It’s not easy being a small business owner. We need to wear many hats. And manage individuals and daily tasks while getting our business to the next level. We also need to look at the big picture and ensure tasks run smoothly while dealing with the smaller critical administrative tasks. It can be pretty stressful.
Stress management tips
Below are small business stress management tips I have found that helped me with my stress level:
Stress Management Tip 1: Write down your tasks and how long it takes.
I wrote a post about creating a project time estimation worksheet to help you improve how long it takes you to do tasks. Click on the image below to take to the post.
Stress Management Tip 2: Sort tasks in priority order
When writing to delegate tasks for others, I like to create sticky notes (affiliate). You can make them on VistaPrint.com and get them printed out and mailed to you quickly. Spelling out the tasks that need completing will help control your stress management.
Stress Management Tip 3: Make your desk a clean area that only holds the task for that day.
Paper can be overwhelming, so minimize your clutter by taking off anything that you are not using. Here’s a post I wrote about 7 Easy and Useful Ways to Keep Focused During The Day.
Stress Management Tip 4: Learn to let go of work.
Letting go is important for our sanity and allows us to see the bigger picture. It is one of the keys to making your goals a reality. Read our post about letting go and detaching from work each day.
Additional Reminders
Below are reminders on what you can do to make your day less stressful and help you control your stress:
- Remember to take time to do breathing exercises throughout the day. I like to do these from Dr. Andrew Weil,MD Feel free to check out this post about Breathing Techniques: A Guide to the Science and Methods.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Delegating, whether by outsourcing or assigning work to an employee, is easy to do when you feel you are ready.
- Get an ergonomic chair (affiliate) and desk (affiliate). If you sit for long hours, you need to have a chair (affiliate) and desk (affiliate) that works for you. No one wants to work with a bad back.
- Exercise regularly. Taking walks in the morning before you go to work clears your mind and helps you start your day off relaxed and ready to go.
- Set realistic goals for yourself and your business.
- Try to stay off social media in the evenings to help you refocus on your family and taking care of yourself.
- Connect with other people. It could be your colleagues (affiliate), friends, or extended family. Anyone who doesn’t heighten your stress levels.
I hope this helps make your day less stressful and more enjoyable. After all, isn’t that why we became self-employed. =) Below are some additional posts that may help you as well.
Below are some additional posts I found online to help you with stress management.
5 Tips for Small Business Stress Management
How Small Business Owners Can Lower Their Anxiety and Stress
6 Ways to Reduce Business Stress
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Thank you for linking to your post about estimating time requirements. I keep forgetting to do that!
We can ALL use help with reducing stress and being more efficient or productive. Love your simple steps. Thank you
On a side note, those personalized sticky notes make great giveaways for trade shows. Everybody loves sticky notes!
Great idea, Janet! Thanks for commenting.
Love these tips – creating a to-do list and then prioritizing is really helpful. It gives you the chance to identify those few items that MUST be finished by the end of the day. And I absolutely swear by the clear desk for getting something done – clutter creeps in and really causes paralysis with too many distractions.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Deb! I really appreciate it.
I so agree with keeping a clear desk for a clear mind! It’s really time for me to throw out some papers in the garbage as too many of them are cluttering my creative space.
Thanks for the suggestions, Sabrina!
Thanks for commenting, Delia! I really appreciate it. Clear desk for a clear mind is so true. =)
Really good tips, Sabrina. I just literally came from a tea date with my osteopath friend and she commented how many people she is seeing who are slouched over and ruining their posture from being online too much! I get that one and love your suggestion about an ergonomic chair at least for those who spend hours at a time online. She has always suggested getting up each hour and stretching and taking a break too. I think being more conscious of our habits and patterns is very important to ensure our long term well-being. Thanks for the reminders and suggestions!
I have a standing desk because I just can’t sit as long any more. So now I alternate where I work throughout the day. Thanks for commenting, Beverley!
Thanks Sabrina. What a great idea of the sticky notes. Never heard of this one before. I can think of several things to have as printed lists.
The sticky notes really did help us keep things in order. It also minimized the questions we had to ask. Thanks for commenting.
These are such great tips, Sabrina. And ones I can vouch for!
But the very last reminder kicked me in a butt a bit. I’ve been meaning to get an ergonomic chair for a while (and keep getting hounded to do so). Thanks for that link!
Thanks Susan! Make that your new year goal to get a new chair. It’s been a common theme today in the comments. Thanks for commenting.
The one thing for me to make my day less stressful is to make sure I get to bed at a reasonable time (between 10 and 10:30) and get up at 6. Then making sure I do my morning ritual. It all seems to fall into place. Thanks for the tips.
That’s so true, Karen. I know for me, if I get an interrupted sleep, it’s hard for me to function the next day.
This is a great post Sabrina, good ideas and good resources, too. My biggest take-aways were 1) I never estimate the time needed. No wonder I always feel behind. I’ll be using that estimation worksheet, thanks you very much. And 2) I desperately need a proper desk chair. I put it off as not being important, but this is the second time in a short period that it has been suggested. Time to pay attention.
I’m glad the post helped, Jane. Let me know how the estimation worksheet works out for you. Good luck on the chair search.
Thanks for the tips! I practice almost all that you mention and wholeheartedly agree with them and their benefits. The daily lists keeps me on track and I feel so happy checking things off! However, the one for me to look into is a better chair and I know it will help keep my body strong – thanks for that recommendation.
Great job, Teresa! Yes, a better chair really does help. Good luck on your search for one.
There are two things Sabrina I really like about this blog. One is how you kept the blog small. Sometimes lists of ways you can do… are so long, I tune them out. Secondly, you linked some of your points to previous blogs for more information. This shows me you know what you propose to do for others. Great job.
Thanks Roslyn. I’m glad you are enjoying my blog. My purpose of this blog post is to motivate people to get started and change the way they manage their work lives. I notice that when I look for instructions, I rather get simple easy steps and work through it. It seems more achievable that way, especially when I am stressed. =)
Those are great strategies, Sabrina. I like the idea of clearing your desk except for material that has to do with the current task. That would do away with a lot of distractions, especially if it includes banishing your phone while you are focusing on a particular project. We all know how easy it is to be distracted!
I agree. Over the years, I noticed that it is so distracting to have too many things on desk. I even got to the point where I purposely purchased a smaller desk because of it. And it helped immensely.