22 March 7 Tips to Lower Your Stress March 22, 2022 By sma Business Tips, Franchise business growth, entrepreneur, motivation, small business, time management 0 7 TIPS TO LOWER YOUR STRESS March 22, 2022 | Business Tips, Franchise | motivation, small business, business growth, entrepreneur, time management By Kimberly Stevens, NPI, Inc.'s Marketing Coach Dealing with the everyday challenges of running your own business can result in high stress levels. In order to keep yourself and your business healthy, you should always be actively trying to reduce your stress. Here are some ways you can keep your cool as you operate your business. Figure out what’s stressing you. The first step in treating your stress is identifying what’s making you feel overwhelmed. Take a step back and look at everything you have to deal with in a day. Make a note of everything that makes you feel like you’re stretched thin. Knowing what’s causing your stress will help you develop better techniques to deal with it. You might even start to feel more relaxed just by pinpointing your stressors. Build a more solid schedule. It may be easier said than done to create a concrete schedule as an entrepreneur. You could have a client schedule a meeting last minute or maybe that “quick” project ends up taking longer than you thought. While you can’t predict the unexpected, developing a schedule around your typical day will help manage your stress. If you find it hard to nail down a daily work routine, try to plan day by day. This will give you a better idea of what you need to accomplish and limit the amount of surprises you deal with. Find what’s working for you. Always feeling like you’re not doing enough can be a big contributor to your stress. Maybe you’ve had a string of bad business luck recently, and that’s made you frustrated. Don’t worry— a lot of business owners have been in the same boat as you. But focusing on the negatives all the time can hinder your growth. As you make a list of what isn’t working, make a list of what is. Counting your wins will reveal that things may be going better than you thought and allow you to take a deep breath and relax. Take a break. Stepping away for a bit as a small business owner is incredibly hard to do. If you’re not working, chances are you’re not making money. However, focusing your energy on something that isn’t working might be costing you money as well. Taking even a short break from your business will allow you to refocus and refresh. Getting burned out is not uncommon and is one of the main reasons entrepreneurs fail. You don’t need a months-long vacation, just a day or two away from the hecticness of work will make you a better owner. Don’t try to do everything. Similar to taking time away, saying “no” to clients as a business owner isn’t easy. You want positive referrals to keep growing and sometimes that comes at the cost of your own time. Taking on more than you can handle will result in your overall quality of work slipping. Know when you’re spreading yourself too thin and step away. If you have a team, spreading the work around will keep business coming in while lightening your load. Have someone to fall back on. Feeling like you’re navigating the business world by yourself is definitely stressful. To combat this, build out your own support system. A support system will help you feel more connected and allow you to discuss your business with someone. It can be your friends and family, or fellow business owners in your industry or community. Whomever you choose for your group, they should help motivate you. Adjust your own mindset. Your own outlook at the current situation is perhaps the biggest stressor. It’s easy to get down on yourself or panic when you aren’t doing as well as you think you should. Keeping a positive mental outlook will turn down your stress levels. Start by building confidence in yourself and form the belief that you can accomplish your goals. Practice this daily, and you’ll soon retrain your brain! As an NPI or GPI franchisee, you get unlimited access to our full-time Marketing & Business Coach Kimberly Stevens. Contact Coach Kimberly for more lifestyle and entrepreneur tips to improve your business skills! About the Author Kimberly Stevens, Marketing Coach The baby of eight children, Kimberly learned quickly to master the art of communication in order to be heard. She has been with NPI for more than 15 years and is passionate about getting to know our franchisees. Kimberly is a certified marketing and business coach, trainer and speaker, leading training seminars, one-to-one coaching and more. She's a high-energy, fiery red head and an eternal optimist. Her greatest joy is celebrating our franchisees’ victories! Comments are closed.