Stress-Relieving Daily Habits for Entrepreneurs
Choosing to become an entrepreneur can lead to a fun, exciting journey — but it can also be rife with stress. Even if you don’t feel especially stressed in the moment, the pressures can add up over time and bring serious consequences for your health and well-being.
The Dangers of Stress
It’s no secret that stress can be damaging, to both body and mind. The symptoms might begin innocuously, making you irritable, leaving you susceptible to bouts of worrying and leaving you with low levels of energy. Over time, however, these can escalate to major health concerns such as cardiovascular disease, depression and gastrointestinal complaints. Without an outlet to relieve some of the stress you face every day, you could be placing your general health in jeopardy.
Time Management
Time management is one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face. You’re probably working excessive hours, often through the weekends, and no matter how many tasks you manage to fit in a day, there always seem to be more around the corner. Given such heavy workloads and busy schedules, most entrepreneurs don’t even think about setting dedicated time to stress reduction, but stress management doesn’t have to be time intensive. If you select a handful of reasonable daily habits, you can reduce your daily stress load without worrying about how you’re going to fit it in.
Try following habits on a daily basis to start fighting back against stress.
Starting the Day with Exercise.
Exercise improves blood circulation, releases endorphins, and gives you more energy throughout the day. Getting some exercise in before you go to work can set you up for a productive, lower-stress day, but that’s not your only option. How you exercise is up to you: jogging, weight lifting and even walking are all good options. The goal is to raise heart rate for an extended period — at least 20 minutes.
Drinking Green Tea.
Before you pour yourself a mug of coffee in the morning, consider the alternative benefits of green tea. Green tea has been shown to have powerful anti-anxiety effects. It can help you to relax in stressful situations while still providing enough caffeine to get your morning started.
Stretching and Breaking Away from the Screen.
Stretching exercises combined with deep breathing, will have a massive effect on your stress levels. Physical stretching may be used as a break from your daily tasks. This will force you to give yourself breaks throughout the day, reduce the eye strain from your digital screen, help you relax and improve your blood circulation — all at the same time.
Reducing Commitments.
Over-full schedules and task lists without a break can be a major source of stress for entrepreneurs. To reduce the stress, cut down the number of commitments you accept. If this sounds impossible to you, try making it a daily habit, and you’ll see how easy it can become. Each day, find at least one meeting that can be eliminated (and replaced by an email, or similarly concise form of communication), and find at least one task that can be delegated or postponed indefinitely. You’ll have a more flexible schedule in no time.
Surrounding with Scents.
Working environment can have a major effect on your stress level. One study-backed environmental change in particular that’s worth pursuing is the introduction of positive scents.
Habits are exceptionally powerful tools for stress management because once you adopt them, you tend to stick with them naturally. The hard part is getting started.
There are several ways to create a new habit, from designing a behaviour chain to planning a process rather than a result. How you do it is up to you. The key is to start managing your stress now while you still have considerable control over the state of your health.
