As an entrepreneur, you’re busy. You always have something going on. And, even when you are on downtime, you still feel like there’s something you should be doing.
Stress can be a big deal for the busy business owner.
However, if you want to enjoy life and be your best self for the good of your venture, you need to find a way to overcome stress. You can only live with stress for so long before it starts impacting your business and your quality of life.
If you are looking for ways to overcome stress without taking up a lot of time and energy, here are some daily life hacks that can help you relax a little more.
1. Stretch
Get up and stretch. Just changing positions can be a stress reliever, and stretching can be a way to release tension and relax, even if it’s just for a couple minutes.
Go ahead. Try it now.
Get up and stretch. You’ll feel less stressed almost instantly.
Take time during the day to stretch. You’ll be able to overcome stress throughout the day. And once you’ve had a good stretch, you might be more ready to tackle the next item on your list.
2. Take Deep Breaths
One thing I’ve been practicing for a few years is conscious breathing. I find it helps me overcome stress in the moment. Much like stretching, it’s a great way to relieve stress.
In fact, I often combine breathing and stretching together. It’s not quite yoga (which I like as part of my morning routine), but it’s somewhat similar.
Breath in. Hold the breath. Breath out. Concentrate on the breath, and the counting. Combine it with stretches, and you’ll feel better, and even possibly more energized.
Just that small break can cut through the stress and clear your mind so you are more effective.
3. Take a Break
Maybe you need more than a stretch and a few deep breaths. While those things can help you relieve stress in the moment, they don’t offer you a way to just step back and re-energize.
One way to overcome stress and kickstart your creativity is to take a real break. If you are getting stressed out about a project, or if a problem is causing stress because you can’t seem to get the better of it, Now is the time to take a break.
Just keeping on it won’t help you with your break through. Sometimes, what you really need is a break. Stop working on the problem or project. Go do something else. You are more likely to have a creative breakthrough after you’ve had a proper break.
4. Don’t Look at Email as Much
If you’re like me, the thought of emails piling up stresses you out. However, answering them one at a time as they come in is time-consuming, and it means breaks in my concentration for the day.
One way I’ve started to overcome stress is by choosing a couple times of the day to answer email. It works much better. I bang out emails for 15 to 20 minutes about three times a day. This allows me the time to work uninterrupted for a good block of time, and it also means that I don’t get stressed about email because I know I’ll get to it.
5. Same with Social Media
I’ve done less on social media lately, and I feel much less stress. Just looking at social media can cause the stress response. Sometimes it’s because I see other entrepreneurs and online business owners doing things I feel like I should be doing. Guilt is the worst.
Another issue is just that it takes a lot of time. I feel much better now that I have assigned specific times of the day for social media. I also go on for a purpose. To make one post for the day and to check up on friends’ posts. I set a timer for 10 minutes and adhere to it strictly.
You don’t want to let social media dictate your time. Plus, you want to keep being the awesome you, and not succumb to comparisons to others.
6. Sync Your Calendars
One thing that has helped me reduce my stress level quite a lot has been using calendars and syncing them up. I have multiple clients and multiple emails and multiple calendars.
Syncing all of them up has been a big help to me. As a result of this, I’m able to see everything in one place. I add events to my Google Calendar because that’s what works well with Calendly. However, I look at everything in iCal on my iPhone.
Different types of engagements are color-coded so I can see, at a glance, what is coming up, and whether I can skip it if I need to.
Syncing up my calendars and using Calendly has also helped me overcome stress. I no longer try to coordinate schedules with people trying to schedule interviews. Instead, I send them to my Calendly link. It is linked to all of my calendars so it’s easy for people to choose times when I’m available.
And then it gets added to my calendar automatically.
Syncing up the calendars has made my life much less stressful, and it’s easier for me to see exactly what’s coming and what times I will most likely be productive.
7. Focus on the Most Important Items First
Too often, we are pulled in different directions, trying to get everything done. Pare down the to-do list. Focus on what’s most important first.
And leave the other items for another day, or delegate them.
One of the hardest lessons I learned was that it makes sense sometimes to have a smaller to-do list for the day.
Using the Five-Minute Journal really helped me learn how to pick out the top most important things to do in a day. Concentrate on those, and you will be more successful and overcome stress.
Look at your to-do list from an 80/20 perspective. Which items are going to give you the best results. Instead of running around, and trying to do everything, choose the things that will have the biggest positive impact on your business.
Figure out how to delegate the other items, or put them off until you have a time for them. Really, though, delegating the less important tasks is one of the best ways for you to reduce your to-do list and overcome stress as an entrepreneur.
8. Connect with Others
Social interaction can actually relieve stress. If you are feeling stressed, don’t forget to enjoy time with the people you love. Hug your kids. Hold hands with your significant other. Visit your parents. Have lunch with a friend.
Take time out to connect with others, and you will feel less stress in your life overall.
Connecting with other also reduces stress in your business life. These connections include networking. Meet with other business owners. Join a mastermind so you can ping them with questions. When you’re working on a tough problem, you can overcome stress by getting help and advice from someone else.
Don’t isolate yourself when you feel stressed out. Instead, make it a point to spend time with others. You’ll geel less stress, get a bit of a recharge, and be ready to take on the next business problem.
