Tuesday, 30 November 2010, 11:32 am Press Release: Stress Management

Avoiding Boiling Point: Stress Management Tips forBusiness

Stress is naturally occurring in all ofour lives and unfortunately cannot be eliminated altogether.however contrary to popular belief stress is not always anentirely negative thing. Stress generally is what gets usmotivated and kicks us into action. so a certain amount ofstress is actually healthy – however when stress starts totake over our lives and we begin to feel the symptoms of itaffecting our day to day then it can become aproblem.

Another little known factor about stress is thatit is not actually “given” by the pressure of work orbeing faced with a pressure situation, in fact it isactually ‘taken” by us and is more about how we react tothe pressure that this creates. Reacting to stress in apositive way is all about being prepared and having theright tools in our arsenal to counteract against it. As weknow negative effects of personal stress can lead toproblems not only in the business but also problems with ourpersonal health so it is very important, as a person inbusiness, to set up our stress tool kit. Ideally in ourtoolkit we need:

A Support System –Just being in business can be stressful, but owning abusiness and having the buck stop with you is, not onlystressful but it can also be incredibly lonely. Surroundingyourself with the right support structure is crucial to yourbusiness success and your overall wellbeing. As humans weare social creatures, it is in our nature to want to talk,share and discuss. As a business owner you need to surroundyourself with trustworthy people who can not only give yousound advice but can also act as a sounding board who willbe there sometimes just to listen. This group may be madeup of personal friends and family but should also be made upof select professionals such as an accountant, banker,lawyer and business coach, or even a coaching club.

Talk about It – choose someone thatyou trust from that support group and make sure that whenyou are feeling stressed you find that someone to talk to. often we spend so much time worrying about the stress thatwe don’t take action. The simple act of talking aboutwhat is stressing us with someone who is good at listeningand offering practical advice can kick us out of that rutand propel us back into action.

Don’t Try to DIYEverything – Let’s say you’re a plumber, doesthat mean you are necessarily a whizz at accounting, anexpert in marketing and selling, a speedster at generaladministration, and completely dedicated to holding yourselfto account and keeping promises to yourself? As a smallbusiness owner you are often forced to wear many hats. InAustralasia we are traditionally brought up with the DIYattitude which we often carry over to the running of ourbusinesses. We often see this kind of attitude in businesswhere one person is trying to do absolutely everything bythemselves in order to cut costs and this often ends upcosting them a lot more in the end. Not only does it end upcosting them more money but it costs them in time, in healthand wellbeing and actually in the long run by not“sticking to their knitting” they end up earning lesswhich in turn causes them a lot more stress than isnecessary.

Plan Your Time and Set RealisticGoals – We often see clients who are so stressedbecause they feel like everything has gotten out of control,all their clients wanted their work done yesterday and theyfeel like time has run away from them. whilst some thingscome out of left field and cannot necessarily be plannedfor, they can be allowed for and you should be managing therest of your time that you can control. Sit down and takethe time to plan out your time. plan out your day the nightbefore, plan out your week and plan out you month. Treatthe things you need to do as meetings and allocate and blockout a certain about of time to get them done. Don’t leteverything just happen and assume you will get it all done. Set yourself goals for what you want to achieve and map outhow you are going to get there. Not setting goals and notplanning is like having a destination but no map and no ideahow you are actually going to get there.

Learn toSay NO – often we are so busy trying to pleaseeveryone and acquiring every new client that comes our waythat we end up over-committing ourselves. Not only isover-committing ourselves stressful but in actual fact it isno good for our business, as it means we are not able togive our entire focus to our current clients and servicethem to the best of our abilities. In reality we should bepicking the best jobs that give us the most return andworking really hard on those and on treating those clientslike royalty. if we over-commit and are running around likea “stress head” trying to get everything done we end uprunning late and not servicing those clients to the best ofour ability. Also think very carefully about working withclients that have short deadlines – is it worth it? Andcan you get it done in time comfortably?

ManageYour Cashflow – one of the most stressful thingsin business is not having enough cash. you continuouslywork your butt off only to find that there is no cash inyour bank account – or there is an abundance of cash onemonth and then your bone dry the next. To alleviate thismake sure to visit your accountant and work out a cashflowplan. This allows you to predict and manage your cashflow,knowing when to expect the peaks and valleys in the cashflowwhich can help you immensely because you now have an idea ofwhen you can spend and when you need to tighten the belt alittle bit further.

Looking AfterYourself– As mentioned, negative stress can havea negative impact on our health and well being. Physicalsymptoms of stress include: irritability, headaches, nausea,irregular sleeping patterns and habits such as nail bitingor nervous twitches. Prolonged suffering can have moredetrimental affects leading to anxiety, heart disease andhigh blood pressure. To avoid these you need to learn torecognise the triggers of stress and how to deal with them. if you are feeling stressed and ready to “fight orflight” then the first things you have to do is practiseyour breathing. often when we are stressed we begin tshallow breathing, limiting the amount of oxygen that wereceive which only makes us feel worse and more anxious. Tocalm yourself down you need to practise taking big fullbreaths that full your entire diaphragm. keep concentratingon slowing down your breathing and returning yourself to aplace of calm. you can choose to turn stress into amotivator by choosing to view the situation in a positivelight – turn around your thinking and use positiveself-talk to encourage yourself and set yourself into apositive frame of mind.

Keep Your BodyHealthy – The negative effects of stress canmultiply if you are run down or not looking after yourself. Be sure to indulge in activities that you enjoy and rechargeyou. As an adult you should be getting at least 30 minutesof exercise a day to keep you healthy. Maintaining activitylevels and exercising as well as fuelling our bodies withthe right foods helps to provide our bodies with the rightkind of energy to combat the negative impact of stress.

Take some Time Out – Be sure to takesome time out for yourself, this can be either by takingtime out to do something you enjoy, meditating, or justrelaxing with a book. Be sure to keep that balance betweenwhat you enjoy doing and your work.

If you let it stresscan be a motivator to get us to achieve greater things OR itcan be a hindrance in our daily lives. There is no way toeliminate stress altogether but by taking some time toprepare and create a toolkit we can learn to manage stressto make the most of its positive attributes and limit itsnegativeeffects.

ENDS