Guest Post by Julie Morris, Life and Career Coach

Owning or operating a business can be incredibly stressful. There is the pressure to succeed coupled with the anxiety of running day-to-day operations. However, if we want to truly flourish, both in business and life, we need to take care of our mental health. This way, we can achieve any goal we set for ourselves.

Take Care of Yourself

As a busy professional, you need to take care and invest in yourself. Self-care can benefit you in a myriad of ways from improving self-esteem, increasing your productivity and even uplifting your immune system. By properly caring for yourself, you can keep your stresses low. Take some time to yourself each and every day to indulge in things you enjoy, from cooking a delicious and nutritious meal to soaking in a bath with a good book or your favorite podcast.

Budget, Plan, Rinse, Repeat

Getting your finances in order can really help to reduce the stressors of our day-to-day lives. One way to lower anxiety levels is to organize our schedules to emphasize our most important priorities, and to include a good budget. By creating a schedule for yourself, you can see how much time you actually devote to different projects and give yourself a realistic understanding of what you can accomplish in a day. This can prevent you from stretching yourself too thin, which can cause undue pressure.

You need to be honest with how much time each bullet point will take and allow for any snafus that may arise. Devote some of your day to creating and maintaining, a budget worksheet. This can really allow you to see what your company is doing with the money and how you might reroute funds to create positive cash flow. Don’t shy away from all spending, however. Growth always takes capital. You just need to be sure it’s sustainable.

Take Care of Debt

Very little weighs on the mind like debt does. It’s always there, nagging at us and keeping us up at night. It can also affect our credit score, which may directly impact how easy it is to fund our businesses. One way to ensure lower stress and a flourishing business is keeping finances in order, like paying down debt. Every month, you should be working towards paying it down. Close any non-necessary credit accounts and switch over to paying in cash when possible. This will force you to be sure you can definitely afford your purchases.

Don’t be afraid to contact your creditors. They are often willing to work with their clients to develop a payment plan. Improving both your business and personal credit ratings can help relieve money worries as well. This can allow you to have more access to funding later, which can lower your stress and help you focus on what’s important: growth.

Refocus Every Day

Working intensely for eight hours straight is an impossibility. Even if it weren’t, it would not be good for our mental well-being to work with no breaks. Taking a brief respite from work not only helps us to refocus on our tasks when we return, but it can keep our anxiety levels down. Don’t just jump onto social media during your breaks. Instead, do something productive and positive, such as a short workout. This will boost energy and kill anxiety. Eat a healthy snack to prevent your body from crashing. Most importantly, see that you’re sleeping well each night by sticking to a routine and avoiding technology before bed. These can all help you focus during the day and keep stress low.

Nothing stifles growth like stress, be it in the workplace or at home. If you take the time to plan out your business, focus on fiscal security and taking care of your body and mind, you may find your anxieties dropping. All of these suggestions can help you achieve new goals at work and feel good doing so.

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Julie Morris is a life and career coach.. When Julie isn’t working with clients, she enjoys writing and is currently working on her first book. She also loves spending time outdoors and getting lost in a good book. Visit her site at juliemorris.org