Your business may be growing like crazy, but that doesn’t mean you don’t feel the stress of owning and running it. After all, there are endless to-do lists, always-on clients, and unrealistic deadlines—and that’s not even taking into account your personal life! How can you make time for yourself amidst this chaos? You need a plan, and you need it now. And I’m here to help with the ultimate guide to managing stress as a small business owner in 2021.
Get help and give attention to what’s essential to manage stress.
It’s going to be hard, but try to focus on what’s important. If you have a family, spend time with them. If you want to start another business, consider pausing your current projects and getting help from others for now. Whatever it is that helps you focus on what’s important will be crucial to managing stress as a small business owner during 2021. Start by setting reasonable goals so you can focus better on what matters most. Without realistic expectations, stress management training isn’t really possible. Being prepared for stress management will also benefit other aspects of running a small business too! You’ll be better prepared to effectively strategize ways to better your life/business when dealing with difficult times.
1. Recognize What’s Going Well
Keeping a positive outlook is incredibly important, particularly for entrepreneurs, who often take on a hefty amount of risk. If you’re not able to recognize what’s going well, it can be easy to slip into negative thinking patterns that further exacerbate your stress levels. In 2021, look for ways to improve your stress management training strategies by learning how to recognize what’s going well and making sure you understand exactly why those good things are happening. It may seem difficult at first, but after some practice you should be able to do it fairly quickly and easily.
2. Unplug During Your Off-time
Many entrepreneurs work well into their evenings, weekends, and vacations. There’s nothing wrong with that (except that you might want to give yourself more time off). But if you find your work following you everywhere, even when you’re not at your desk, it might be time to unplug—at least temporarily. You don’t have to shut down entirely, but limiting access can help you regain perspective and spend more time recharging. Try putting your devices on do-not-disturb modes or turning them off for short periods of time every day. Consider working away from home for part of each week to create separation between work and personal life.
3. Choose Your Tools Wisely
The world of technology keeps getting smaller and more portable. Smartphones, wearables, and even contact lenses that provide data or connect to apps are here to stay. If you’re a small business owner trying to maintain your sanity while doing your job, it may be time to look into emerging technologies designed to relieve stress and provide relief from whatever is causing you anxiety at work or home. While some stress-relief tools require an upfront investment, others are free or inexpensive ways for small business owners to hack their environment and minimize daily pressure points that might be stressing them out too much.
4. Learn to Say ‘No’
Part of managing stress is learning how to take on fewer projects and tasks, which means learning how to say no when necessary. Even experienced business owners sometimes find it hard to say no, but there are ways you can make it easier. First, know your limits—some entrepreneurs who want their businesses to succeed take on too much work because they don’t want others to think they can’t handle it all. But if you spread yourself too thin, you risk burning out—and burning bridges with clients and co-workers at the same time.
Discovering the ideal work-life balance
It’s tough to focus when you’re overwhelmed, overworked and underpaid. This is why it’s important to determine your ideal work-life balance before you commit to anything. Are you more of an early bird or night owl? Would you rather grab lunch with co-workers or stay in your cubicle? Will it take three months, six months or even longer before you reach financial freedom? The sooner you start answering these questions, especially when they relate to stress management training strategies for small business owners in 2021 , the better off your company will be.
5.Delegate or Outsource Tasks
More often than not, small business owners find themselves taking on jobs that they either don’t have time for or that they aren’t skilled enough to do. This is a recipe for disaster. Not only are you going to be less productive, but you might also cost your company money because of mistakes you’re bound to make. Take control by hiring employees who can handle their jobs while simultaneously overseeing them so they can focus on improving other areas of your company. In 2021, entrepreneurs will have more options than ever before when it comes to outsourcing and delegating tasks—they just need to use them correctly.
6. Prioritize Your Time
There’s no question that being your own boss has its perks. But with great flexibility comes great responsibility. If you want to keep your business running smoothly, you’ll need to prioritize your time. Work is also a hobby for many small business owners, so there’s often no clear distinction between work and personal time. Even if you have no formal employees or clients to whom you are accountable, it is still important to create boundaries for yourself. Taking breaks throughout your day keeps you focused on your long-term goals instead of allowing yourself to get caught up in minutiae. It also gives you time to rejuvenate with something other than work; keeping your head in those spreadsheets all day every day can only be detrimental for both your professional and personal lives. Most importantly, taking breaks gives you an opportunity to replenish those dreaded creative juices—and we all know how essential those can be when trying to stay ahead of industry trends.
7. Identify Your Stressors
A growing body of research points to stress management as probably the greatest methods to improve your company’s performance. The key is learning how to manage stress, both your own and that of your employees. It may seem like stress is inevitable, but there are plenty of proven strategies you can use. Self-improvement is about trying new things after all! For successful stress management training, it’s best to create clear boundaries between work and leisure times . Stress management techniques include physical activities like jogging or swimming. These activities increase endorphins which help improve mood and reduce symptoms of chronic pain. Exercise improves circulation and reduces blood pressure along with promoting a sense of wellbeing. Relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation are great for reducing symptoms of tension headaches too – these symptoms often make work difficult in itself even if we aren’t technically stressed out from our job! So how can we manage our stress? Spend less time worrying about tomorrow . The only thing we have control over is today , whatever shape that happens to take each day.
Benefits of better managing stress
Your employees might think you’re hard on them, but it’s your duty to make sure they’re functioning at peak levels. If they’re not operating at full capacity, they might cause harm to themselves or others, which could lead to lawsuits or poor performance reviews for both of you. But before you talk to your team about being proactive about managing stress, you have to be able to identify when it starts affecting their performance—which is where good stress management strategies come into play.
8. Build a Solid Schedule
Building a schedule that prioritizes me time is crucial to managing stress. This might sound counterintuitive, but if you’re pushing yourself to extremes on all fronts—both at work and outside of it—you’ll be more stressed than you realize. Start by adding more breathing room into your daily routine, whether that means turning off notifications on your phone for several hours after work or shutting off early on Fridays so you can get out for dinner with friends. Then, carve out time every week to relax completely. If it helps, try scheduling you time into your calendar at specific times of day or on specific days of the week. You could even use online scheduling tools like Asana or Trello to help keep track of everything.
Dangers of on-the-job stress
Stress management has countless benefits for business owners, including reduced physical symptoms of stress, improved cognitive function, and stronger psychological health. The effects are widely positive—business owners who are in good wellbeing make better decisions, have greater energy levels at work, and earn more money. But since stress is inevitable when running a business, it’s important to know what you can do about it when issues arise. Our list of 2021 best strategies for managing stress are designed to help prepare you for whatever stressful situations come your way. We hope that by reading through these ideas now, you’ll be able to handle future situations more effectively if and when they occur. After all: I believe that knowledge really is power!
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