Even with the most solid business plan, most entrepreneurs can't eliminate stress. Many business owners also suffer profoundly from work-related tension when they neglect to carve out time for their personal lives. Luckily, there are smart ways you can relieve some of this stress.
Take Mental Health Time
Finding an escape from managing cash flow, finishing jobs or dealing with disgruntled customers is tough for business owners, who often work on weekends and forget to take vacations. Some entrepreneurs have come up with innovative ways to ensure they leave the office behind, if only for a few hours. Three nights a week, Frances Black, founder of New York illustration agency Arts Counsel, straps on a pair of high heels and practices the waltz, mambo and hustle with her longtime dance partner. She loves dancing because of the intense concentration needed; she's forced to focus on her footwork rather than her business. Finding a creative outlet through hobbies such as dancing, painting or collecting can stave off the hallmarks of chronic stress: illness and mental fatigue.Taking short breaks to read a book, listen to music or walk in the park also helps reduce stress.
Make Fitness a Priority
A regular workout regimen often falls by the wayside when a person starts a business. Numerous studies show that exercise relieves stress, boosts creativity and improves self- esteem. Yet many entrepreneurs say it's hard to justify taking time for fitness when they could be selling, marketing or otherwise growing the business. The best way to get the exercise you need is to schedule workout time on the calendar, just like any important business meeting. A business owner who leases office space might want to make sure that location is near a gym, has space for a workout room, or even has showers to allow biking or running to work. Consider hiring the services of a personal trainer; the financial commitment might make you think twice about skipping appointments.
Eat Right
In a 2007 study, the American Psychological Association found that 43 percent of stressed-out people deal with their frustrations by overeating or munching on junk foods. Some business owners battle the bulge by making sure their offices are stocked with healthy foods. Whether you're based at home or at an office, keep a drawer of healthy snacks (such as dried fruits, nuts, granola bars or dark chocolate) and a mini-refrigerator stocked with fresh items (baby carrots, hummus, cottage cheese or yogurt) to avoid turning to candy bars and chips when stress strikes.
Get Your Rest
In the start- up phase, a business owner can lose more than seven hundred hours of sleep a year— similar to the amount a parent loses in the first year of a newborn's life, according to James B. Maas, a sleep expert at Cornell University. While you can get by for a while, sleep deprivation eventually hampers performance, ruins a person's ability to multitask and contributes to an array of health problems. If stress about the business routinely keeps you up at night, allow yourself a short period of "worry time" prior to bed. Jot down everything you need to accomplish the next day, then let it go. Then spend at least a half hour relaxing in some manner, such as reading or meditation. And if you don't get enough sleep, take a short nap the next day. Research by NASA has shown that a twentysix- minute nap increased pilots' performance by 34 percent. It's called the power nap for a reason.
source: online.wsj
No comments:
Post a Comment