Overcoming Stress As A Business Owner

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Stress is part and parcel of entrepreneurship.

That’s why it’s so important to learn how to handle it – the sooner you get it under control, the better.

Here are ten stress management activities that can help you stay focused, get things done, and avoid burnout…

#1: Embrace Stoic Dichotomy of Control

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that originated in Greece and Rome.

It’s becoming increasingly popular among entrepreneurs because it provides an excellent framework for functioning under stress.

We would argue that the single most valuable Stoic idea is what has come to be known as the dichotomy of control: training yourself to focus only on what you can control and ignore everything else.

Think about it: if you saw someone having an emotional breakdown over the weather, you would probably assume that this person has mental health problems, right?

And yet, we all get worked up about all kinds of things that are completely outside of our control, just like the weather. This insane attempt to control the uncontrollable is the root cause of stress.

Fortunately, the more you practice focusing on what you can control and ignoring what you can’t control, the better you will get at it, and the easier it will be for you to stay calm under pressure!

#2: Decide What You are Going to Sacrifice

First-time entrepreneurs often have an unexamined expectation that their lives will continue as usual while building their companies.

The problem with this is that the math doesn’t work. We all have the same 168 hours per week, and getting a side hustle off the ground requires at least 20 hours per week. You will need to make space for that in your schedule.

Getting enough sleep, maintaining personal hygiene, eating proper meals, going to the gym, working a day to pay the bills, doing household chores, handling administrative tasks, spending time with your spouse and kids, and taking time to wind down every evening are all essential activities.

If you want to spend at least 20 hours per week working on your business, you won’t have any time left for non-essential activities such as engaging in your hobbies and hanging out with your friends.

That’s why we recommend listing all non-essential activities you will sacrifice to get your business off the ground. You don’t have to give them up forever, but you do have to give them up now.

Keep this list in your wallet to remind you of what you have decided to say “No” to in this season of your life!

#3: Take Care of Your Health

If you are serious about building a business, you need to exorcise “hustle culture” nonsense out of your mind.

Regularly pulling all-nighters, working more than 12 hours a day, and abusing stimulants is not “mental toughness”; it’s short-sighted, unsustainable, and will almost certainly lead to burnout.

We know that humans can only function optimally under certain conditions, the most important of them being:

1. Getting enough sleep.
2. Getting enough calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients.
3. Getting enough movement. In the modern context, this means having a workout routine that includes strength, cardio, and mobility training.

It would be unreasonable for you to expect to perform well if you are sleep-deprived, not eating correctly, and not exercising regularly – you will lack energy, your cognition will be impaired, and you might even end up developing serious health problems over time.

On top of that, if you feel run down, every stressful situation will seem like the end of the world. The more you drive yourself into the ground, the less resilient you will become.

That’s why putting your health above all else is so important. Your top priorities should be getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and exercising regularly. Remember that good health is the foundation for everything else in life!

#4: Watch Your Caffeine Intake

Speaking of stimulant abuse…

Caffeine is the most popular psychoactive drug in the world. It’s well-known that it can make you anxious, jittery, and unable to cope with stress.

It might make sense to stop consuming caffeine habitually and reserve it for emergencies, like when you must pull an all-nighter to meet an important deadline.

Alternatively, you can commit to only consuming caffeine every other day. That may help you avoid building tolerance or slow down the process.

Finally, if you want to continue consuming caffeine daily, remember that it’s easy to get hooked on it when you have a lot on your plate. Next thing you know, you need more and more of it just to feel normal.

You can prevent this by tracking your caffeine consumption (mg/day). Decide what is an acceptable baseline amount and make sure to taper back to it if you exceed it during crunch time.

People vary a lot in terms of their sensitivity to caffeine, so you will need to experiment and figure out what works best for you!

#5: Meditate for 20 Minutes Every Morning

Starting your day with a 20-minute meditation session can help you stay grounded regardless of what is going on in your life.

A Buddhist saying sometimes attributed to the Dalai Lama:

“You should meditate 20 minutes per day. You should meditate for one hour unless you are too busy.”

There’s no need to take this literally and start meditating for an hour daily. It may even be inadvisable, as meditating that much can have adverse side effects (watch Dr. Willoughby Britton’s keynote to learn more).

However, the general idea behind that saying is accurate: if you don’t have time to meditate for 20 minutes daily, it’s probably a sign that you are caught up in chaos and not thinking clearly. Meditating can help you step back, slow down, and recenter yourself!

#6: Read Fiction to Wind Down in the Evenings

You can’t expect a good night’s sleep if you are still wired.

That’s why you want an evening routine designed to help you wind down.

Avoid stimulating activities like checking the news, scrolling social media, or playing computer games.

Instead, consider taking a warm bath or shower, stretching, and reading a fiction book.

Don’t try to make your evening reading “productive.” The aim is to relax, not cram more information into your head or slog through Dostoyevsky while pondering the human condition. Let yourself read books that you find entertaining, even mindless!

#7: Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation Right Before Sleep

Progressive muscle relaxation was created by Edmund Jacobson, who summarized it in his 1934 book “You Must Relax: A Practical Method of Reducing the Strains of Modern Living.”

Since then, PMR has been improved upon by countless scientists and doctors and is now used in a wide variety of medical settings for stress management, pain relief, insomnia relief, and more.

There are many PMR variations out there, but they tend to share these two key steps:

1. You lie down in a quiet, calm, and safe environment
2. You systematically tense and relax every muscle group in your body

You can tense and relax your muscles from your face to your toes, from your toes to your face, or from one side of the body to another. Think of it as a wave of relaxation gradually washing over your body.

You can find guided PMR videos on YouTube. Experiment with different variations of this technique and start using the one that you like the most right before sleep. It’s a great preventative measure for managing stress!

#8: Use Box Breathing to Quickly Calm Yourself Down

Box breathing is a technique that Navy Seals use to manage extreme stress in combat zones.

A single box breathing cycle consists of these four steps:

1. Breathe in while counting to four
2. Hold your breath while counting to four
3. Breathe out while counting to four
4. Wait while counting to four

…then, breathe in while counting to four again and start another cycle. Do as many cycles as you need to calm down.

Use box breathing throughout the day whenever you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed. You might be surprised by how effective this technique is!

#9: Limit Your Social Media Usage

You will need to do social media marketing to grow your business, so it may be impossible to stay away from these platforms entirely.

However, you want to limit your social media usage to what’s necessary for business purposes. Why?

Because social media algorithms are designed to optimize engagement… What emotion generates the most engagement? Outrage!

We live in a world with more than eight billion people. There will always be scandals, horrible crimes, natural disasters, geopolitical tensions, shady politicians, lunatics spreading deranged conspiracy theories, and attention seekers posting widely offensive hot takes. But guess what?

Getting outraged about it won’t change anything. These algorithms are designed to make us feel like we are “staying informed” when we are just chasing the next dopamine hit while working ourselves into a frenzy over things we cannot control.

Entrepreneurship is stressful enough as it is. Your free time should be spent engaging in activities that contribute to your health, relationships, and overall well-being, not mainlining outrage through your phone screen!

#10: Try to Spend Some Time in Nature Every Week

It’s no secret that spending time in nature has a calming effect.

Consider scheduling a few-hour hike every week. If you have a spouse and kids, it can be an opportunity to do something together as a family while also getting some fresh air.

If you are single, invite your friends to join you on your weekly hikes, but if no one is interested, don’t hesitate to go by yourself. In fact, it doesn’t even need to be a hike; you can simply sit by the lake and look at the water.

And if getting outside of the city is too time-consuming to be practical, then at least go to a local park and have a picnic there!

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