How to Escape Burnout and Build a Business That Sparks Creative Flow

• Why burnout often sneaks up on creative entrepreneurs
• The rituals that helped Meital reconnect with her creativity
• How structure can support (not stifle) your flow
• What it really means to be “productive” when you’re exhausted

“Burnout doesn’t mean you’re broken. It might just mean it’s time to create differently.”

“When I step away from the canvas, I come back with the answer.”

“You don’t need to be an artist to be creative. Creativity is how we solve problems, connect, and come alive.”

“Structure gives me freedom. My morning ritual is what helps me show up and create.”

“I left engineering to follow a spark. But it was the systems I brought with me that helped me make it work.”

Intro 

When you hear the word creativity, does your brain immediately go to, that’s not for me, I’m not an artist? If so, today’s episode will gently flip that belief on its head. I’m joined by Meital Rejev, an aerospace engineer turned full-time artist who now paints stunning portraits using coffee. Yes, coffee, my favorite thing in the world.

And while her story is wildly inspiring, what really stood out to me is how deeply her journey speaks to peaceful productivity. We talk about why creativity isn’t just for artists and how it can actually boost your creativity and how it can actually boost your productivity. The power of rituals and how small consistent habits set the tone for a focused workday.

What happened when Meital gave herself permission to explore, pivot and build a business that aligns with her life and not the other way around? This one’s for you if you’re craving more ease in your schedule but you feel like it’s not practical unless you already are very successful. Or if you’ve been pushing through and you’re wondering why are your ideas not flowing? 

So let’s dive in. Welcome to the peaceful productivity pod where we redefine productivity through a lens of mindfulness and holistic well-being.

ANNE

So today is one of my favorite topics because it’s one that holds a lot of misconceptions and I’m hoping Marisa that we can bust a few of those today. So I would want to start with a little conversation around how delegation or effective delegation can really multiply a founder’s return on investment. What are your thoughts there? Why is delegation important, powerful and how can we make the most of it? 

MEITAL

So I mean if you really think about every successful person that you see out there, right, and I mean we all kind of pay attention to different people, we all draw inspiration from different people and when you see the very successful coaches, entrepreneurs, like what have you, I guarantee you they are not doing everything themselves because at a point we hit a limit to what we can actually do as one person.

So if you actually want to scale and grow beyond your current, kind of capacity that you’re at now, it really requires bringing in help. There’s books written on the subject, who not how, for instance, and really that’s the philosophy of thinking not how can I do this or how can I do more, but who can I bring in to help me do this or help me do more. And I think it’s really, really important that we think about, focus on, what are the things we are very good at and usually those things that we’re very good at also coincide with the things that really bring us a lot of energy and if we can stay in the high energy spaces within our business and lives and focus there and bring people in to do the pieces that are not our focus zones, that are not our strengths, then we just sort of multiply what we’re able to produce in our capacity because we’re no longer trying to spread ourselves thin and draw our energy down by trying to focus on things that we actually drain our energy and we are actually not good at and there are better people served to do that.

ANNE

Absolutely, I love that and I shared it with you, I don’t tell, like I don’t often speak about it in the podcast, but because I have a virtual assistance agency and I started off as a freelance VA and I was very resistant to bringing on help and to delegate and it’s quite, it took me quite a while to sort of break through this mindset and the fears that I was holding on to and it’s definitely become this journey of what you just described because I would call myself a multi-skilled person.

I can do many things, I can learn a lot of tech and all these things, but then I realized there’s things that I hate doing and I was still doing them just because I can do them, like it’s not a problem, but it’s exactly that, like now with the team and even with our clients, I always delegate the things that I don’t enjoy, like admin, these kind of things and that really focus on the tasks that I’m really good at and that I love doing it because it just gives such a different feeling and it really like things come easy from hand and it’s just, it just feels, feels good. 

I think it’s so true what you just said. 

MEITAL

Well, and I think too, there’s another aspect that’s, very easily overlooked, which is delegating, not only can it take those low energy draining tasks off our plate and keep us in higher energy, it also gives us time to actually rest and maybe be more creative because we, we have more space in our minds and in our bodies and in our days to actually think differently.

