Preventing Burnout as a Business Owner

Burnouts happen to all of us—especially business owners. It’s the state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Burnout is estimated to cost the U.S. economy $300 billion annually. That is a lot of money lost because of the physical and emotional strains from overworking employers.

Research has shown that burnout leads to work-related issues such as absences, dissatisfaction, and turnover. It can also lead to health-related issues such as depression, anxiety, and heart disease.

In order to prevent burnout as a business owner, it’s important to understand why it happens in the first place. In most cases, it happens when you’re feeling overwhelmed and emotionally drained by constant demands. As the stress accumulates, you will feel the exhaustion and lose interest in what you’re doing.

Business owners have a higher chance of experiencing burnout as they try to juggle all aspects of their business on their shoulders. Running a business usually means long hours and investing your emotional-self into your work. Preventing burnout is important as it impacts both your personal well-being and business success.

Putting Mental Health First with Tuelle Esthetics

Jennifer, business owner and award-winning lash artist from Tuelle Esthetics. Her days are spent with back to back appointments varying from eyelash extensions, permanent cosmetics, teeth whitening, to certification training. She says, “Burnout, in my humble opinion, stems from 2 things: you are either forcing yourself to continuously do things you don’t enjoy, or you’re working 40-hour work weeks with no clear goal.”

“As a self-employed beauty professional, it’s important to understand when you’re stuck just maintaining the business without growth.”

Having a clear goal in sight is important when you’re your own boss. Whenever Jennifer starts feeling burnt out, she tries to pinpoint where her feelings stem from. She mentally goes through every aspect of her business, including work hours, finances, and quality of work. This allows her to discover the source of the cause so she can change it.

Jennifer stresses the importance of putting her mental and physical health first. She accepted that a little sacrifice is needed as a business owner, especially during the early stages. To help support herself mentally, she surrounds herself with friends and family that understand her hustle. “When you are doing something you love, others can see and feel it. Those who truly care about you will support your vision,” says Jennifer.

Burning out doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path, it’s a signal telling you to stop and reflect the decisions you’re making.

How to Prevent Burnout

Find a Balance Between Work and Life

You will need to draw a line between your business and your personal life. Yes, that means no more taking calls after business hours. Take control of your life and understand when it’s too much. Taking a step back to declutter your life will help you find a balance and reduce stress.

There are so many benefits to finding the right work-life balance. You will feel and experience:

• More in control with your life
• Less future burnouts
• Overall happiness and well-being
• Increased productivity
• More time for the things and people you love

To find the right work-life balance, you should:

• Determine and manage your priorities
• Put time aside for yourself
• Have a clear and set schedule
• Know your limits
• Stay physically and mentally healthy

We understand that it’s easier said than done, so start slow.

Prioritize Self-Care

Start to make time for yourself and prioritize self-care. Everyone has their own versions of self-care to reduce stress and create a sense of well-being. This can include exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, or spending quality time alone.

Getting enough sleep is extremely important! Lack of sleep is a common problem, affecting many individuals at some point in their lives. It could even lead to sleep deprivation, which occurs when an individual gets less sleep than they need to feel awake and alert. It can also affect a range of systems in the body. It can have the following impact:

• Prevents the body from strengthening the immune system
• A lack of sleep can affect body weight
• An increased risk of new and advanced respiratory diseases
• An increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Learn to Manage Stress

When stress is not managed, it can contribute to burnout. Stress comes from various situations and pressures that can occur in your life. This can include anything from working an exhausting schedule to having a rocky relationship. Anything that puts high demands on you can cause stress. However, there are different ways you can learn to manage it.

Different ways to manage stress can include:

• Meditation
• Exercising
• Keeping a journal
• Practicing deep breathing and other relaxation techniques

Another way to manage stress is to improve your mindset. Learn to trust yourself and the process. Set reasonable goals, be patient, yet courageous. Stay positive and try not to stress over the small things in life.

Optimize and Organize Your Business

Burnouts can occur when a business is disorganized and productivity is hindered. Are you optimizing and organizing your business the right way? You should have an organized system that covers everything from onboarding your clients to finishing the service appointment.

You can optimize and organize your business by:

• Cleaning up and organizing your office space
• Planning out your schedule in advanced
• Improve your scheduling system
• Keeping all your important documents in one storage system
• Going paperless
• Track your time effectively
• Declutter and throw away things you no longer need

Connect with Other Business Owners

It never hurts to network with other business owners. Not only will you find someone who will understand where you’re coming from—you may pick up a few tips along the way. Sometimes what you need is to know that you’re not alone or the only person experiencing burnouts.

Listening to another business owner’s story can inspire you to declutter and reduce stress in your life. If networking isn’t your thing, listen to a podcast, watch a webinar, or read a biography. Find different ways to inspire yourself with other people’s stories.

How do you manage stress and prevent burnout as a business owner? We’d love to know. If you are a business owner and would love a feature, reach out to us for the next story.