- Start with the basics.When you’re hungry, thirsty or tired, the littlest things can seem overwhelming. If you haven’t had a drink of water in the past hour, get one. If you haven’t eaten something in the past few hours, grab a light, healthy snack like nuts or fruit. If you haven’t moved from in front of your computer for last 45 minutes, stand up and walk around your office or do some quick stretches.
- Take a break.A 10-minute walk around the office park, stroll through the office chatting with employees or run down to the local Starbucks for coffee can do a lot to clear your head and manage stress. (Make that coffee decaf, though, if you’re already feeling frazzled.)
- Get enough sleep. You must make time to sleep or you’ll end up on an endless hamster wheel of tiredness.Find ways to delegate, automate or eliminate tasks that take up too much time for too little return. Use the extra time to sleep and make it a priority, just like a business meeting with a client.
- Get physical.When things get too stressful, one of my business partners swears by a fast run in the midday sun to recharge her batteries and defuse stress. Find a workout that works for you, and use it to manage stress.
- Build connections. Keeping your connections with friends, loved ones and relatives thriving while running a business can be hard, but is vital to soothing your stress. If you have to, multitask by joining a friend for a run or having a lunch date with your spouse (you both have to eat, right?).
- Develop systems. Creating systems for common tasks in your business means you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you get a new client/launch a new product/start a new marketing campaign. Systems also make it easier to delegate because you can train others in the system instead of doing everything yourself. Result: Time saved and less stress. (Hint: Consider hiring Donna’s Secretarial Service to put Systems into place for Admin. Support!)
- Don’t overthink it.Perfectionism generates unnecessary stress. While you do need to plan for contingencies, worrying about every possible outcome of an action or endlessly assessing your options leads to analysis paralysis and a stress spiral. List the pros and cons of your choices; sleep on it if possible so your gut has time to process the options; then make a decision.
- Know when to let go.It’s 11:30 at night, you have 600 unread emails in your inbox, but only 20 are from actual people? It’s OK to delete the other 580. No one will know.
- Know when to say no. If a situation, employee, client or project is stressing you out beyond the usual amount, listen to your gut. Stress could be trying to tell you something. Maybe it’s time to fire the employee, dump that client or call a halt to the project that’s not going anywhere.
- Hire a Virtual Assistant, like my Company, Donna’s Secretarial Service to take the Admin. Support Stress off of YOU!
Thank you for reading!
Virtually yours,
Donna