We’re not hustling, hustling, hustling all throughout every day and trying to balance life and work. I mean, we always will be doing that to some degree, but when you can actually delegate out many things on your plate, you’re not necessarily giving up income as long as you do it right. And what you are reclaiming and gaining is time and rest and personal joy and time with your loved ones.

And again, that will fill your cup up and then you become more creative, you become more inspired and you’re able to sort of run and grow your business from a different place as well, from that place of inspiration and fullness versus a place that many entrepreneurs I think can relate with, which is a place of being tired and feeling like you’re just kind of hustling, right?

ANNE

Exactly. A lot of the people that I speak to on the podcast, they left their nine to five corporate to become entrepreneurs and to have time freedom. And very many of them say like, yeah, at some point it was not freedom at all.

It was like a chain to the desk, even more than in a corporate career. It’s exactly what you described. And I think where I would like to go next is this, the point that you already made in terms of not necessarily a financial loss or a reduction in income, but actually potentially an increase.

And you said something good there, like just to maybe dive deeper when it’s done right. So what would it mean? How do we delegate in the right way?

MEITAL

So the way I like to look at it, especially at first, when you first start realizing, okay, I can’t do all this myself if I actually expect to grow in scale. So now it’s time to think about and figure out what do I take off my plate, let somebody else do so that I can focus right on the things that I want to be focusing on in those high energy things.

So my approach, I actually really encourage people to first look at what are revenue generating tasks in your business, that maybe you don’t either you don’t like doing them, or maybe you don’t feel like you’re good at them, or you’re not experienced in them. So for instance, just as an example, let’s say you’re a coach, let’s say you’re really good at coaching people, you really love being in that setting with your clients, you really love actually, you know, serving and delivering marketing, which is a very required piece of any business is not necessarily your strong suit, right?

Or it’s something that drains you or something that, it feels like it takes you away from your high energy activities of, of actually being able to serve people. So in that case, what I would do is actually bring in somebody that is a strong marketer, maybe somebody that has a lot of experience in email marketing, or social media marketing, whatever your method is for getting in front of clients, but helping you convert more clients into your business.

And by bringing that person in that has this experience, and that kind of knows things that you don’t know, they’re going to convert people faster, and hopefully higher quality clients as well, to come into your world. So you’re already making money by bringing this person on. So a marketing role, in my opinion, should always pay for themselves, but not only pay for themselves, bring you a genuine ROI, right? So that’s one example.

Marketing is usually the best example, because there is such a direct connection with money to be made in that role. But I do really like to look at first those revenue generating roles, and how can you bring experts in to help you do them better, and you’re going to see that ROI quicker. Then, I think secondly, is  once you sort of have that in place, then I suggest going into the support roles.

So the admin roles,types of roles and people that will take tasks off your plate that are more busy work. But I kind of think doing that second is actually the better way to go, because now you created more revenue by bringing in your first delegation. And then the second delegation is going to be people to help you with the admin tasks and things like that.

You’ll hear a lot of times, well, the first thing is to take off your plate, get an executive assistant, the first thing. But  I just, it’s okay. I mean, there’s no right or wrong.

But my preferred way is first to delegate revenue, revenue generating tasks. So that way, you’re now creating even more  income and space to now bring in those support roles, so that eventually you’re really truly sitting in only the role that gives you the highest center.

ANNE

I love that.

And it’s interesting, because in the beginning years of my VA business, I would have done what you just like the opposite, like what everybody says, the admin, most of my clients initially were looking for admin support, even though I never done the admin, I’ve always been more of a techie VA. But now a few years in and having worked with a variety of clients, it’s definitely what you’re saying when they hire the expert, and I think important with the expert to highlight that, to really support them with something very specific, the return on investment is bigger and quicker in comparison to the small itty bitty tasks that the admin support and these kind of things. 

However, I also feel like a lot of clients come with a certain, especially in the beginning, when they’re not so used to delegate delegation, there’s a certain fear of obviously taking that amount of money, which is a bit higher than what you would traditionally pay a VA who does some admin, and they worry that they don’t get the return on investment.

What would you tell someone like that who is ready to delegate, but has some fears around the right decision, the right person, the right task in the first place? How would you go about that? 

