Running a successful business is extremely rewarding, but these days it’s getting harder and harder not to get overwhelmed. We try juggling work, family and other responsibilities and end up in stressful situations daily.
A little bit of stress can be what drives you to start moving in a better direction and realize what changes you need to make to improve your life.
The problems arise when we do not implement change and instead absorb the stress and end up having issues with our physical and mental health.
There are many things that can temporarily reduce stress but let’s be honest when running a successful business, stress will be present most of the time. That’s why we want you to learn to manage your stress levels daily. For this, we prepared:
4 Effective Ways for Business Owners to Deal with Stress.
1. Movement is the most effective way of dealing with stress.
Exercise is incredibly important when it comes to our overall health. But does that mean we must all spend 2 hours in the gym every day? No, of course not. Exercise can be anywhere from walking around your local park for 20 minutes to running a marathon. We all know to some degree that exercise is a great stress reliever but do we know why?
There are 3 main reasons why fitness can be the key to managing your stress levels,.
The first one being that working out consistently releases hormones like endorphins and endocannabinoids that help block pain.
This is exactly what they talk about when mentioning “Runners High” reported after running for longer periods of time.
We also must mention that doing any sort of exercise will help improve sleep so long you don’t work out too close to your usual bedtime.
This means that if you sleep more and better, you make it easier for the body to fight stress hormones like cortisol, therefore, improving your mood and starting your next day off better.
Last but certainly not least, if this is the first time you start working out or actively pursuing any sort of physical activity, you will begin to see your body adapt and become a faster, tougher version of yourself.
Developing muscle, dropping some weight and simply feeling better can be enough motivation to continue working out and making it a staple part of our lives.
I understand not everyone has enough time to actively go to the gym, especially if you run a business but this is not the only way to work out. You can try callisthenics (bodyweight exercises) or even just jogging for a few minutes.
The important thing is to break a sweat and challenge your body slowly but surely enough to keep it improving itself constantly. While doing this your body adapts and releases the necessary chemicals for you to begin to manage your stress levels.
Always keep in mind, movement is one of the best ways of dealing with stress. Movement is the key to dealing with stress.
Want to learn more on this? Check out This Blog
2.You are what you eat.
I’m sure we’ve all heard of the phrase “you are what you eat” and this can be very much true for some folks who have a habit of eating not-so-nutrient-dense foods like fast food and snacks.
In the same way, fitness is essential to managing your stress levels, proper nutrition is essential to fitness. Without the proper nutrition, we will not have enough energy to work out, even getting our daily tasks done can be a hassle when we are not eating properly.
The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing what foods to eat is what are they mostly made of from these basic 3?
Carbohydrates (Carbs)
Carbs are used by your body for energy. The carbs turn into glucose (blood sugar) which is the main source of energy used by your cells. Here are some good foods that contain high amounts of carbs, perfect for starting your day filled with energy:
Oats, fruits, bread, rice, starchy vegetables.
Protein
Protein is the absolute building block of your body. It helps with making your hair, nails bones and muscles stronger. Another great reason why we should consume more protein is it may lower your blood pressure which is a big health factor that comes with stress. Here are a few examples of protein-dense foods:
Meats, eggs, almonds, greek yogurt, oats.
Fat
Fats are commonly avoided for their name but they also are an important part of your diet. This is due to fat being a source of essential fatty acids. The body cannot make these itself. Fat will help the body absorb the various amounts of vitamins that are fat-soluble, which means they can only be absorbed with the help of fats.
We simply must learn what food contain fats and are a good option. Here are a few of the most common options.
Avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fish and eggs.
Nutrition is Fundamental when it comes to managing stress levels throughout the day.
But how does knowing this help us?
Basically what we must do is keep a healthy balance of these 3, depending on your goals of course. Talk to your nutritionist and learn what foods are better for you specifically and create a diet around these foods, there is no need to stop eating or eat things you hate to stay healthy. Remember this is about dealing with stress, not adding on to it, keep it simple and easy to follow.
3. Take a small break
Sometimes we feel like going and going is the only way to make it to our deadlines but this is simply not true. After a while, we become less and less productive and we need to take a short break to recuperate strength and clear our minds. But we can go even further with this. Consider trying to do some of these things on your break:
Meditating:
This is a great practice to have overall. It will improve your clarity and focus while keeping you tranquil and allowing you to manage your stress levels. We recommend watching a 5 – 10 minute guided meditation for beginners.
Stretch
Working in the same position for hours can take a toll on our bodies throughout the day. This is why an active stretch session on your 10-minute break can be a great way to refresh and restart your body.
Talk to a loved one
Take those 5-10 minutes and give a family member or friend a call and chat, this can have a huge effect on your stress levels. Good social interactions are great for releasing the right amount of hormones to battle against stress.
Express gratitude
This is a great way of releasing stress. Even if it’s just for a few seconds! Daily reminders of the good things happening in our lives can greatly improve our moods and keep our mental health strong and ready to battle stress.
All in all, breaks are one of the best ways to deal with stress short term. As soon as you start to feel overwhelmed you can stop for a few minutes and practice one of these things to quickly destress and keep working for longer. We speak a bit more on breaks in our how to achieve a healthy work-life balance Blog.
Take a Break, Have fun. Stretch!
4. Delegate and outsource
When it comes to owning a successful business, we tend to want to take care of things ourselves as much as we can. This is a downhill spiral into stress. We need to understand that we have physical and mental limits and when these are crossed daily, we put our health at risk.
If you are feeling overwhelmed or like you are always busy but never get anything accomplished or you simply don’t have the time to properly finish tasks, consider delegating and outsourcing.
If you burn out, your business will end up suffering. A better approach is to be mindful and creative with your resources and understand that it can also be efficient to delegate some tasks.
Outsourcing is a great tactic that is being used by the best companies. But why?
Outsourcing allows you to get work done by professionals from all over the world for a lot less than what you would pay someone in North America. Not only does it reduce your costs but it also improves your overall productivity and most importantly reduces the amount of stress you need to put on yourself.
When outsourcing it’s key to have great communication and make clear statements on what you want to get done. After that, all you need to do is check in every once in a while. Ultimately you get to focus on other core aspects of the business without needing to worry so heavily about the tasks you outsourced.
Therefore reducing your overall stress levels while feeling like you are accomplishing a lot more.
Now, finding the right person to give these tasks to can be difficult at first. That’s why here at DoneMaker we offer you Tasks done in 24 hours, that way you know exactly what you are getting and how long it will take.
Get yourself a free task here and start dealing with your stress today!
