Stress Is Part of Entrepreneurship — Don’t Let It Run Your Business

You know that working for yourself means long days and even longer nights. Spending your time, energy, and money on growing your business is all a part of the process. This is normal and expected, but it can have negative consequences for you, your business, and your home life if you don’t take steps to squash stress. Tips found below.

This post is just one of many on Sustainable Delivery Model written to help you build a better business.

Stress Relief Isn’t What You Think

Your first and arguably most difficult task is to find ways to relieve stress. While it’s easy to think that this is just a matter of accepting your situation or having a drink on Friday evening, the truth is that you can mitigate stress in many different areas of your life. One is by cleaning your house, which is especially important if you work at home. A de-cluttered home is a stress-free home, and having a place where you can relax and unwind can help you feel more positive while enjoying a healthy and healing atmosphere.

If you run a brick and mortar establishment outside of your house, you also want to make sure that your commute is as stress-free as possible. When you live in a big city, this might mean using traffic apps to look for quieter routes. You might also consider taking alternative transportation or opening your shop before or after peak activity times.

Time Management Is Key

Time is your most valuable asset, it’s also the only one you can’t create or acquire more of. Use it wisely. Make sure that you are setting aside hours each day to focus exclusively on your business and time to focus on your family.

A great way to do this is to utilize project management tools, such as kanban boards, which Atlassian explains can maximize efficiency. Although closely associated with lean manufacturing and information technology processes, kanban boards can be used for everything from your family's chore chart to creating tasks for your employees. This is an excellent tool to visualize what you have to do and the time you have to do it.

Tackle Some Things Early On

While you will run your business every day, there are some things that you should handle once so that you get them out of the way. Two examples here are forming your business structure and hiring a personal assistant, the latter of which may only be necessary if you are already overextended.

Forming your business structure looks different depending on where you live. In the US, for example, you would form an LLC if you are looking to capitalize on lower taxes and less paperwork. In the UK, the equivalent is a private limited company; both of these structures legally separate you from your business.

Hiring a personal assistant might sound like an easy step, but it’s more involved than you might think. Entrepreneur explains that the right right-hand man or woman can save you 10 hours or more each week and notes that your assistant should be flexible and able to handle ambiguous tasks. Ideally, you’ll also find someone that can help you out both at work and with personal projects.

There’s no way to eliminate all the physical and emotional strain that go along with running a business. But, if you are prepared for it, you can reduce much of the anxiety that you might otherwise encounter. Remember, start by looking for ways to relieve stress at home, but don’t forget to maximize productivity at work so that you can be your very best, no matter which aspect of your life you’re focused on.

Read the Sustainable Delivery Model blog for more insight into leadership skills, management dilemmas, and, of course, sustainable growth.

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PS: This insightful article is written by our guest author Amy Collet. Thanks Amy, for sharing your thoughts, I am sure this will help many of us: Team SDM