How to Stop Your Business From Keeping You Up At Night Part 1
December 22, 2021 - 8 minutes read
Are you running your business, or is your business running you? About 45% of entrepreneurs are stressed out. They’re feeling overwhelmed, they’re feeling burnt out, and they’re neglecting their mental and physical health.
Running a business can be stressful, but that shouldn’t be your default mode. If your business keeps you up at night, it’s time to reevaluate things. Here’s how to handle business stress and start living a life you love.
How to Handle Business Stress – Reorganizing and Reevaluating
1. Create a Life You Love, Not a Business That Becomes a Monster
Why did you start your business? Passion was certainly part of the equation, but if you’re like most entrepreneurs, you also wanted freedom – freedom to build the life you want. It’s easy to get caught up in the stresses of running a business that you forget what that dream life looks like.
To create a life you love and not a business that becomes a monster, ask yourself:
- How many hours do I want to work?
- How much money do I really need to make?
- What’s truly important to me? Is it having quality time with family? Traveling? Maybe you want to dedicate more time to your business.
- How quickly do you want to build this lifestyle?
The answers to these questions can help you build a life plan and put a timer on it. Maybe you want to start living this dream life within the next two years. How do you get from where you are now to where you want to be?
Having a clear vision of the life you want can help you create a plan of action that ultimately makes running your business less stressful.
Remember – the quality of your life affects the quality of your business. The two are intrinsically linked. By creating a life you love, you’re also working to create a business that you and other people love.
2. Focus on the Company’s Vision
When a business loses sight of its vision, it can quickly become a monster. If your business is keeping you up at night, it may be time to sit down and refocus.
- What is your company’s vision?
- Is your company actively working towards that vision?
Consider your own strengths and the strengths of your team. What does each individual team member excel at? Are there any gaps in your talent that are stopping your company from achieving its vision?
Putting the right people in the right seats is important, so you may need to hire talent to fill certain roles.
As for your role, consider what you love doing. Being the boss doesn’t mean that you have to wear every hat. It gives you the freedom to delegate tasks that you don’t excel at or enjoy. For example, if you don’t enjoy managing people, you can hire someone who does.
When everyone understands the company’s vision, is committed to achieving that vision and in the appropriate role, you can move forward in confidence and with fewer stressful hiccups along the way.
3. Define Roles, Responsibilities and Structures
A business that doesn’t have clearly defined roles, systems and processes is like having a train without a conductor. There’s no clear direction. Team members don’t know how to handle certain situations. You wind up going in circles and wasting lots of time explaining processes over and over again.
Having processes, systems and structures in place will help your business run more smoothly – so smoothly that it can run without you.
- Start by defining roles and responsibilities. What is expected of each team member? Make sure this is clear, so every member of your team knows what’s within their job scope.
- Put structures in place that let team members know what to do now and what to do next. If everyone understands the next steps, you can move forward more quickly and smoothly. Productivity and efficiency dwindle when team members aren’t sure about their next moves.
- Make use of systems and processes to create standard operating procedures (SOPs). SOPs make it easy to scale your business, so you can spend less time figuring out how to handle growth and more time improving your products or services. SOPs also remove you from the company, so you can take a step back and live that dream life we talked about earlier.
4. Don’t Neglect Your Mental, Physical and Spiritual Well-being
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to lose yourself in your business. Your mental, physical and spiritual health gets put on the back burner because you’re dedicated to growing your business. While it’s a noble thought, sacrificing your own well-being for the sake of your business will have the opposite effect.
You cannot perform at your best if you don’t feel your best. You can’t innovate or inspire your team if you’re burnt out, exhausted and feeling down.
- Work reasonable hours. Make sleep a priority. Along with hindering productivity, sleep deprivation can have a negative effect on your physical health. When you’re well-rested, you’re in a better mindset to solve problems and keep your team motivated.
- If you’re exhausted or burnt out, take a break. Take the day off. Take a week off. Use that time to disconnect and recharge.
- Nourish your spiritual wellbeing – whatever that means to you.
Self-care is more than just a buzzword. It’s crucial to your well-being and the well-being of your business. Make it a priority so that when problems or stressful events do arise, you’re mentally and physically prepared to weather the storm.
Final Thoughts
Running a business is hard work, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelmingly stressful. If your business is making you lose sleep, it’s time to reevaluate and make some changes.
These tips can help you get started, but it’s essential to have a clear picture of your goals and a vision for the future. We can help you paint that picture.Ready to get started?