Over the weekend, Clark Schmidt, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, flirted with a no-hitter. 

This is a feat so rare that in the last 10 years, it’s only been done 21 times by a single pitcher. That’s about 0.08% of all games. There have also been 6 combined no-hitters in that same time span.

Interestingly enough, if we look at the time span between 1970-2014, there were 109 single pitcher no-hitters (about 0.11% of all games), with 4 combined no-hitters. 

Not only have we seen a drop in the percentage of no-hitters in the last 10 years, but we also saw 6 combined no-hitters in 10 seasons vs. just 4 in the previous 45. 

Why is that? Managers today are much more concerned about pitch count. 

Working Yourself too Hard

The idea behind a pitch count is the managers and coaches know approximately how many pitches a guy can throw without hurting himself or needing more than a couple of days to recover. 

We think about this all the time with physical labor and exercise — pushing ourselves too hard leads to exhaustion and injury. 

But we rarely think about it in the knowledge worker space. I think we’ve all learned in the past few years though, that mental exhaustion can be just as harmful as physical exhaustion. 

Working ourselves too hard means burn out, breakdowns, panic attacks, and even hospital stays. 

What’s our pitch count? 

Walk Away From the Screen

Back in college, I was really laboring over an assignment. I was staring at a blank cursor, willing the solution to come to me. 

I was reading and rereading the instructions, hoping to unlock something I missed the first 247 times. 

Then a friend came into my dorm room. 

“Joey, you need to take a break. Let’s go to the student center. There’s a musician playing.”

I decided my friend was right. We went to the student center (The Wolves Den, as it was called). 

About halfway through the set, the solution hit me. And…I promise this is true…I wrote it down on a napkin and put it in my pocket. 

When I got back to my dorm, it worked. Like gangbusters. 

Are They Right?

I’m really big on giving the pitcher the opportunity to make history. No-hitters are rare feats. But I can see the other side. 

The manager doesn’t want one of his 5 starters to hurt himself…especially when they have aspirations of winning the World Series. 

And while the pitcher wants to keep going, he understands three things: 

1. He could injure himself
2. He might not even get the no-hitter
3. He trusts the guys behind him to finish the game. 

The hustle culture will tell you to risk everything for short term glory. 

Work long hours, sacrifice friendships and family. As long as you make a bunch of money it’s worth it…until it’s not. 

The baseball season is long, and everyone — pitchers, managers, coaches, and position players — know that if you go super hard in the beginning, you likely won’t make it to the playoffs…and that’s where the real glory is. 

So they put processes in place to make sure they’re staying healthy. 

We should have the same thing as solopreneurs. Systems in place to keep the business running. People we trust, that we delegate to when needed. 

That’s the only way we won’t sacrifice our health for short-term glory. 

So tell me: what systems do you have in place to prevent burn out? Reply here and let me know!