MEITAL

Well, I think the important thing first to consider is where as an entrepreneur, as a founder, should I be spending my time, in my opinion, the two places that you as the entrepreneur should spend your time is in revenue generating activities and delivery, those two things. And if you are finding yourself, you know, getting bogged down, let’s say in building the tech out for your funnel, and it’s taking you, days and days to do this, right? Or you’re constantly in there. Okay, well, that time now that you’re spending trying to build out your funnel and trying to mess with all this tech, because you’re not good at it is or not experienced in it, at least is taking you away from time that you could be bringing in more clients, or you could be giving an even better experience to the clients that you have.

And that usually leads to retention, right? Or referrals and things like that. So all of those, in my opinion, are actually revenue generating growth activities, but when you’re spending your time in tech, that’s taking you away from growth activities. So the way I like to look at it, and how I encourage people to look at it is  if you’re afraid, let’s say of hiring out that that tech role now, well, let’s look at the cost of that compared to the cost of your time that you’re now spending, right, not generating revenue, or maybe having to cut corners in your delivery or not  giving that extra  level of excellence that is going to just generate more referrals for you, like, what’s, what’s the better place to be focused, right? And let’s say it’s whatever 1000 5000, whatever it is to  outsource this piece.

Well, how quickly could you make that back if you were actually focused in these other areas focused in these growth areas? And really  it is scary. I know it is for a lot of people because you just look at the money going out, but you really have to train your brain as an entrepreneur. If you actually want to grow your business, you have to train your brain to look at it this other way and look at it as the investment of your time and the investment of your money.

It’s not a cost. It’s an investment. And that return on investment is going to come if you’re strategic about how you focus your time.

Now, if you outsource, let’s say something and then you just  sit there and watch Netflix. I mean, that’s not going to get you the ROI, right? So it’s important that you think about like, OK, well, how am I leveraging my time now? Because I’m bringing this extra person. But it absolutely is.

I mean, this is how people grow. They don’t grow otherwise. Right. Like this is exactly how people grow their business and scale their business.

ANNE

And I think it really requires a mindset shift that goes from, OK, I can do all these things.

And yes especially if we want to sometimes save money. ‘m investing and my time is worth something. And that like this is just a really little example that happened to me today. And it’s this mindset reminder that I have to tell myself every single day because I wanted to find a new little sound for my podcast.

You know, this kind of like swoosh sound. I had some feedback that it’s a bit harsh. OK, let’s find something that’s a bit more gentle.

So I send a message to my VA. Can you look for something? Because she does all this podcast. So she came back with some examples.

I didn’t quite like them. So I did a bit of research myself. I found something, but it was a paid tool.

And I said, like, can you find something like that for free? And then she went into, you could screen record and cut and this and that. And I’m like thinking, sitting there and thinking, actually, hold on, I’m just going to download that thing. It was like, I think, three pounds or something.

So four dollars. And I was like, it’s going to take me a lot longer to listen somewhere, to screen grab something and to give that to you and then to tell you what to do with it. I’m like, I’m just going to download that thing.

I’m sending it over. Just put it into the episode. And it’s literally that, like back in the days, I would have done these things because, I can do it.

OK, yes, it’s easy but it’s just a small amount, obviously. But I think it’s the reminder constantly to what you said, the book title, who not how, because of how I can do it. But that system did it for me.

So get it done. 

MEITAL

Exactly. Well, and to also, I think when you brought that up, it just made me think when people first start delegating, I think sometimes frustration can arise because, you know, the other person may not do something exactly as you would have done it or it might take them a little bit longer because they’re not exactly in your head.

However, that also is time investment in somebody that will learn these things, right, and learn your preferences and start to get more and more in your head and understanding how you want certain things done. It takes a bit of time. But once you get to that point, then suddenly you have the support on your team that you no longer even have to think about these things.

But I think it’s just practical advice to consider that when you first bring somebody on or when they’re doing a task, let’s say for the first time, like maybe they’ve never looked for a sound for your podcast before, even if they’ve been on your team. Well, they don’t know exactly what’s in your creative brain of what you’re thinking, right? So it might take a little bit longer. But now next time, if, that’s needed again, now you’re good.

And now it’s gonna take much shorter. So there is a little bit of investment time up front as well. And I think that’s just something that it’s to be expected.

