Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee, it’s clear that your work life can be incredibly stressful. Because the stress is expected, so many people don’t consider ways to cope with it all. However, you’ll want to be intentional with the ways you take care of yourself. While your work is important, you are more important. This is why it’s wise to implement strategies to actively get rid of stress on a consistent basis. If you’re an employee that gets really ill, your job will replace you. Don’t make your place of employment your entire world. In order to actively practice self-care in business, consider the following strategies.
Avoiding Micromanagement
Whether you’re the head of a department or the head of the company, there’s a natural urge to do everything on your own. If you try to micromanage everything that everyone does, you won’t have time to be productive with your own assignments. Furthermore, you’ll create mountains out of molehills. It’s okay to expect that everyone won’t do things the way you would. Everyone has their own method. That’s partly why you’ve brought other people on the team. They’re in the company so that they can provide their level of expertise. Work on building yourself up as a leader who can trust your employees to execute their jobs confidently. If you have a particular way you’d like operations to run, this is completely fine. However, when you know how you want operations to flow, hold training sessions and seminars. Develop systems that allow your employees to check in throughout the quarter. You can even opt to do quarterly check-ins to look at the performances of your employees and what can improve. Don’t be the boss that stands over the shoulders of your team members every day. Not only is it exhausting for them, it’ll be exhausting for you.
Using Paid Time Off
There’s something to be said about the ability to get away from it all to unwind. If you allow your life to be consumed with work, you’re going to eventually burn yourself out. This is why it’s so important to take time off to relax. If you get paid time off as a benefit, take advantage of it. One of the best ways you can use your paid time off is through padding your weekend. Even if you don’t have two weeks of paid time off, use three-day weekends to your advantage. Take Friday and the following Tuesday off to maximize a three-day weekend vacation. Never allow money to be a reason why you don’t get away. You can set aside $40-$50 each month. By the end of six months, take yourself on a great vacation. If you do this twice a year, you’ll get to enjoy two vacations every year.
Implement Systems
Take a look at the processes and systems you have in place. Consider whether or not any of them can be simplified or eliminated. Truthfully, there’s always a way to simplify a process. You might need to hire and train someone to take care of certain tasks so that you can take more off of your plate. When you hire a new person, take note of the things you need to teach them. Draft a manual that new hires can refer to in the future. If you spend a lot of time on processes like packaging and shipping items, this is a process you can eliminate. Connect with a company like to learn about the beauty of dropshipping. This one process can save you so much in time and money. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the taxing physical labor that it takes to haul a bunch of items from one place to another. Platforms like Oberlo allow you to use dropshipping as a business model.
Prioritize Business Communication
When you have conflicts, you don’t want them to boil up in your system. This can lead to stress, anger and tension. Ultimately, a lot of stress can make you sick. Knowing this, you want to develop a strong sense of business communication. If something goes wrong, you have to address it and deal with it. This is a form of self-care because it preserves your sanity. Too often, people spend tons of time mulling over what they assume a person meant. When you’re able to effectively and respectively communicate with a colleague or an employee, you’ll set a different tone within the office. If you’re not well-versed in business communications, recognize that this is an art. You can learn the techniques by reading various books and consuming training materials. You can also consult any business mentors for advice. If you find yourself in a position where you’ve hit a wall and tensions are rising, it might be time to bring in a mediator to bring peace. Finding a resolution is directly connected to self-care. No one wants to work in an environment that’s hostile and competitive. When you’re in a position of power, you have the ability to set the tone of the environment and make it peaceful.
