5 Ways For Micro Business Owners To Improve Our Mental Health

Say Yes to New Adventures

So did you leave working for someone else to be working ridiculously long hours in your own business and starting to develop negative feelings about your own business?  No one is around, so be honest with yourself. Your mental health depends on you being honest right now. 

In this article, I will be sharing with you 5 ways that we as micro business owners can improve our mental health. 

The reason this is important is because you don’t want to start experiencing stress, burnout, disengagement, low moral, dissatisfaction, and more with your own business that you started. This was not what you thought you would be experiencing when you started your own business. So a big reason for you starting to experience those negative feelings is likely because you are not taking care of your mental health. 

As a school psychologist, I remember working alongside other school psychologists who were so excited to come into work every day and then others who complained from the minute they started work that day. I remember even being told, “Just give this job a few years and you would be complaining too!” As soon as I heard those words, I told myself that I did not want to become that type of school psychologist. 

 So over the years, I observed what was happening with my coworkers that was contributing to their high levels of workplace stress, burnout, lowering morale, and dissatisfaction with the job. It had to do with how they were taking care of themselves! 

I know you are saying that they are psychologists and that they should know what not to do to get to that point. There’s some truth in what you are saying. But just like many other…actually most other jobs out there, school psychologists have high job demands that are placed on them. 

To meet all of the demands or as much as they can, there are many who come into work earlier than they are contracted to be there, work through lunch, stay up to one hour after the end of their workday, and several of them go home and work on scoring assessments and writing reports well into midnight and even to 2 a.m. To get up the next day and do it all over again. They are not leaving time or might be very limited time for self-care. Is this seeming familiar for you right now?

As a Strategic Business Coach and Consultant, I am seeing similar trends with Micro Business Owners and other small business owners. I’m seeing business owners who are spending time doing different types of tasks in their business and spending several hours each day on those tasks, but they are not taking time for self-care. 

5 Tips to Improve Your Mental Health

If you are one of those types of business owners, here are 5 things that you can do to help improve your mental health. These 5 things I took from several sources, including Vistage, Credibly, and The Boutique Hub.

1. Stick to your schedule

You created a schedule for a reason. In that schedule you included your start and end time for your day. Stick to those times! Be sure to block your time appropriately. Looking at your schedule should not be causing you stress, if it is then you need some help with how to organize your schedule. You can get such help from a Business Coach.

2. Look at what you’re eating

Your nutrition is important for how you feed your mind and your body. Remember that I mentioned about seeing my coworkers work through the day, including their lunch times? Well during those times, they were either just snacking on some set of snacks that they brought from home or random snacks from the vending machine. Others were just using delivery options to get fast food.

We need to be eating balanced meals that give us the calories that we need for our brains and body to function. If you are not sure how much calories are your ideal number, I suggest speaking with a nutritional expert. They can help you balance your proteins with your carbs, sugars, and ounces of water. Remember that someone else’s nutritional plan might not be the best one for you. So take time to figure out yours.

3. Visualization 

This can help you with breaking bad habits as well as improving your mental health.    Rather than feeling stressed throughout the day, at the beginning of your day, visualize what your day will be like and the possible outcomes. That way you are preparing yourself for different possible outcomes and reducing the likelihood of your anxiety increasing when or if a negative outcome occurs during the day. Plus by visualizing your day, you can also identify the resources that you are going to be needing to ensure that you will be able to get your tasks that day completed.

4. Exercise

You don’t need to go run a marathon or sign up for a 5K, unless these are things that you aspire to do. Exercising doesn’t mean that you need to go join a gym in your area either. You can take a walk around your neighborhood for about 10 to 15 minutes (it depends on how cold or hot outside is for you). You can walk for longer if your schedule and the weather allows it. You can also take your dog along with you if you have one. If you’re in an office building or a strip mall, take a lap around your floor or the outside. You can consider signing up for and taking a dance class, a fitness glass, paddle boarding, or some other activity that will not involve working and allows you to take a break and relax.

5. Non-work relationships

So you remember those other people in your life. Those people who are a part of your support system. The ones that are there for you in good times and bad? When was the last time that you spent time with them? Their relationships are just as or even more important that the ones that you are making with other business owners and employees.d. Be sure to include in your schedule time for when you can spend time with your loved ones. Don't forget to thank them for their support. Do something they like or that you both like. For many of us, without our support systems, we would not be where we are today. 

So these are only 5 of the many things that we can do as business owners to improve our mental health. Be sure to share these 5 things with your friends who are business owners that need it!!

If you are ready to improve your wellness and regain happiness in owning your own business, submit your coaching application and see if you qualify for a customized coaching program to meet your specific needs.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Regards,

Dr. Priscilla "Dr. P" Kucer

Solutions+Actions=Results! (SoAR!)