When running your own company, different tasks often pull you in many different directions, and it can often feel like your to-do list is never-ending. This pressure, coupled with the temptation to do extra hours of work here and there, can cause more harm than good… When we have long-term involvement in demanding situations, it can lead to a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion known as ‘burn out’.
If you feel depleted or exhausted, mentally distant from your job, or find you’re not performing at your usual capacity, these are all the signs and symptoms of burn out. As a business owner, you need to make conscious decisions to prevent burn out, firstly for your own health and well-being. But also, because of the damaging effect it can have on your organisation; it will spread throughout your business and impact the level of service your customers receive.
How to prevent burn out
Consider your responsibilities
Ask yourself, are you delegating responsibility, or are you currently managing everything? When we pose this question to small business owners; the answer is usually the latter. However, this shouldn’t be the case.
Ideally, you want to achieve a ‘Circle of Business’, helping to ensure the business works for you and reducing the likelihood of you getting burnt out. After all, business owners are most likely to feel the impact of burn out as their focus is usually on everything and everyone. If this sounds familiar, be sure to book a call with Bill, as we can help you adopt strategies to give you more life.
Learn to recognise burn out
One tried and tested way to prevent burn out is by learning to recognise its signs. Make a note of the symptoms we’ve listed above and be honest with yourself if you notice any of these symptoms. Rather than ignoring the signs and telling yourself, “It’ll be okay”, take action. Encourage employee autonomy, invest in processes to make operations run smoother and take a step back to rest.
By recognising the signs and making changes for the better, you’ll reduce the risk of getting burnt out in the future. The more you take action when something isn’t quite right, the better your business will run for your employees, clients and ultimately you.
Remind yourself of the purpose and celebrate every success
As a business owner, you can sometimes get tunnel vision towards one specific goal. This can be detrimental as whilst it’s important to set goals and work towards them, you need to find the balance between striving towards your next goal and celebrating what you have achieved.
Whenever you achieve something, finish a project or make a crucial development, take the time to celebrate it! By acknowledging your hard work and progress, you’ll feel proud of your achievement, and it’ll motivate you to strive towards the next goal.
Plan how to use the most precious of all resources…time!
Making a daily plan is an incredibly powerful tool for a business owner. It’ll give your day structure; help keep you organised and ticking each completed task off the list will provide you with a sense of accomplishment.
If you’re unsure where to start to make better use of your time, we always encourage our clients to read “Eat that Frog!” by Brian Tracey. It explores how you can get the most important things done by tackling the most challenging task first. It’s a must-read if you’re looking to improve your time management. We suggest trying the “Eat that Frog” technique, but if you can’t get to grips with it – don’t give up! There are plenty of other time management techniques out there so give us a call if you are struggling to find one that works for you.
Don’t just ‘try’ to do things. Just do them.
A client of ours recently told us how she had been trying to do more swimming but just “hadn’t been able to”. The problem with ‘trying’ to do something is you’re not committing to it; you’re just doing it if it is convenient or if the opportunity arises.
We had a simple suggestion, rather than ‘trying’ to do more swimming, just do it. Schedule it into your diary and make it a priority. Rather than telling yourself, “I’ll try to go swimming a couple of times this week”, be assertive and instead say: “I’ll go swimming Monday after dropping the kids off at school and Thursday after my 10 am meeting”. By being specific and making time for it by scheduling it into your week, you will actually do what you’re hoping to. Sure enough, by reframing her way of thinking, our client has got back into the habit of swimming regularly!
Take this technique and apply it to whatever you’ve been ‘trying’ to do recently. It could be exercise, expanding your knowledge or errands. No matter how big or small, you will see a real difference in what you can achieve by making a commitment and making it a priority. Additionally, by making time for the things you want to do, you’ll see an improvement in your mental health – helping to reduce the chance of getting burnt out.
Have a support group
Last but not least, to prevent burn out, you need a support network that you can lean on should things get tough. This can take many forms, and you can have multiple. In your business, leaning on your senior employees will help make the business ‘circular’, as when they look after your clients, pressure will be taken off you.
Outside of work, confide in friends, family or even a business coach who can listen to your concerns and offer you support and advice when you need it.
How we can help you minimise the risk of burn out
There’s no such thing as smooth sailing as a business owner, but we can control how we cope with situations. If you’re struggling with burn out (or you’d like to ensure you know how to prevent it), be sure to book a call with Bill.
Working with us, you will learn how to manage your business better and prevent burn out. We’ll draw upon our wealth of experience to make suggestions which will help your business run smoother and work to the point that it will give you more life. After all, isn’t that why you launched your business?