And I see sometimes people, maybe at the first or second sign of like, oh, they’re not doing it the way I would do it. So forget it. I’ll just take it back and do it myself.

But you  really have to fight that urge to take things back and do it yourself because all you’re gonna do is pile yourself with stuff and tasks and you’re never going to get to, grow and scale out of that and be an actual, you know, CEO and leader in your business, you’re always going to be the doer and so I think just when you said that, when you told that story, it kind of jogged my thought about that, so I thought that was worth mentioning as well.

ANNE

Absolutely. I do see that a lot, that a lot of times they’re worried about the initial training, and the fact that a task may take a little bit longer than it would take them, but like you said, it’s in the initial learning curve for the VA, and I think also with the right, like, I mean, this is something that I always tell clients to, like, really, what’s the word?

I’m missing the word now, but to sort of pay attention to what they do, and how they do it, and already, if they are considering to potentially, in the future, outsource something, to already record themselves doing it, like these kind of, to prepare, like quite often when I have clients who are not so sure, and they just sort of want to start, okay, we’ll do some admin, but I pay attention to the things they say, where they have pain points, and where they’re, like, in the future, might want to outsource, and I will tell them, like, make sure you already record yourself doing it, so that when you’re ready, the VA can jump in much quicker, because I think this is also a challenge that a lot of entrepreneurs have, their processes so much in their mind, and they find it hard to articulate, actually, what they do, and how they do it, and what the expectation is, so if they already can work towards that, and take that away, I think it’s powerful from the VA point of view.

MEITAL

Agreed, and being very clear about what done looks like, what does good look like for this job, right, and I think, most entrepreneurs are very, self-driven people, very hyper-responsible people, obviously, if you’re starting a business, you’re taking on a lot of responsibility, you’re just already sort of the very ambitious person, and sometimes that comes along with a sense of control as well, and I think myself included, we all have to work on, do you need to control this, or do you need a certain outcome, right, and they may get to the outcome differently than how you did, but if the outcome is met, and if,let’s say you’re able to measure the success of the outcome, and it is still being, it’s still successful by all measures, even if it was different than how you would have done it, that’s what’s important, not did they do it exactly as you would have done it, or you have to give up a little bit of control in that, and that’s also a muscle that people need to develop as they start to delegate.

ANNE

Maybe what, go a little bit deeper, and let’s talk about what could they actually do, like the scenario, like the VA did something, and it’s okay, it’s maybe not exactly the way it should be, but maybe the entrepreneur still has a feeling of like, oh, I want to make this a little bit better, but then I don’t want to over-perfection it, what would you have, what should this person do, because I think the other part that’s sometimes difficult from a VA point of view is receiving, or being the person who receives the feedback, and then very often, and that’s like with no judgment, but we sit there, and we’re like, yeah, but this wasn’t said that way when we received the task, so there’s often, from a VA point of view, quite a bit of mind reading, trying to understand, but yeah, I don’t know if I’m formulating my question like clearly, but I’m wondering, what would you tell someone who’s like sort of not happy, but it’s not necessarily the VA’s fault, it’s also not necessarily the entrepreneur’s fault, but there could be something done to make this whole process a bit more smooth.

MEITAL

Well, I mean, there’s a lot of practice that needs to go into communication, I think, and feedback with any team, and this is on the entrepreneur to also find ways to become more clear, it is hard sometimes to communicate what’s in your head, it’s not always easy to put that into words, but getting some practice in doing that, definitely giving the feedback, never taking it back and doing it yourself, but instead saying, okay, so here’s, I mean, what I like to do is here’s what’s working, and here’s what’s not working.

I like to kind of, when I’m giving feedback, so that you do give positive feedback, these are the things that I really like about this, this is how, this is what I’m pleased with, like these are the things now that still aren’t working for me, and calling those out, and being clear about why it’s not working, like what about it isn’t working for you, and what would, you know, good, better, or best look like in that scenario, and if you can measure something, like if there’s an actual KPI that you could put, so for instance, let’s say the VA is helping writing, or something like that, or any roles as helping on conversion copy, let’s say, and then you’re measuring the conversion, and you’re saying, well, okay, this page should really, industry standard is really that it should have a 35 to 40 percent conversion rate, it’s converting right now at 25.

