Running a business can be stressful at times but giving in to unhealthy habits and lifestyle choices when you are busy and feeling overwhelmed is not going to help in the long run. While it might help you feel better in the short-term, over time, unhealthy habits can increase your risk of burning out and damage your overall health and wellbeing. When running a business, prioritising self-care and focusing on healthy ways to manage your stress levels is crucial. Not only will you feel better in yourself, but you will have more energy to give to turning your business into a success.
Quit Smoking
Smoking can be a hard vice to quit if you are stressed, as the withdrawal symptoms you will experience when you are no longer getting any nicotine can cause you to feel even more stressed and leave you craving a cigarette. The good news is that you can give up cigarettes without giving up nicotine thanks to different nicotine replacement products. Cigarettes are filled with nasty ingredients like tar and carbon monoxide, which are much more harmful to your body than nicotine. Quit these but avoid withdrawal symptoms by using something like nicotine gum, nicotine patches, or vaping products from Ruthless liquid.
Exercise Daily
Exercise doesn’t have to mean you spend hours a day in the gym picking up heavy weights. Simply moving your body for 20-30 minutes a day can make a difference to how you feel and help you avoid a sedentary lifestyle if your business mainly involves working at a desk. Along with keeping your body in good shape, exercising daily will release endorphins, hormones that put you in a better mood and help you feel more relaxed and less stressed.
Cut Down Caffeine
Coffee might be the first thing that you turn to when you need to get through a busy day, but the truth is that consuming a lot of caffeine won’t help your stress levels in the long run. Too much caffeine can leave you feeling jittery and anxious, especially if you’ve not eaten much. And it can keep you awake at night and cause problems with your sleep, leaving you feeling even worse. Ideally, you should try to stay away from caffeine after lunch time. If you normally drink coffee in the afternoons, try swapping it for herbal tea or decaf coffee instead.
Take Breaks
Running your own business is a big commitment, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend every hour you get working. If you’re not getting enough breaks, because you are working long hours in the week and working on the weekends too, then you’re quickly going to feel depleted and burned out. Delegate tasks to other people and set boundaries with your customers and clients so that you can have some well-deserved time for yourself to relax, recuperate, and refresh your body and mind ready to return.
When you’re running a business, it’s important to put your own self-care first so that you can be a more focused, happy, healthy, and productive entrepreneur.
