14 Entrepreneurs Share their best Stress-Busting secrets
“Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its stress. Share the burden to lighten. Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce back from the stress. Our ultimate freedom is our right & power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us. Don’t say Yes to stress. Don’t accept it, Find a way to reduce or eliminate !!!
Un-Stress Topics: To-Do List + Fun things, Laser Focus, Freshen up, Music, Pajama Day, Exercise, Cooking, Movie, Laff’g, Family, Kids, Audio Books, Gratitude.
Why Stress is an inevitable part of life, and no one understands that better than leaders. Running an organization (or several!) is no easy feat, especially if you’re responsible for every task all on your own. We asked entrepreneurs & leaders how they handle the stress of running their businesses, and here’s what they had to share.
No. 1: have To-Do List. “Juggling many dynamic situations has become my new normal, but there are days when it becomes extremely stressful. How do I handle it? Once I write everything down, I can take on one challenge at a time. It gives me structure, guidance of what direction I’m headed and some sanity.” – Emily Schmitz, founder, MedVoice PR
No. 2: But add “fun things” to your ToDo list. “A couple months ago, I started this – grabbing drinks with friends, going to the gym, getting a manicure, etc. Putting those things on the same list as working on a project, or meetings forces me to value them as much as I do real work and makes them a priority for me to accomplish. It’s a little mind trick I play on myself, but it allows me to have a great work-life balance that I struggled with before!” – Maddy Sasso, president, Pinkly Perfect
No. 3: Laser Focus. “When I’m feeling overly stressed, I stop the madness and focus on a single task that is causing me to feel overwhelmed — hopefully the smallest — until it’s done. I also try to consciously stop myself from blowing things out of proportion. You may have a lot of things to get done, but they can easily be done in small chunks. Don’t allow your mind to make mountains out of molehills.” – Angie Nelson, owner, TheWorkAtHomeWife.com
No. 4: Freshen up !!! “A lot of my stress originates working in an office. Getting outside, getting fresh air and allowing myself 15 minutes of walking, helps me be energized, understand why I’m feeling overwhelmed, and helps grant a sense of clarity that I can use to better understand & tackle a challenge.” – Jonathan LeRoux, CEO, TurtlePie Solutions
No. 5: Music heightens my Mood. “I need a good playlist on Spotify or Apple to tackle stress. It puts me in a good mood andallows me to escape my current stress, re-analyze the ntire situation and tackle the issue head-on.” – Phil Singleton, CEO, Singleton Consulting
No. 6: Pajama Day. “My husband and I own a wedding photography business, which means between client meetings, engagement sessions & wedding days, our schedule fills up very quickly! About a year into our business, I instituted Pajama Mondays. We do this almost every week, and it is a day that, no matter what, we don’t leave the house. Some days, we get to take it as an off day, and some days are super-productive with editing, marketing, finances, etc. But either way, we stay in our pajamas and treat ourselves to a day of self-care with no expectations from the outside world.” – Becki Smith, owner, Smith House Photography
No. 6: Exercise is the one thing that truly keeps me sane. It’s my time — even if it’s just a few minutes walk — to disconnect from work, emails, calls & my to-do list, then escape to a little serenity. Walking clears my mind, and I even schedule it as an appointment in my calendar (usually first thing in the a.m.) If I can’t de-stress, it makes managing the day-to-day, clients & free-lancers I have working for me even more challenging.” – Robin Diamond, founder, Robin Diamond Public Relations
No. 8: What’s Cooking? “I manage stress by Cooking. I find my life is totally saturated with digital work. A lot of my stress comes as a result of doing work that doesn’t yield immediate results. I find physical and tangible activities like Cooking provide immense relief. It feels good to use my hands and creativity for something that feels real.” – Maxine Joles, co-founder, MadebyAdventure
No. 9: “I love going to a Movie. It’s a total escape that takes my mind off of work for a few hours, relieves my stress & gets me motivated to get back to work.” – Amy Chandler, creator, The Cibo
No. 10: Laff it off !!! “Sometimes when I’m stressed, I’ll take a break from work and find a funny video or website to make me laugh. I’ve found that it’s really hard to be stressed when I’m laughing so hard. So once I can get myself laughing from something silly on the internet, I immediately start to feel much better.” – Tom Casano, founder, Life Coach Spotter
No. 11: “Spending more time with family — cooking for them and playing with my 18-month-old son — goes a very long way to deal with my stress. It helps me erase the negative thoughts that the stress leads to, even if it’s temporary.” – Gennady Borukhovich, co-founder and CTO, FarFaria
No. 12: Playing with Kids. “I deal with stress by going to visit my baby nieces. I find they are the only thing that knock me out of my stress. Since I don’t have kids, I need them to remind me that the things I’m stressing about are probably moronic. I also won’t touch my work when I’m around them because I don’t want to set a bad example. I just want to have fun – at their level.” – Marcie Rogo, co-founder, Stitch
No. 13: Audio Books. “For me, the best way to quickly and almost instantaneously alleviate stress is to go for a long drive on the highway while listening to a good audio book. It’s kind of hypnotic, which takes me away from stressful thoughts, motivates me & helps me problem solve at the same time.” – Greg Loukas, president & founder, Brain Forza
No. 14: Practicing Gratitude. . . is the thing I do on a daily basis that guarantees me a healthier & less stressful day. It really is as simple as that. I close my eyes, and I think over what I have been lucky enough to get in my life. I remember where I am & who I have in my life. I remember what I was able to accomplish & that I want to continue that growth.” – Roberta Perry, president and owner, ScrubzBody
Comments: Do you anything else that can reduce or eliminate Stress?
from Business News Daily 24 April 16 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz
For more Info, click on Stress, Stress Management.