So there’s clearly, we need to keep working on this to get to the conversion level that would be standard, and what we expect, so when you can use a number, it’s a little bit, more concrete, when you can’t use a number, then I like to use the, here’s what’s working, here’s what’s not, here’s here’s what good, you know, looks like, maybe even giving examples of what good looks like, if there are some, to help the VA understand, and letting them, just honestly, always giving them a safe place, any team member, a safe place to ask questions, to share their confusion, to share their concerns, because if they feel that it’s safe to do that, then you’re going to get to a solution much quicker, versus if they’re holding back, because they’re scared of, saying something that’s going to upset you, and then maybe you’re not communicating that clearly, and then no one’s going to win from that scenario.

So getting really good at communicating clearly, and creating that safety around feedback, and confusion, and questions, definitely.

ANNE

But I think what you said is very valid, in terms of communicating the why it’s not working, and the why, also, sometimes, just the why of like, why are we doing this? What’s the point? And how does it fit into the bigger picture? Because sometimes, as a VA, you’re thrown pieces of the bigger process.

And then if it doesn’t, if you don’t quite know, what are you doing this for? I think sometimes it just feels disjointed, and you’re just like, really the executor. But I think from a psychological point of view, if you have a better understanding of what’s your part in this bigger puzzle, you maybe take a bit more ownership. At least that’s what I look out for in my team, that there is this mentality of ownership, and wanting to understand the bigger picture, because at the end of the day, I think this is where it comes to power, from having a team with you, that you have different minds, different experiences, different thoughts.

And then if there’s this culture of, hey, I can give feedback, hey, I can share my thoughts, hey, I can make a suggestion. I think this is where it becomes fun to have a team with you. What do you think?

MEITAL

It becomes fun, and way more powerful, too.

Because like you said, you’re bringing in other perspectives that are adding onto yours. And I think, going back to the control thing, like I said, most of us do struggle with that to some degree. And if you’re in this place of like, you’re trying to give feedback, but you can’t even clearly say what’s wrong, or, why it’s not what you want, then maybe it’s, I don’t know, maybe it’s just a control thing, and you can let it go.

You can, not everything has to be perfect, and then measure it and see what needs to change based on actual KPIs and numbers versus it all being subjective. And if you’re struggling to even communicate what you want, and why it’s not working, then maybe that’s the time to move on from it, let it be and see how it performs. But I agree, giving the team vision on them understanding the parts they play to the whole, all that is so important.

Really, it all comes down to treat anyone that’s working in your business, like a, like a human being, that’s a valuable human being. And,if you were in this situation, what would you want? And how would you want to be treated? And what information would you want? Right? And just kind of turn that around onto the team and say, okay, like, I’m going to provide all the things I would want to have if this were me, and just put yourself in their shoes and use empathy. And yeah, make sure that you are absolutely communicating the vision, not just I want you to do this task, and they have no idea how that fits in.

Because that’s definitely going to be, I mean, they could potentially do an excellent job. And that’s great if they do. But most likely, if they don’t understand where it’s fitting in, that’s where you’re going to start to get disappointed in the results.

ANNE

I love that. And I think it also brings it back to the very initial opening question we had in terms of being in your zone of genius, the VA also has a zone of genius. So if we are sort of like allowing them and enabling them to be in that zone of genius, then you are in your zone of genius.

And it all comes together. That’s how I feel it can be really powerful, because we’re all tapping into each other’s best skill and best side. And instead of just executing and hustling through and that kind of thing.

I love that. Thank you. 

MEITAL

Exactly

ANNE

All right. Well, awesome. Thank you.

So let’s wrap it up by just sharing where everybody can find you and how they can connect with you. 

MEITAL

Sure. So I am on Instagram, and my handle is at Marissa Leeson, which I’m sure we can put in the show notes, that’s really the best place to connect with me.

And I welcome anyone in my DMs that wants to ask questions about this episode, I’m happy to share, you know, more insight. And, you know, I do also share my newsletter and things like that on my Instagram. So if they want to continue to connect with me, we can do so through there.

But I think that’s a good starting point. 

ANNE

Awesome. Thank you so much, Marissa. It was a pleasure speaking to you. Thanks for your time.

MEITAL

Of course. Thank you so much.

