’t wait for everything to be perfect.

• Pitch decks, social posts, investor updates — ask yourself: Is it good enough to communicate the core idea?

• Talk with your team about what “good enough” looks like for each task or milestone. Set realistic expectations, and save your best energy for the big swings.

🚀 Pro tip: Look into AI tools that help you cut time. Tools like Notion AI, Fireflies.ai, or GrammarlyGO are changing the game.

2. 🧠 Cut the Hidden, Low-Value Stuff You Forgot to Question

You already know to cut what’s unnecessary. But what about the tasks you don’t even realize are wasting your time?

The truth is: the worst offenders are often hiding in plain sight.

Think of all the time you spend rechecking reports, sitting in back-to-back meetings, replying to emails that lead nowhere, or following processes that no longer make sense. These routines become default mode—and they’re costing you hours every week.

One hospital team asked: What if we dropped our 100-question patient checklist and only noted irregularities? Boom—3-4 hours per nurse freed up per week.

One CEO canceled all reporting for a month and waited to see what people actually missed. Spoiler: 40% of reports were never needed in the first place.

🧹 Your Turn: The Offloading Sprint

Here’s how to do a low-value work cleanup with your team (or just yourself):

1. List everything you or your team does. Be honest.

2. Ask: What would you cut if you only had 4 days to work instead of 5?

3. Challenge every routine:

   • Do we really need this form?

   • Is this meeting necessary—or just a habit?

   • Could we automate this?

4. Use the “two-way door” mindset: Try eliminating something for 2 weeks. If the world falls apart, bring it back. But 90% of the time—it won’t.

For young founders, this is crucial. You don’t have layers of middle management. Your time is the most valuable currency your business has.

🛠️ Hack this:Try tools like Zapier to automate admin tasks, Slack integrations to reduce email, or Loom for faster communication.

3. ✂️ Reduce Your Availability Without Losing Authority

This one’s a game-changer.

Most new leaders (especially younger ones) feel the pressure to be always on. Always replying, always in meetings, always there to support. That sounds noble… but it leads straight to burnout.

Here’s the key mindset shift: availability ≠ leadership.

One partner at a firm realized she was involved in too many projects. Her default mode was full-throttle. But when she tried a new approach—joining at the start, checking in once mid-project, and again at the end—the team did better, not worse. They felt more empowered.

🧭 Ask yourself:

• What meetings could I skip?

• Can I give feedback asynchronously?

• Could I offer office hours instead of always being “on call”?

• Could a 15-minute check-in work instead of a 60-minute call?

When you give your team or collaborators more space to operate, they grow. And you get time back to think like a founder.

💡 Bonus: Being “less available” forces you to lead with clarity. It pushes you to give better direction, build better systems, and trust your team.

🧠 Key Takeaways for Young Entrepreneurs

Here’s your quick checklist to regain your time, reduce stress, and build like a boss:

✅ Redefine quality. Don’t aim for A+ work everywhere. Learn when B-quality moves the needle just fine.

✅ Simplify systems. Look for meetings, reports, and habits you can delete or reduce. Reclaim that time.

✅ Limit access (strategically). Be less reactive. Build smarter rhythms, not just more hours.

✅ Leverage tech + AI. Automate the boring stuff. Use your brain for building the future.

✅ Talk to your team. Be transparent about your goals. Make time-saving a shared mission.

🗣️ Real Talk: Why This Matters Now

If you're leading something new—whether it’s a startup, a student org, a social project, or just your own path—you're going to hit a point where time becomes your bottleneck.

That’s your moment to grow as a leader.

Not by grinding harder. But by stepping back and asking:

• What matters most right now?

• What doesn’t?

• How can I free up mental and creative space to go big?

If you want to become a visionary, you have to stop being the bottleneck.

👀 Curious to Read the Full Article?

We’ve only scratched the surface here. The full piece dives deeper into how top leaders are applying these principles and how you can start doing it today.

🫱🏼‍🫲🏾 Remember: Your success is our success. We believe in your journey—and we’re here to guide it.

→ Click on Read More to read the full article to help you level up without burning out.

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