As the old saying goes, the greatest wealth is health. But when you’re one of Britain’s 5.7 million busy small business owners, clocking up long hours to keep things ticking over nicely is commonplace.
When you’re a business owner, staying on top of the responsibilities that come hand in hand with balancing your home life with a busy working life can leave you feeling fatigued. And according to mental health charity Mind, conditions like anxiety, depression and unmanageable stress are experienced by one in six British workers each year.
So what steps can you take to make sure you stay bright eyed and bushy tailed when you’re constantly on the go? Here, Dr. Wendy Li, Psychological Health Lead Clinician at AXA PPP, shares her top tips on how to stay in rude health when you’re busy taking care of business.
Why is it so important that business owners look after their mental and physical wellbeing?
Business owners establish the working environment
As leaders, business owners need to demonstrate to their employees the benefits of looking after their physical and mental wellbeing effectively and how striking a healthy work-home life balance can help achieve this.
If you constantly answer emails outside of working hours and generally overexert yourself, then you set an example to those around you that this is an acceptable working pattern. When stress is brought into a working environment, people tend to pick up on it. This can result in employees feeling like they can’t voice when they’re feeling overworked and cause sickness levels to rise.
Avoid the long-term implications of burnout
Working to the point of burning yourself out is no good for anyone. Not only will you have to spend a longer time away from your business to recuperate – which could have a serious impact on your business’ efficiency – going from the perception of yourself as a high-powered, high-functioning individual to a complete standstill can be detrimental to your mental health and sense of identity.
If all you’re doing is working all day, every day, then you’re not really living. Don’t get me wrong, you might love running your business, but constantly taking on heavy workloads will hold you back from other enjoyable parts of your life.
Prevention is better than cure, so it’s important to focus on scheduling small but regular steps to self-care. An easy way to do this is by maintaining a balanced home-work lifestyle to help look after your wellbeing in the long run. You want to be able to maintain and sustain rather than forge ahead and inevitably crash.
What signs of burnout should people should look out for?
Fatigue, slowing down, being unable to focus on one task at a time, regularly skipping lunch, working long hours and constantly taking work home are all common symptoms of burnout to keep an eye out for.
People tend to think that they should take on more work because they’re scared of being judged by others if they say no. But just because you can take on more work doesn’t always mean you should.
How can business owners manage their workload productively?
If the pressure of your workload is making you anxious and you don’t let those around you know, then you’re absorbing those negative feelings, which will only leave you feeling isolated and add to the stress you’re experiencing. It’s important that share how you’re feeling with your colleagues, friends and family top enable you to feel more emotional support and have better resilience.
Humans can’t and shouldn’t work like high-functioning robots, it isn’t natural. This is an important realisation that all business owners need to have – no matter how busy they are. If we fail to recognise it within ourselves it’s harder to provide support to colleagues when they’re struggling.
How can business owners look after their physical health?
Stay hydrated
Staying properly hydrated is something we’re all guilty of forgetting the importance of. Forgetting to do so can reduce your concentration levels, clarity of mind and the general efficiency of your brain. Therefore, try to drink as much water as you can throughout the day and minimise caffeine intake (if it’s not too difficult!) to help balance hydration levels.
Get away from your desk regularly
Fixing yourself in a seating position from 9 to 5 isn’t good for your physical or mental health and can really drain your brain power. If you have a job that’s mainly desk-based, make sure you take a 5-10-minute break away regularly from your desk to stretch your muscles and give your head some space.
Eat well
Eating healthily and in a timely manner can be beneficial to your physical health – and can help you avoid the mid-afternoon energy slump. Routine is essential for your body’s wellbeing, so avoiding skipping meals and keeping an eye on not only what you eat, but when you eat, can work wonders.
Set alarms
Setting alarms on your phones or Fitbits can help remind you to do the above three points throughout your working day. The longer you stick to these wellbeing notifications, the more aware you’ll be of your energy levels throughout the day and what you can do to address the peaks and troughs.
