Arianna Huffington Has Battled Back From the Brink of Exhaustion to Give You These 7 Rules to Live By

Arianna Huffington is a lot of things. She’s bold, whip-smart, even regal. Most of all, she’s prescient. She spawned her workplace well-being platform Thrive Global in 2016–years after reckoning with the kind of exhaustion perhaps only an entrepreneur could appreciate. (She’d once passed out from extreme fatigue while working 18-hour days building the Huffington Post.) The increas­ingly popular view that forestalling burnout could also deliver productivity gains and fuel success only helped further her cause. Today, Thrive’s physical and mental health agility tools have been used by tens of thousands of employees at more than 125 organizations. But Huffington is nowhere near done peddling her message of a better way to live and, well, thrive.

1. Fuel yourself.

In the human operating system, downtime–taking time to refuel and recharge–is a feature, not a bug. The science is clear that energy levels, decision making, focus, creativity, problem solving, and collaboration, which are all essential for entre­preneurs, improve when we take care of ourselves. A commitment to well-being isn’t weak or soft; it’s a core part of leadership.

2. Reset your mind.

Stress is unavoidable. Cumulative stress is avoidable. According to neuro­science, it takes just 60 to 90 seconds for us to move from the sympathetic–the fight-or-flight response–to the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms us. To reset, focus on conscious breathing, or on images or quotes–anything that ­reminds you to feel grateful. Because, scientifically, gratitude and anxiety or stress cannot coexist.

3. Foster joy.

Joy is one of our most power­ful emotions. It’s not only an effective antidote to burnout, but also contagious. That’s why joy can be so powerful at work: It’s a force multiplier that allows teams and companies to set ambitious goals and meet them without burning out. Joy fuels our productivity and connects us to one another and to our mission.

4. Accept the ­incomplete.

There’s nobody out there with an interesting job, whether you’re a founder or not, whose day really ends at 5 p.m. We could stay up all night handling things. You have to declare a time when you say, “This is the end of my day.” No one else is going to do it for you. If you expect to get to email inbox zero, that will never happen. You need to be comfortable with incompletion.

5. Unwind on purpose.

At the end of a stressful day, take a hot bath. It’ll allow your brain to turn into mush, little by little. Then, once you’re in bed, no screens. I have only real books on my bedside. Ideally, nothing about work; something that takes you away from your day. I like to read novels, poetry, philosophy, and history. Being in nature or spending time with my new grandson also helps me put things in perspective.

6. Prioritize rest.

For me, and according to the ­latest research, sleep is foundational–both for health and for joy. I find that when I’m sleep-deprived, I’m much more ­reactive. I’m much more affected by ­challenges. I know the difference when I’ve had a good night’s sleep, and for me, eight hours is what I need.

7. Just drop it. 

Knowing what I should say yes to has always seemed obvious to me. The bigger challenge I have, and I think a lot of people have, is saying no to things so I can free up my time. It also helped when I realized I could “complete” a project I’d been carrying around simply by dropping it. That’s how I “completed” learning how to ski, speak German, and cook. (A few people were relieved when I gave up that last one!)

The extended deadline for the 2025 Inc. Best in Business Awards is this Friday, September 19, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.