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Madison Utendahl Wants to Change the Way We Think About Work

"Burnout is not a glory badge. It does not lead to creativity."

Wellness
Madison Utendahl Wants to Change the Way We Think About Work
Courtesy of Madison Utendahl


One minute into a conversation with Madison Utendahl and you’ll be scrambling for a pen to write down every piece of wisdom she drops. As the founder of Utendahl Creative—a full-service branding and design agency behind brands like Simon Huck's Judy, Halsey's About Face, and Lena Dunham's Good Thing Going Productions—Utendahl’s life is textbook “founder goals.” But pull back the facade of flashy events and name brand clients, and you’ll find a remarkably grounded woman passionate about the power of rest. At UC, there are five weeks of mandatory time off integrated into everyone’s schedules. She leads by example, whether that’s timing Slacks for working hours or switching her phone to airplane mode before bed. The space she creates for creativity comes back tenfold in her life, on and off the clock. Below, Utendahl` shares lessons she’s learned throughout her career, from carving out personal time before the workday begins to recognizing—and recovering from—burnout.

Don’t Check Your Phone First Thing in the Morning

“I start my day later than most people because I spend so much time in my morning routine. After waking up at 7 or 7:25, it’s all about getting my two dogs and cat situated. I meditate twice a day, starting with 20 minutes in the morning. I make coffee, journal, walk the dogs, then I do a workout before starting my work day. Then it’s just a day filled with meetings. I've gotten religious about asking for agendas for meetings and decreasing them at large. I found that was one of the biggest deterrents in my mental health. My work day changed, thanks to this. It’s really allowed me and my team to get the hang of a 15-minute meeting. I’m the biggest distractor for my team because I genuinely care. I want to know what people have going on, what they’re reading, how they spent their weekend. This forces us all to be concise and succinct.

“My phone’s on airplane mode until after I finish walking the dogs, so I’m inaccessible until around 8:30 or 9. The origin of this practice was spending many years with my phone attached to my face, scrolling through Slack from the second I woke up. I created a system in my mind where this was acceptable behavior. I found that I had to create a preventative measure greater than my phone simply being in another room, in order to ease into a sense of self and gratitude at the start of my day.

“People have told me they can’t go on airplane mode because they have a kid and husband, but it’s just a disconnect between you and technology. It’s not deleting everything in your environment. For me, I had a false sense of urgency with my phone in my day-to-day life. There’s no reasoning behind that feeling. Anything that’s tragic will be just as tragic after your morning routine, and if anything, you’ll be more equipped to handle it.”

Stop Sending Emails During Off Hours

“I’m less strict about the end of the day. Mornings are sacred and precious to me. In the evening, I will totally sign off. If I feel the urge to respond, I’m a big believer in scheduling messages for the next morning. There’s no reason to be in that constant contact after a certain point. I try to find space to feel gratitude for the day.”

It’s More Than Okay to Take a Break

“We recently instituted five weeks of mandatory office closures throughout the year [at the agency]. It’s been transformative for all of us, myself included. There’s a massive amount of mental reprieve when you know no one else is working. It’s given us a huge sense of mental freedom. There’s no concern or anxiety that can build up about everything that’s happening while people are away. We don’t realize how much those two things weigh on us. FOMO can be more than feeling like you’re missing out on a fun leisure experience. FOMO also has a really frustrating, anxiety-provoking work connotation. You miss a meeting and all of the sudden, you feel behind and can’t catch up. That all gets eliminated. We’ve found that people are super grateful. It’s allowed me to totally disconnect and heal the stresses that are inherent with being a founder. As founders, we believe we need to be always on, but we are also worthy and in need of our own rest. It’s another level of peace.”

There’s No Reward for Burning Out

“Burnout is not a glory badge. It does not lead to creativity. As creatives, I think we’ve been conditioned to believe what I call “the Ernest Hemingway effect.” There is a narrative in the American creative landscape that being depressed and stressed and unhappy leads to great work. There’s a comfort in this unhappiness. It’s an unconscious belief that in this state there might be an enlightenment, or that a great body of work will be the result. We glorify some of the greatest artists of our times by looking at their depression and darkness as what led to this creativity.

"The first step to avoiding burnout is to avoid attaching a sense of accomplishment to achieving that state. Then, you know you’ve reached burnout when your average coffee order increases—say you go from a single to a double espresso. You’re most likely not resting and teetering on the edge of burnout. And when tasks that are an afterthought when you’re rested start to feel overwhelming or anxiety-provoking, you’ve reached burnout. Apathy is the most dangerous sign of burnout. Hatred and anger are uses of energy. Apathy is burnout, when you just stop caring.

“The energy you put out is the energy you get in return. There’s more meaning in my work and more intention behind what I’m doing when I’m rested and feel good. The quality of my overall well-being improved. Being able to produce and create as a happy, healthy human being is such a gift. If you’re lucky to be healthy, take advantage of that incredible privilege by honoring yourself and your body and your mind.”

Find Tools to Help You Minimize Stress

“I use phrases like “I need to tap out” or “Our work is not our life” or “We are not a hospital,” all the time at work. Urgency and stress are a choice. I love using apps like Insight Timer, Chopra, Forest, which locks your phone as a tree grows. If you check your phone, the tree dies. I also use an analog alarm clock to remove that dependency on technology first thing in the morning. I also love my meditation and journaling practice, especially The 5 Minute Journal.”

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