5 Things You Can Do to Destress as a Business Owner
Stress for business owners is an unavoidable part of the gig, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it or try to live with it. In this article, we want to make you aware of the potentially serious physical and mental health problems of unchecked stress and how you can help combat it.
Destress as a Business Owner: Tips on How to Destress
Let’s go through some practical tips on combat stress, including breaking the stress patterns, relaxation exercises, comfort foods, or something as simple as just getting enough sleep.
Tip 1. Automate processes where you can, so you reduce the amount of operational work that can add stress. Use free business tools like invoice generators, pay stub generators, logo makers, and other online tools to make your job easier: the fewer manual or mundane tasks you have to do or manage means less stress.
Tip 2. phone a friend – when facing a stressful situation, take a moment to call or message a friend. Their reassuring voice or banter can help you relieve stress instantly. A reassuring voice, even for a minute, can put everything in perspective. If the friend doesn’t pick up or see your message, talk yourself through it. Imagine you are a friend or relative; what would they say to you to calm you down. It works and doesn’t be self-conscious about looking crazy, and it looks a lot less crazy than blowing your top and ranting and raving.
Tip 3. anything to release endorphins that improve mood and decrease levels of the stress-causing hormones cortisol and adrenaline. WebMD recommends regular light exercise to get yourself out of breath or some comedy and laughter to improve your mood in an instant. Doing something pleasurable helps you tune into the moment, which will snap you out of stress mode.
Tip 4. drink some light green tea. It has healthy antioxidants and theanine, an amino acid that has a calming effect on the nervous system. Fish can be a good source of protein, but they also have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce the symptoms of stress.
Tip 5. This is a simple action but one of the most important ways to fight stress. Get enough sleep to recharge your batteries and keep the body balanced. Unfortunately, lack of sleep can cause anxiety and low energy. Make sure to schedule your sleeping patterns and get the minimum amount your age and workload require. For most, it comes in 4-hour cycles, so don’t try to sleep 5 hours or 7 hours because the body won’t get into a state of deep sleep, and so you won’t be as refreshing as sleeping 4 or 8 hours. However, each person is unique; we recommend a Fitbit or sleep tracker to track your deep and light sleep patterns to understand better and adapt your individual cycles.
The environment for your sleep is critical; make sure you have quiet and have all artificial sources of light turned off, in particular, your phone screen and your tv, and avoid night lights or lamps that stay on all night.
How Stress Manifests
Stress is a fairly modern malaise, formally identified and researched by scientist Hans Selye in the late 1950s. Stress can manifest in many medical problems. Many health problems can be directly linked back to stress, including back pain, eczema, insomnia, and weight gain.
Still, the anxiety of stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed can have the most severe health problems, including cognitive impairment and the onset of Alzheimer’s.
Not All Stress is Bad
Some people think any type of stress is bad, but this isn’t the case. In truth, a little stress is actually necessary for action and can, in moderation, lead to better performance. In cognitive research labs, giving patients brief stressful events found that stem cells in their brains grew more new nerve cells, giving them better brainpower and more rapid reaction times.
Think about this in your own workplace, on days when you’re experiencing stress at work. You may find you’re more focused and productive than on low-stress days.
Moderate stress can also help fight colds and illnesses. Because it stimulates the production of chemical proteins in your body called interleukins that help build your immune system and fight infections.
Destress as a Business Owner: Conclusion
So, that concludes our top 5 tips for a stress-free life and how to beat stress as a business owner. All these 5 tips can pretty much give you instant relief. It’s about breaking the stress pattern and stopping the learned response you have conditioned yourself to feel when stress starts. If you want more tips, read here. By reframing the stressor completely distracting yourself from it, you can mitigate the impact and ill effects of stress.