Outro

What I loved most about this conversation today is how Maital embodies both discipline and flow. She is not just winning as an artist, she’s using systems, automations, and boundaries to protect the parts of her business she loves the most.

And this really is peaceful productivity and action. So I would love to leave you with these two takeaways that stood out for me, which might be in addition to some other takeaways you might have. And feel free to drop me a message on Instagram to share any of your takeaways.

I always love to hear from you, to know what stood out to you, what resonates, what maybe you will try for yourself. So DM me on Instagram. My handle is at _annerajoo_ 

I would love to hear. But those two things that stood out for me today are the fact that rituals are like an anchor. So whether it’s coffee or yoga or a tidy creative space or whatever it could be for you, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of starting our day in a way that grounds us. 

If everything feels chaotic from the start of the day, your ritual really can calm you down and recenter you so that your day doesn’t have to continue chaotic. So my rituals don’t start straight away in the morning. My children are still very much in that place of wanting mom and needing mom for everything.

And it starts very early in our house. So mornings are quite full. But once they are out of the house to school, I definitely have my coffee ritual.

I love making my second cup of coffee. I love taking it upstairs in my office. I open the window of my office.

My office is at the back of the house, and I see my green field, well, bushland at the back. But it’s green. It’s, the sky mostly is blue and sunshine. 

And I’ll sit down on my desk, and I drink my coffee. And I look at my schedule of the day, and I really just go through my priorities. And it’s really opens myself up for the work day.

If I skip the ritual, and I dive right into work, it doesn’t feel as good. And I know as well that my concentration and my focus tends to be more scattered. When I do my ritual in the morning, I really feel ready to tackle the day.

And I feel grounded and intentional. So rituals, in whatever shape they come, create them, add to them, celebrate them. They are really useful productivity tools.

And then the second point that I would love to leave you with is the permission to explore. So Meital didn’t find her signature medium overnight. She played around.

She tested. She experimented. She followed her curiosity.

And eventually, when it was the right time to pivot, even though she felt uncertain about it, she did it because she had learned along the way. So when we play around, when we experiment, when we try something, and it might not work, it’s not wasted time. We always learn something.

And when the time is right, we can apply these learnings. And very often, in hindsight, we look back and we’re like, okay, that makes sense. 

All clear now. While it felt really strange or overwhelming or useless, in that moment, clarity comes very often afterwards. But it’s through play, through experimentation and curiosity, that we very often find the answers to our problem, that we find a new idea, that we find the solution to something.

And that is part of peaceful productivity, because we can allow ourselves to play, to spend time on something that may not really have a clear purpose at the time, but it will lead somewhere. So if there’s something in your life that you’ve been wanting to try out, or that you’ve actually been playing with, and maybe you thought, I’m spending too much time on this, this is your permission slip to continue doing that, to keep playing, to keep exploring. So again, if any of these resonate with you, drop me a message on Instagram, I love to hear from you.

And if this episode spoke to you, and you’re craving more clarity and more focus, and even a better idea of what might be sucking your energy and sucking your time, I have something for you. My brand new peaceful productivity mini audit might just be the right next step for you. It’s a session or assessment where we will map out your current situation and identify a couple of areas where you could make tweaks that will really create an impact on your productivity.

And it gives you personalized productivity tips from me. It’s not an AI generated copy and paste answer. I go through your answers that you provide in the assessment, and the assessment itself is actually part of my bigger productivity audit.

It takes about an hour to fill out the assessment. So it is quite substantial. And a lot of my productivity audit clients have really had aha moments from simply filling out this assessment.

So that’s why I’ve created a separate mini audit for this, so that it’s a bit more accessible. And because you, my lovely listener, you’re my very best friend over here, I want to offer this for free to you. Normally it’s $55.

But to say thank you for your loyalty, for your time that you allow me to be in your ear, I’m offering this for free. So simply go to the episode notes and find the link. It’s annerajoo.com forward slash listener, and just sign up, save your spot for this free mini audit.

And next week, we are flipping the script on what success really means. I’m joined by a mindset mentor, Jeni Jonte, to unpack the belief that more money has to be more work. We’ll look at where that story comes from, how it’s quietly driving our choices, and what it might shift if we stopped trying to earn our worth through overworking.

So until then, stay peacefully productive, and I’ll catch you next time.