Much ink has been spilled and hands wrung on the issue of "having it all." From the gendered origins of the question to the responses that are unreasonable and unsatisfying, founders have been battling the idea that managing their business comes at a cost to their personal obligations.
But during an event on managing workplace burnout in San Francisco on June 24, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian didn't mince his words, calling his mobile phone an "ever-present ball-and-chain" keeping him connected to work even when he wants to log off.
The founder-turned-venture investor at Initialized Capital let the audience in on some of his best productivity hacks to help him get the most out of the limited hours in his day. His biggest inspiration? His wife, tennis star and venture investor Serena Williams.
"The reason that Serena is so great is because she works just as hard when she's not working than when she is working," Ohanian said. "When she's not working, she is completely off. It's a wall that she is able to build and turn on, and I think it's the only way to perform well under that amount of scrutiny and pressure like she does."
Here are some of Ohanian's productivity hacks that keep the cofounder, venture investor, father, and avid traveler sane.