When you put out your shingle that says open for business, you immediately take on 10-14 jobs all at once. Even the best multi-tasker, can become a spaghetti brain at times, especially when everything happens all at once. How you handling stress is a key ingredient in your long-term success in business. Here is a list of techniques that a small business person can use to help manage their daily stress.
Take a deep breath: If your to do list is out of hand, take a deep breath and try to find something to do for a few minutes to get your mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper or do an activity that will give them a fresh perspective on things. Stress and anxiety are very common when you work in business.
Break it down: When facing a current or upcoming task at your job that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, divide the task into a series of smaller steps and then complete each of the smaller tasks one at a time. Completing these smaller tasks will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.
Challenge your thinking: Challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make you fearful or depressed, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense. For example, you are afraid that you will not get that contract you’ve been working on for over a year —do not give into the fear. This will depresses you. The fact of the matter is that there all are kinds of opportunities available and just because you don’t get this contract doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world. It just wasn’t meant for you.
Practice stress relief: Do something regularly to help you manage your stress. Try starting an exercise routine or running. Some people enjoy yoga and team sports. Do not just sit in your office and worry all day. Surround yourself with mentors and others who can give you good advice. Running a business is all about making the hard decisions, but you can’t let the stress get to you or drive your decision making.
Take it one day at a time in your business. Remember, that you want to make decisions based on facts and not your emotions. There are usually other factors that cannot be anticipated and can affect the results of any situation. Get all of the facts of the situation and use them to your advantage. The more control you have over how you handle stress, the better off you will be in the long run.
Managing your stress takes practice. The more you practice, the better you will become.
About the author: Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear Using Psychology, Christianity and Non Resistant Methods” – an easy to read book that presents a general overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: http://www.managingfear.com
These are useful tips to manage stress when overwhelmed by business task. Business owners or people who are in executive position should excel in different field like family, money, and life to prevent stress in work. If a business owner failed in one field, other field will be affected as well specially your work.
Great article Melinda
It got me thinking…What causes stress?
Many small business owners are frustrated because their profits aren’t as high as they’d like.
They lose sleep worrying about their businesses.
They wouldn’t choose to be like that would they? So what’s determining how they feel?
And what should you do when you’re feeling stressed or any other negative feeling?
Tap into your heart is the center of your emotions and a hugely powerful tool.
Label your feeling — e.g. anger at not being able to complete a task or fear that something’s going to go wrong.
Identify a feeling that you’d choose to feel right now… if you could choose…
Drop into your heart, put your hand on your heart to focus. Breathe in and focus on the breath as it enters your lungs then comes out of your mouth. Whilst you do this, keep thinking about the feeling you picked in step 2. Keep this up until you feel the feeling you want.
To find out why you get stressed so you can stress less. @simonjbenn
Everyone has stressful moments. (Business owners just seem to have them more often?). Nice to have some great, quick solutions I can easily do when it happens.
Thanks!