From Burnout to Balance: Strategies for Managing Stress in Business

It's essential to grow your business and make progress, but not at the expense of your health. Unfortunately, it's often the case that as a business grows, the person running the business starts to feel burned out. To avoid this, you need to manage your stress and health as you go along.

Why You Need to Manage Your Health

What happens if your stress spirals out of control?

• Mental health issues such as depression and anxiety
• Disruptions in regular eating and sleeping
• Impaired cognitive function and memory loss
• Cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure and heart disease
• Compromised immune system
• Stomach problems like acid reflux and ulcers
• Chronic fatigue

 All of this can happen if you’re not managing stress properly. Long-term physical effects can be particularly harmful and even life-threatening.

 Identifying Stress and Stressors

The problem is that most of us don’t even realize when we’re getting stressed. Stress manifests itself in various symptoms, and you have to learn to recognize these symptoms in yourself.

Your symptoms might include the following:

• Loss of appetite or changes in eating habits
• Trouble sleeping or feeling tired even when you get enough sleep
• Irritability and mood swings
• Indulging more in alcohol, emotional eating, or other negative stress-combating strategies

What are your stress symptoms? This may take some time, but it's worth the effort. Your body and behaviour will tell you exactly when you're having trouble, and then you can be ready to deal with it.

How to Beat Work-Related Stress

Before you start considering methods to reduce stress, make an assessment of your overall health, simply taking care of yourself and striking a good balance can automatically reduce stress.

Make sure you're eating three times a day at regular times. Your diet should include plenty of variety, including fresh vegetables and other nutrient-rich foods. Don't skip meals because you're busy; consider snacking to get through long periods between meals.

Get at least eight hours of sleep at night. If you’re not sleeping well, try to pinpoint what's preventing you from getting a good night's sleep and then take steps to fix it. For example, if light from outside bothers you at night, try putting curtains on your windows. Sticking to a regular sleeping schedule will also improve your sleep quality.

Get at least some light exercise each day. This doesn’t have to be at a gym - consider a daily walk, stretching, and easy-to-do exercises like squats.

Develop Stress-Reducing Strategies

In addition to taking care of your overall health, you should develop some strategies for tackling stress when it occurs.

Any hobby that takes your mind off business and daily stresses will work. Reading, watching movies, playing video games, watching funny videos on the Internet, and listening to music are all good examples of things you can do to reduce stress.

Choose some fun activities you can do with friends. Talking to someone outside your work environment can help you get work off your mind. So plan some friends or family time.

There are specific activities that are especially good for maintaining a healthy balance. For example, yoga, meditation, and creative visualization have been proven to reduce stress. If you don’t do any of these right now, try one out and see how it feels.

Maintain Your Health, and Your Business Will Prosper

If you're constantly stressed, your business won't be able to flourish. But, in the long run, maintaining a balance will improve your health, and your business will prosper.

 If you want to learn more ways to manage your stress and achieve more balance in your life, head over to my program, Eliminating Overwhelm, where you’ll find more tips and techniques. Head over here:  Learn more: Eliminate Business Overwhelm