Here are 5 tips for getting out of mental health traps

Here are 5 tips for getting out of mental health trapsHere are 5 tips for getting out of mental health trapsThere are certain mindsets every founder has to actively work to avoid, like pressuring yourself to personally touch every project, believing you have to be killing it at all times when youre talking about your company to others, and feeling like you can never rest. Ive personally made all 3 of these mistakes (and every other mistake youll see here), and each one can really take its toll.Looking back, its easy to say I shouldnt have made these mistakes, but when you are in the thick of it all, its all too easy to fall into one of these traps.Here are five of the most dangerous mental traps Ive fallen into - so learn from them1. Saying, Ill just do it, if you see a teammate moving too slowly and you feel like you can do the work faster yourself.This is the mistake I find myself making most often.Its especially prevalent among founders of early-stage startups, in those situation s when youve hired a new team member to take over some part of your job for you. The truth is, a new hire will need time to ramp up, to learn the job - and of course, during that learning period, they wont be able to complete the tasks you used to do as fast as you can.But that doesnt matter. Taking over their workload is the opposite of what you want to do, because it will prevent them from ever being able to run their domain autonomously. That will, in turn, prevent you from ever being able to scale your company.And itll have other side effects, too. Stepping on your new teammates toes damages their morale - especially if theyre already suffering from a bit of Imposter Syndrome. And it wastes money in opportunity cost, mostly in the long run.Let your new hires struggle so they grow - at least for the first few weeks.2. Measuring hours, not progressIn the startup world, its annoyingly common to overhear people bragging about how often they get to the office early or stay there l ate.That literally means nothing.Unlike in Corporate America, that facetime doesnt matter here. All that matters is progress.Heres what Ive learned I would rather have my team sleep later and leave earlier if that means they are sharper and more productive when theyre in the office. What matters are deliverables. To measure someones contribution to a growing company or cause, you need only look at things likeWhat they accomplishIf they hit roadmap goals or deadlinesIf theyre a reliable and respected team memberOf course, founders often behave in ways which prop up this fallacy, too. I try and avoid doing that by creating daily checklists for myself, and measuring my day in accordance with what manageable tasks Ive accomplished or made progress on during the day.Ultimately, being goal-oriented - as opposed to hours-oriented - is how you align conceptions of productivity with success, for both yourself and your team.3. Feeling like you cant take a breakMany founders routinely push t hemselves to the point of exhaustion in running their company - mentally sprinting 18 straight hours a day, never allowing themselves to stop, sleep, or take a vacation. They feel its what they need to do. Ive even seen founders post about their work ethic on Instagram or Twitter as a way to get some social validation that what they are doing is extra-ordinary. Nothing gives you motivation these days like that late night like or retweet.But in reality, thats unproductive. Burning yourself out makes you less effective. The startup life is a marathon - not a sprint. And despite some of the very strange and very brilliant people youll meet along the way, we arent all robots (or cyborgs)yet.If you find yourself constantly inundated with tasks or action items that seem to force you to work without ever taking a break, take a step back and reflect. Often, youll find that youre taking longer than you likely need completing certain tasks because you areDistracted (not all emails need to b e answered right away)Mismanaging your timeNot giving yourself enough deep work timeIts about being purposeful. The old adage really does ring true work smarter, not harder.That also means allowing yourself to take breaks.4. Trying to be the cool bossTheres a fine line between being the boss and being a friend. When youre running an early-stage startup - beholden to your team, investors, and to yourself - its always better to be the former.That means, essentially, being (painfully) honest in your constructive criticism and coaching.Its good to be friendly, but feigning honesty will have drastic consequences, both personally and company-wide. Among other things, it willPromote an overtly political company atmosphere in which your team is competing not to be productive or valuable, but to be a member of some founder inner circle.Eat away at you personally, since the problems you fail to call out are never being remedied. This will eventually cause you to resent that person to the po int of wanting to fire them.Cripple your product, since the feedback loop is broken.Prevent your company culture from growing into one of honesty, transparency and constant feedback, which is what you need.When you need to have hard conversations, just rip the band-aid off. Be direct and say what you need to say. Its the only way things will improve. And, truly, as long as you remain professional with your feedback, nobody will fault you.The truth is, your team will - and should - fault you if youre not doing your job.5. Thinking you need to tell everybody things are going great all the timeFounders might be more guilty of this mental trap than any of the others. Talk to a friend or colleague whos starting a company right now, and ask them how its going. 99% of the time, youll hear Its going great.Not only is this often dishonest, but it has other unforeseen consequences, too. It canPiss people off, since most of the time it comes off as disingenuous or as you stroking your own eg o.Preclude you from receiving what might be very valuable advice or help, since those who could give it to you wont think you need it.Decrease your credibility - especially after people find out things actually arent going great, even though you told them the opposite just a short while ago.Personally, I push myself - at this stage in my career - to be completely honest when answering this question. You know what?Sh-ts hard right now. Saying that to people at the very least is honest, and better yet, might help me form bonds with others whove gone through the same struggle.At the end of the day, everyone involved in the startup grind makes mistakes.Thats to be expected. Whats important is that you dont make the mistakes you can avoid.That starts with avoiding these mental traps.This article was originally published on Quora.