Three Ways to Reduce Work Stress as a Small Business Owner

Three Ways to Reduce Work Stress as a Small Business Owner

Have you been feeling more stressed lately as a business owner? You’re far from alone. It’s pretty common for any entrepreneur to deal with stress, and small business owners have more than their fair share of anxiety.

It’s easy to get so caught up in your company’s financial health that you forget to take care of your physical health.

How can you reduce your stress and get back the joy of owning a business?

Think Positive to Reduce Your Stress

This may sound cliché, but it works. Focusing on the negatives of business can rob you of enjoyment and purpose. On the other hand, a positive attitude can help you and your business in several ways:

  • Job satisfaction: Sure, you have challenges, but you’ve probably also accomplished a lot. If your business is still going after five or 10 years, that’s an achievement in itself. Maybe you’re a friendly leader who has inspired countless employees, friends, or family members over the years. Those things often mean more than empty profits.
  • Solutions: A positive attitude can help you see the path forward in tough times. Many challenges can be overcome with some outside-of-the-box thinking, but first, you need the determination to find those answers.
  • Realistic thinking: Many people worry about things that aren’t even likely to happen. That’s a waste of time and energy. It’s better to see things as they really are right now.

Don’t stress over things that are completely out of your hands. You don’t have the power to affect industry-wide trends. You can’t control what the Fed does about interest rates. Why is waste time worrying about these things? Prepare for what you can, and cross the other bridges when you get there.

Take a Vacation

Contrary to what you may think, vacations aren’t a waste of time. They’re a normal and healthy part of running a business. Whether you kick up your feet at a resort or take a Caribbean cruise, luxurious vacations give you time to recharge your batteries. You need those moments to get joy and creativity back into your life. No business owner can keep trudging along like a robot, just checking boxes on a to-do list. If you work hard, you also deserve to play hard.

Of course, vacations only work if you step away from your business. Managing everything remotely on a beach somewhere isn’t a vacation. Plus, stepping away from your business can be a good training run for your staff. You get a firsthand look at who you can promote to management positions. Having employees, you can trust to get the job done is healthy for long-term business growth. That brings up the next point, too.

Learn To Delegate

Don’t fall for the trap of handling all the details of your business yourself. That’s not sustainable for you mentally or physically. It’s not good for your relationships with your clients, either. In the long run, micromanaging hurts your company’s reputation.

Of course, delegating also doesn’t mean just tossing a bunch of tasks on a random employee. Instead, it involves a vital part of training. As you teach team members to handle more responsibilities, they grow as professionals and you receive many benefits for your company.

Think of this process as teaching your kids to ride a bike. At first, you need to explain the tasks required in detail. As team members show you that you can trust them, let them have more independence in project management. You’re the captain, so your main responsibilities revolve around coordinating team members and ensuring that clients are happy.

Over time, this can reduce your stress levels because you get to focus on the things you enjoy about entrepreneurship. You focus on the big picture while others handle the small details capably. Even something like outsourcing your taxes and payroll to a professional accounting service can make a huge difference in your anxiety, more than making up for the investment.

This article Three Ways to Reduce Work Stress as a Small Business Owner appeared first on Entrepreneurship in a Box by Dragan Sutevski

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