Mental Health Tips for Business Owners 

Business ownership inevitably comes with its highs and lows, and building your brand can feel overwhelming at times. We’ve brought together some tips which could help you look after your wellbeing on your entrepreneurial journey.

Build a support network

You know the importance of building a business network, but what about your support network? Now that you have created a team to support your company’s vision, make sure you have people around who care about both you and your venture.

Some people will choose silence rather than talking about their mental health. It’s important that you feel able to speak to others if you’re feeling down. That’s because discussing problems with someone you trust can make such a difference to how you manage a situation.

Surround yourself with the people you can turn to if you need to talk about work or, indeed, distract yourself from it for a while. Your support network can be made up not only of family and friends, but suppliers, mentors, fellow business owners and entrepreneur groups, too.

Spend time with family and friends

Never underestimate the power of downtime. In fact, spending free time with your closest family and friends is great for your mental health. Whether you feel the need to vent or put business talk to one side, a strong social network is key to relieving work stress. Not only that, having a support system in place can mean you see things from a different perspective and address any issues in new ways.

Learn to say no

Keeping clients satisfied doesn’t mean you have to say ‘yes’ to everything. In fact, taking on more than you can handle is more likely to increase stress and put your mental health at risk. From tight deadlines to resourcing issues, there are many reasons why you might not be able to meet everyone’s expectations. How you manage that comes down to many things, one of which is being able to say no when you need to.

In business, it’s important to set boundaries and manage your work/life balance. Part of that includes turning a client or project down if you don’t have the capacity. If this is a situation you struggle with, it gets easier with time. Practice saying no to small things so you can feel comfortable building up to doing it in a business setting.

Manage your workload effectively

Work stress often comes down to unpredictability and deadlines. As a business owner, you may only have yourself to lean on, which is why it’s important for you to be able to manage this stress. Working smarter rather than harder includes learning to prioritise tasks and set goals. Start by establishing realistic goals and expectations, both for yourself and your business, and then assign tasks to each goal to build a structure you can work to.

Another way to manage your time includes learning to let go and delegate tasks to others. That way, you can avoid overwhelming yourself with an excessive workload.

Be productive

Being busy and being productive are two different things. If you’re always busy but not as productive as you’d like to be, it’s time to rethink your way of working. There are simple things you can do to improve your productivity whilst making things easier for yourself…

• Stop worrying about the small things
• Use a calendar to plan ahead
• Avoid procrastinating to boost productivity day to day

As a business owner, it’s up to you to focus on the bigger picture and spread the load through the art of delegation. You should be able to trust your team to complete the work you assign to them. Together you’ll tick things off your to-do list which creates that feeling of accomplishment.

Keep a diary

Jotting down your thoughts and feelings is a great way to stay connected with your emotions. Not only that, but it also lets you monitor how you deal with all kinds of situations and pinpoint where changes need to be made. Identifying patterns helps you understand and regulate your emotions.

Encourage breaks

It’s a tendency of small business owners to overwork themselves, especially in the beginning. No matter what industry you’re in or what targets you need to hit, you need to make sure you take regular breaks to avoid burnout.

It’s up to you to incorporate health and wellbeing within your daily schedule. Start by planning in breaks and taking ‘me time’ as often as you need it. Having that time out of work mode actually helps to make sure you’re producing your best work.

To give yourself that mental break, you could try:

• Taking a walk
• Reading
• Playing with your pet
• Taking a team lunch with a strict rule of no business talk

Make sleep a priority

Unsurprisingly, a lack of sleep is intrinsically linked to a slump in productivity. Exhaustion is common in all industries; however, if you’re always tired, even after a good night’s sleep, there’s a wider issue that needs addressing.

If your mind is always churning, even outside of work, exhaustion will set in and you’ll start doubting things like your decisions and competence, which can lead to a real dip in performance. Sleep lets you rest your body and mind so you can work better and be more productive.

If a peaceful night’s sleep eludes you, think about speaking to a counsellor or someone who can help put your thoughts to bed.

Prioritise your physical health

Regular exercise is great for your long-term health and also offers a slew of short-term benefits. Try the following and see how you feel after a few weeks:

• Strengthening activities (legs, hips, back, chest, shoulders, arms and abdominal muscles)
• At least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week
• Spread exercise evenly over 4-5 days
• Break up prolonged periods of sitting, lying down or not moving

Work on your mental resilience

Building your mental resilience will help you to ride the ups and downs of owning your own business. A good leader needs to stay positive in the face of adversity and maintain clear thinking even in negative situations which are out of their hands. We all have the capability to do this, it just takes some practice.

Manage stress

Stress is often part of business ownership and can be caused by things like uncertainty, loneliness, and financial concerns. Sadly, there’s no avoiding stress. It’s how you manage it that makes the biggest difference to the effect it has on you.

Embracing the unknown and accepting it takes time. You’ll need to become comfortable with things like:

• Calculated risks
• New ways of working
• Making big decisions

In the meantime, consider practicing stress-relieving techniques such as mindfulness, breathing exercises, or keeping a diary of your thoughts. Recognising what triggers your stress and developing strategies to address it will help overcome the symptoms.

In time, you’ll be able to accept stress for what it is and not let it wash over you. Instead, you can look at identifying and addressing the cause of it. We know that running a business can be overwhelming, time consuming and energy zapping at times. Many common situations will cause some level of stress, such as workload, financial pressures and a fear of the unknown. But what can you do to reduce the burden on yourself?

• Delegate
• Focus on the bigger picture
• Stay in the present
• Take deep breaths

Take time off

If working too much is really stressing you out, what’s the best thing to do? Take a break.

Quality time with family and friends can do wonders for your mental wellbeing, so don’t be frightened to step away for a holiday every once in a while. Switching off for a week or two is particularly beneficial for those whose job doesn’t end at 5pm every day.

Talk to a professional

Concerns with your mental health should be regarded much like a physical illness. If you needed a doctor’s appointment for a physical condition, you would make one. The same approach should be taken for signs of stress, depression, and anxiety.

Speak to a doctor, counsellor or psychologist as they can help you to understand your mental wellbeing and find effective ways to approach situations that would usually cause you distress.

Keeping yourself healthy, both physically and mentally, will enable you to perform at your best as a business owner. It’ll take some effort but, by tweaking your daily routine, you can build positive habits and relationships that’ll help you go far.