The ups and downs of owning your own business come with the territory. The one thing you might not have considered? How much stress it can cause! Luckily, there are ways to manage this effectively for small-business owners so they don’t feel overwhelmed by their work lives or lose sight on what matters most – running a successful company that makes them happy (and lets others enjoy all these perks too!).
Eliminating that stress should always be part of any task list of a business owner. This includes creating opportunities for automation and improving time management for you and for people that work for you.
There are literally thousands of ways to eliminate stress in your life and in your business. Let’s narrow it down to just 8 popular tips.
1. Celebrate your Wins and Went Wells. Making sure that you celebrate even the smallest of triumphs not only helps alleviate the stress but improves employee morale especially if you have the habit of announcing these small achievements to your team. Went Wells also gets repeated and replicated So celebrate small wins and went wells. .
2. Be aware of the sources of your stress. In any situation, acknowledging and identifying the root cause always helps in the solution of the problem. If you know the root cause of your stress, you can definitely identify the right solution. Asking 5 why’s to determine the root cause of your stress is the most common way of determining the most appropriate solution. Being self aware of the cause of your stress is the 1st step!
3. Plan your day. When we plan, it gives our brain an opportunity to practice and hone its abilities in a controlled environment before facing real-world challenges. This helps us feel more confident when things go wrong because there’s less risk than if you were just winging your way through life without any forethought or preparation for what may come up next! Having a set schedule but planning ahead for curve balls makes you more flexible. More flexibility, less stress.
4. Have some “Me” time everyday even for just a few minutes. Nowadays, with all the importance being given to mental health, Me time has never been as essential to managing stress. Having a few minutes a day to just step back and refocus gives your brain time to reboot and recharge to accomplish more. Activities like having a light snack or drink, taking a walk outside the office or just doing a quick meditation technique, are Me-time activities that can help in the daily grind of your business. Include this in your daily plan.
5. The Art of Saying “No. This one is tricky! Business owners, more often than not, have a hard time “turning it off”. I’ve seen it first hand. Being available to anyone anytime is probably the hardest to “turn off” if you are a business owner. This is also a potential schedule disruptor if you always allow this to happen. Sometimes you just need to buckle down and finally say No (especially during rest days and holidays). Just like your Me-time, the art of saying No is essential to managing daily stress.
6. Always look for automation opportunities. There is a rule we follow when it comes to this stress management tip – “Always try to automate anything that is manual. Manual processes (though sometimes necessary) adds to the stress of the daily grind because instead of focusing more on value adding activities for the business, we tend to do mundane activities that either a tool or another person can do. Automation makes this possible.
7. It’s ok to Unplug yourself during rest days. Now like the other tip (The Art of Saying No), this gets tricky for business owners who think being on the clock always will help their business. Sometimes it does, but it definitely does not help your stress levels and your mental health. This is also related to Me Time! Try to unplug your email, messaging tools and phone during weekends! Learn to trust your team and your process. Recharge yourself while unplugged. It makes perfect sense once you get used to the fact that you are excommunicado on your days off.
8. Outsource or Delegate! The art of delegation starts with trust! Trust your team. Let them learn. Make them grow by teaching them new things. Delegate but support at the same time. You can also outsource this. Hire assistants that can do the tasks virtually. Simple tasks like social media management, lead generation, calendar and appointment setting are just some of the few tasks you can outsource to a virtual assistant. It gives you more time for other tasks that help you grow your business. There you have it. There are tons of stress management tips you can get online. We just collated the most popular that are conveniently doable for the average business owner.
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