Dealing With Stress in Our Overworked Lives

 By: Janice Byer

As small business owners, we often take on more than we can handle. Wearing all the hats running our businesses, as well as the other commitments we have (i.e. volunteer work, family, etc.), can sometimes leave us feeling overworked, frustrated, and stressed out.
Being under so much stress is not good for anyone and it can definitely have an effect on our businesses.
So we need to alleviate some of our stress and find solutions for the reasons that we are so overworked.

1. Take a step back from everything and decide which tasks are ‘needs’ and which tasks are ‘wants’. Which tasks are more important than others? We consider everything that we do in our lives, especially when running our businesses, as important. However, which tasks can you postpone long enough without producing a negative effect on ourselves and our success. Which tasks can wait?
2. Learn that you cannot say ‘yes’ to everything. For most people and for most businesses, saying no to anyone can be like pulling teeth. It can be very painful and have a lasting effect. But again, you need to think of yourself, your success, and your well-being. Decide which tasks you have been asked to do that can be better accomplished by someone else or that will have a negative effect on yourself and make a point to politely decline to assist.
3. Prioritize your life. In step #1 above, we learned to decide between ‘important’ and ‘can wait’ tasks. But, even the important tasks can add up. So, you need to break down that list of important tasks even farther and prioritize them. In business, ensure that those tasks that will enhance your business and your reputation with your clients are the first tasks on your list.
4. Focus on the task at hand and not so much the long-term outcome of the task. All to often, as small business owners, our heads are working in overdrive as we imagine the possibilities that can occur because of certain tasks that we do. Now, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t imagine the outcome of accomplishing tasks and any rewards or ramifications that may result from it, but just don’t obsess or over-dream about it and make it your sole purpose in thriving.
5. Remember to pat yourself on the back when you have accomplished a task, especially the important ones. Take a break away from it and refresh yourself before beginning your next task. I’ve always found going and looking out the window at the wonders of nature while I wait for the kettle to boil for my hot chocolate can have a brightening and rejuvenating effect on my day.
6. And last, but not least, ask for help. No matter how much we think we can take on the world we are not all ‘super human’ and to ask for assistance with something is a part of being ‘normal human’. When running your business, generating revenue and increasing your customer base is your most important ‘needs’ so why not get some help with the non-core tasks (i.e. correspondence, maintaining your website, designing your newsletter, etc.) in order to keep up. There are many, many qualified professionals out there that specialize in helping others stay on the right track and grow their businesses.

Stress is an all too common word in our society but it doesn’t have to be something that rules our lives. Learn to manage your time and prioritize your life (and all of it’s aspects) and you will find that you not only feel better inside, people will notice the new relaxed you which, in turn, will be another benefit for yourself and your business as they are more comfortable dealing with you.
About The Author
Janice Byer is a certified Master Virtual Assistant and owner of Docu-Type Administrative & Web Design Services (http://www.docutype.net). See this and other articles on her website; jbyer@docutype.net

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Stress and Concentration

by: Trevor Dumbleton

Those who are under stress, yet refuse to get help for it, need to understand the relationship between stress & concentration in order to understand why they need to relax. This is because, at first, it seems though stress is an aid to concentration. However, this is not the case in the long term.

Long-term stress & concentration do not go hand-in-hand. In fact, the more that one is stressed, the less able they are to concentrate. However, people often keep themselves under stress in order to help their concentration, despite the fact that it is doing them absolutely no good. Usually, this is because they believe that stress is helping their concentration.

In fact, stress does help concentration for a short period of time. This is because the body is dumping chemicals into the brain to help it focus and throwing adrenaline into the bloodstream in order to heighten the senses. This helps the body hone in on its tasks and helps it to focus. This is, in the beginning, a good thing. Short-term stress really does help your concentration at first, which is very useful when you need to hammer out last-minute paper for school, a report for your boss, or you need to quickly fix some computer problems that are keeping others from getting their work done. Unfortunately, the short-term effects do not last.

As you spend more and more time under stress, your ability to concentrate lessens. The brain will have fired off so many neurons that it cannot replenish its supply of chemicals that helps the neurons fire. As well, that boost of adrenaline that helps people focus will start to heighten the senses to the point where the brain notices every little thing around, causing you to be easily distracted. Thus, the relationship between stress & concentration becomes an inverse relationship.

The problem, of course, is that the more stress you are undergoing, the more you need to concentrate in order to relieve the causes of the stress. This means that your brain is fighting against itself when you need to get work done. This is what we like to refer to as a bad thing and it can seriously injure your ability to get work done. Needless to say, the biggest cause of stress around is the fact that work needs to get done, so stress becomes a self-defeating cycle.

What can you do to escape this damaging relationship between stress & concentration? Well, there are a few things you can do. The best is, of course, to walk away.

That’s right, just stop what you’re doing. Give yourself a break. Put work on hiatus and do something else. Take a walk, get some exercise, make a sandwich, watch an hour of television. Just as long as you are doing something other than work. This will distract your mind from whatever was causing it stress, which is exactly what you need to do. After all, your mind tends to get used to being stressed after a while, making it less able to let go of its concerns. This means that you need to make a conscious effort to clear your mind, and the best way to do that is to clear all the problems out of your head before you drown in them.

If you are not able to walk away for some reason -- let’s say that you are at work and the boss doesn’t like to see people leave their desks -- you can still relieve stress and help your concentration by performing a quick relaxation exercise. Simply close your eyes (this helps, but it can be done with your eyes open) and take deep breaths. Concentrate on each breath as it fills your lungs, then concentrate on the breath leaving as you exhale. Focus your attention on your breathing until you are paying attention to nothing else. Then, once you are done, you should feel much more relaxed and able to concentrate. If you do not feel better, repeat the exercise until your mind is clear and uncluttered.

The big problem with stress & concentration is the simple fact that stress helps concentration in the short run, but hurts it in the long-run. Unfortunately, most people do not notice this transition from helping to hindering and they simply stay under stress and unable to focus. So when you notice that your mind is racing too fast to allow your brain to focus on anything, walk away or take a few deep breaths in order to calm your mind. Then, you will be able to escape the negative relationship between stress & concentration.

About the author:
LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: http://www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html

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