When you run your own business it can seem like it is you against the world.  Let’s face it as a small business owner you are more than just busy. Working with one client to the next, one to-do to the next. You have many competing priorities and are often pulled in multiple directions. Your life doesn’t even slow down on the weekends- in some cases it gets even busier. I’m not saying hard work isn’t necessary when you are running your own business but you must find time to reset from time to time. It’s impossible to eliminate stress from our lives completely. But, we can find better ways to deal with it.

We’re all guilty of not taking time for ourselves.

Stress can be experienced as  either physical or emotional tension and each of us experience stress differently.  Too much stress can be unhealthy resulting in tension headaches, high blood pressure and difficulty sleeping. Working at an unmanageable pace can take a toll on your mood, your stress tolerance, short-term memory, and even your relationships. Ironically, your work tends to suffer that is not the intended outcome you desired.

If you find that you’re running on the hamster wheel with no way off. Then put on the breaks. Allow yourself the time you need to find balance and let your body and mind rejuvenate.

Reclaim your time. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time intensive to get started.

According to mindfulness expert Monica Black – Master Clinical Hypnotherapist at Hampstead HypnoTherapy and author of My Little Book of Helpfulness, she reminds us that we live in a NOW society that can take a huge toll on us physically and mentally.

Yet, there are many techniques and exercises that you can do on a daily basis to help reduce your anxiety and stress.

Monica’s book is filled with numerous helpful  techniques that you can incorporate in your day to day living as a soloprenuer. Her teachings show you how to re-calibrate when you feel like you’ve lost control of what’s happening to you at the moment. Use these techniques to minimize your stress and make your schedule more manageable.

Take 5 minutes to reconnect with the present.

For example if you’re feeling overly stressed and anxious. Try this mindfulness exercise.

Take a moment to look around you and find:

• 5 things you can see 
• 4 things you can touch 
• 3 things you can hear 
• 2 things you can smell 
• 1 thing you can taste

Give yourself permission to take a break and make more time for yourself.

You may not have an opportunity to take a long weekend (just yet), luckily all you really need is a change of scenery. Especially if something stressful occurs that you didn’t anticipate, it’s a good idea to have release strategy. Take a break from your office and your computer screen. It may sound too easy but in reality not enough of us do it routinely enough to see the benefits. So go for a hike, do a mindfulness exercise, spend an afternoon at the park, or take a drive to the countryside. After work take time to exercise or take a bath. Find something that works for you and use it when you need to. You’ll find after a mental break, you will come back refreshed and even more productive than before.

Need more incentive – being overworked can cause health problems.

Do you ever feel like you are trying to do too many things at once? When you don’t take time to relax you can suffer from scattered brain syndrome. This is the byproduct of multitasking or trying to do too many things at once. As an independent professional you may experience this more often than others because you don’t have others to share in the work or to delegate. Given this dilemma, what can a busy self-employed professional do to minimize multi-tasking and have more focus on single tasks that yield better results? Here are a few ideas to get you moving in the right direction.

Cold and flu season are right around the corner.

Don’t over extend yourself to the point where you are worn down and more susceptible to illness. Getting regular exercise and eating healthy nutrient dense meals can make a difference. Get enough sleep is another way stay away from illness. With some thought and planning, you can reduce the physical and emotional effects of stress on your life.