Stress isn’t always bad.
A certain level of stress gets you up for the game. It keeps you excited, keeps you on the edge, and keeps you hungry. But if you’re bathed in this amount of stress constantly, you don’t have enough recovery time. Your immune system will be weakened so you may get sick more often.
How much stress is “too much”?
We all have different tolerances for our ability to deal with different levels of stress. We need to be self-aware so that we can monitor how we’re doing.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story about boiling a frog. If you put a frog in a pot of warm water and gradually raise the temperature, the frog won’t hop out—it’ll stay there as the water reaches boiling point.
Your small business is like that pot. The “temperature” gradually rises—perhaps you feel overworked or you’re pulled in lots of different directions. Are you monitoring the temperature of your business?You don’t necessarily have to work fewer hours. Some people work 14 hour days and love it; others work seven hours and hate it because they’re in a toxic environment.
You have the opportunity to design your environment. That means asking yourself:
- What do I want to do more of?
- What do I want to do less of?
- What do I want to start doing?
- What do I want to stop doing?
You can tweak all the different elements of your business (and personal life). Perhaps you want:
- More rest, more recovery, more collaborative relationships—or just more fun!
- Less stress, and fewer toxic people.
Aim to start things that will recharge your batteries and fulfill your vision.
Stop doing things that no longer serve a purpose—remove them completely from your life. They might have been there for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean they need to stay forever.
How does your small business fit into your life?
We all need to make conscious decisions in the different domains of our lives.
Having a small business is one big part of your life—but you also have family, relationships, and health matters to juggle.
How many balls can you keep up in the air? Are they the right balls for you?
When do things get too stressful? When do balls start falling? What balls should you drop?
Strategies for avoiding and managing stress
#1: Say “no” more often
Saying “no” and stopping certain things gives us the freedom and flexibility to say “yes” to other things that are more fulfilling for us. This is fundamental to avoiding stress.
If you went to a buffet and sampled food that you didn’t like, you wouldn’t put it on your plate again. Yet in life, we allow things—events, people, other circumstances—to stay in our world, even though we dislike them.
#2: Stop doing so much
For many of us, the hardest thing is to stop doing so much.
We pile more and more onto our plates, instead of looking at what to remove. In a small business, you have many different roles so it’s easy to create an endless list of tasks. Try setting boundaries on your work day so that you get enough down-time.
#3: Find ways to relieve stress
There are lots of different ways to de-stress. You might try deep breathing, exercise, walking in nature, mediation, yoga, talking with a friend, or taking a bath.
Some people like to come home, work out, and take a shower—they wash the day away.
Others like to play with their kids, or with a pet—they change their focus, and so the cares of the day go away.
Taking frequent breaks throughout the day, or having a power-nap or a brief walk in the sunshine, can also help. If you’re running your own business, then you have the freedom to arrange your day to suit you.
Cleaning up clutter can also be very helpful: getting the car washed, having your hair cut, rearranging a file—anything that gets you back in control.
But unless you’re aware that you’re under stress, and that you have options, then it’s impossible to deal with it.
What steps could you take, today, to reduce stress in your own life and business?
Barry Demp is a highly-skilled Michigan Business and Personal coach, working with small business owners, executives and other professionals. He has a free ebook Time Management Strategies and Tactics: A Workbook available on his website, and he blogs regularly about self-improvement.
Very timely article. Building a small business can be incredibly stressful at times, but also incredibly fun.
I’ve been dealing with this issue and have come a long way. I’ve found the less stress and anxiety I feel, the more of what I want comes into my life.
If I worry and stress all day long, then it just creates a chain-reaction of more stress and worry.
Thanks for this article, I love having more techniques to reduce stress 🙂
Thanks Sean
I sincerely appreciate you comment. I have found that by making the effort to learn as much as possible about such items helps give us a broader range of strategies to impact such issues when they arise. Helping others in these areas also deepens the learning and makes the lessons far more sticky. Barry
yah starting own thing can be so scary. sometimes we need to take a step back and remind ourselves why we are doing this
as long as we love it, then it’s ok! 🙂
Well said.
Our highest committments are often the levers that helps us go beyond our comfort zones. Barry
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Europas zur Behandlung von Kriegsverletzten
von Seiten dem Chirurgen Eiselsberg (1860–1939) inbegriffen
der Förderung seines Schülers Johann Pichler gegründet
(Schweppe 1993).
In Berlin zitierte der Zahnarzt Hugo Ganzer
(1879–1960) Paracelsus im Vorwort seines Buches
Chip Kriegsverletzungen des Gesichts weiterhin Gesichtsschädels
(1945): „Denn jener Arzt, welcher da heylet,
ist die Natur, jede Wunde heylet von selbst, so
selbige demgegenüber sterilisiert und (religiös) rein (sich) einbringen wird“.
Solcher Deutsche Mark
Zitierte Stelle folgende Literatur wird exakt wiedergegeben,
da er Chip außerordentliche Mensch
vonseiten Ganzer ausgesprochen dringlich explizieren kann.
Er
schrieb, in Chip Futur dieser Plastischen Wiederherstellungschirurgie
unserer Periode weisend:
» Im Januar 1915 erhielt ich für meinen Teil auf Grund dasjenige Sanitätsamt
des Gardekorps von DEM Sanitäts-
Departement des Preußischen Kriegsministeriums
den Anordnung im Reservelazarett
Akademie für die bildenden Künste zu
Charlottenburg eine Kieferchirurgische
Verkehrsstation einzurichten. Dasjenige Lazarett erschien
mir wegen seiner Lage, seiner Räumlichkeiten
des Weiteren non… demnach in Hinblick auf seines Gartens
als ausgefallen angebracht für jedes diesen Absicht. Chip
Verletzungen des Gesichts sind anhaltend
überdies Bedarf haben Belichtung außerdem Freiraum. Dessen ungeachtet welcher
sonstige Leib solcher Gesichtsverletzten mehrheitlich
vollwertig ist, diese Verwundeten als Folge demnächst in
den Pegel gesetzt werden können, gegenseitig beruflich
zu tätig sein – nicht zuletzt gerade aufwärts diesem
Distrikt spielt die Arbeitstherapie eine große
Fahrrolle als Heilfaktor –, müssen Chip Verwundeten
einen tunlichst einfachen Weg zu
ihrer Beschäftigungsstelle haben, damit Anstellung u. a.
Lazarettbehandlung begleitend zu ihrem
Rechte einen Orgasmus haben Geübtheit … Welches Soldatenkrankenanstalt
erhielt eine gewissen Umwandlung im Zuge die
Anstalt welcher kieferchirurgischen Halt
u. a. dieser Nasenstation, so dass gegenwärtig eine
chirurgische, eine innere, eine Hals-, Nasen-,
Ohren- nebst eine kieferchirurgische Krankenstation
nebenher bestanden ebenso gegenseitig in jener
Beschäftigung mutual vollkommen unterstützten.