Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian explains how he curbs his reliance on his smartphone and reduces his time spent on email to get more done every day

Jin S. Lee

• In a conversation on managing burnout in San Francisco, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian explained some of his best tips for "having it all," most of which are around managing his smart phone use.
• Ohanian explained that his inspiration for making a clean break between his work and home lives came from his wife, tennis star and venture investor Serena Williams.
• He said that he turns off his phone notifications when he's not working - a change that he said was weird at first but has changed his relationship with his work.
• Another one of Ohanian's productivity hacks is to set aside one hour per day fully dedicated to email to avoid getting pulled in to non-urgent requests throughout the day.
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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.

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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."

Read More: Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian: San Francisco is great but 'no one in their right mind' will build a company here anymore

Here are some of Ohanian's productivity hacks that keep the cofounder, venture investor, father, and avid traveler sane.