According to research, about 71% of people in the US have at least one symptom of stress. Besides, approximately one in every five working adults has a mental health issue.
While job-related stress is prevalent in most environments, it can significantly affect small business owners. This aspect is since entrepreneurs are more prone to burnout and high employee turnover. Besides, they often face stiff competition from established firms.
Prioritizing mental health can help you boost performance in your small business. It also allows you to retain more employees and reduce hiring costs.
Here are some tips on prioritizing your mental health and your team’s.
1. Have a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Balancing personal life and managing a small business can be challenging. Without a proper schedule, you may spend less time with your loved ones and focus more on work.
Create a healthy work-life balance by planning your activities and selecting some days off. Moreover, follow this schedule and avoid postponing leisure activities and using personal time for business errands.
Another idea for balancing work and personal life is setting a fixed time to close your business. Schedule tasks for each day and strive to complete them within working hours. If you can’t achieve the target, find time to handle the work the following day instead of extending work time.
Observing a strict schedule will ensure you have enough time for personal activities. Besides, it allows you to maintain social connections, reducing work-related stress.
2. Exercise
Exercising is ideal for staying fit and caring for your mental health. A regular workout will release the feel-good hormones called endorphins, which can reduce stress. Ultimately, you will avoid and alleviate some symptoms of mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
Find some physical exercises you would enjoy and incorporate them into your morning routine. Still, limit heavy workouts since they may be exhausting and affect your work productivity.
While physical exercise is vital, you should also consider mindful activities. Such include meditation, breathing exercises, and mindful walking. Such will clear your mind, boost positive emotions, and lower anxiety. They also help you reduce job burnout and improve your sleep patterns, positively impacting your mental health.
3. Encourage Teamwork
Running a small business can be challenging due to limited talent. As a result, you and some employees may have to take several roles, which can be exhausting.
Encourage teamwork in your business to simplify handling projects. Instead of assigning each employee a specific task, pair staff members to ease work. Further, encourage collaboration by fostering good work relationships and engagement.
If your employees work together, you can solve problems faster and boost productivity. You also avoid the stress of handling demanding tasks without guidance or assistance.
Other ways to prioritize mental health with teamwork are:
- Increase flexibility
- Improve communication with your team
- Develop healthy work relationships
- Create a reliable support system
4. Set Reasonable Deadlines
Work deadlines help you achieve business goals within the required time frame. Still, setting unrealistic limits creates pressure, leading to burnout.
Before selecting project deadlines, check your calendar to determine the available time. After that, identify the steps you need to complete the activity and assess the time required for each phase. These steps will help you determine the appropriate time limit. They also improve organization and allow you to avoid handling many tasks simultaneously.
When you have proper work deadlines, you can protect your mental health in several ways. First, you will avoid stress and anxiety resulting from limited time for a project. Further, you prevent using time allocated for resting and personal errands to work.
Another way realistic deadlines will safeguard your mental health is by increasing work motivation. Completing projects within the stipulated time will stimulate a sense of achievement and boost your confidence.
5. Improve Financial Planning
Finances are a significant cause of stress and mental health problems among entrepreneurs. Many business owners find it challenging to get the finances to grow their business. They may also incur losses after using utility bills and salary funds to expand the brand.
Improving financial planning can help you overcome business challenges and safeguard your mental health. Budget for all expenses and ensure you don’t exceed the allocated amount. Further, avoid high-risk loans with significant interest rates since they may increase costs.
Another way to improve planning is by selecting reliable financing methods. Convert your receivables into cash instead of borrowing funds to run your business. Platforms like Crowdz allow you to use your recurring revenue streams as a source of income. Here, you can sell invoices of clients subscribed to your services and receive the amount in advance.
Embracing such financing options will avoid stressful debt and grow your business on your terms. Besides, you can get lump sum funds quickly and avoid the time-consuming loan approval process.
6. Keep Your Employees Happy
Running a small business with frustrated employees will affect your mental health in several ways. For example, you will waste time dealing with conflicts and monitoring work. Besides, you may constantly need to hire and train new employees after others quit.
Some tips to keep your employees happy and prioritize their mental health are:
- Encourage feedback about your management
- Set realistic expectations
- Respect and appreciate your team
- Offer off days and vacation time
- Don’t micromanage
Protect Your Mental Health and Grow Your Brand
Using practical ways to grow your business will reduce stress and protect your well-being. It also helps you avoid pressuring your team to achieve unrealistic goals.
At Crowdz, we can help you scale your business with less strain. With our solution, you will access reliable cash flow and streamline financial operations. Contact us for more details about our software and its benefits to small businesses.
