How many times have you heard entrepreneurs say they were too busy to take time out for lunch? Or that they worked from home into the late hours of the night? This lifestyle has become all too common in today’s digital age when everyone is always connected which often causes entrepreneurs to burnout.
With the emergence of smart phones and wifi available almost anywhere, the intention (or hope) was that we would work more efficiently and therefore, could get more done in less time. But the 24/7 accessibility to work emails and coworkers didn’t only make communicating more efficient, it had a negative affect too. The status quo shifted and became one where you are expected to reply to every email and request almost immediately.
It’s no wonder depression rates are high in the startup world and entrepreneurs are at higher risk of mental health issues.
Chronic stress can come from the expectation of successful results with little bandwidth, constantly pushing yourself, and not taking enough breaks. Sometimes the same drive, vision, or voice that makes entrepreneurs successful needs to be calmed in order to maximize benefits. And the solutions can often be as simple as slightly altering your daily routines.
Of course, there are things that can be done such as limiting exposure to the blue light on your smart phone close to bedtime, getting up and moving every hour, not sleeping with your phone next to you, and scheduling your day to end at a specific time so you can workout and spend quality time with family and friends. But there are some more unconventional ways you may find helpful in combating mental fatigue and stress.
Yoga
Since yoga is a mind-body practice that helps lower blood pressure, lower your heart rate, and focus on the breath, it’s a great way to reduce stress.
Even taking a short break in the middle of the day and devoting 15 minutes on yoga poses that are known to reduce stress can help you be more productive for the rest of the day and feel more at ease. This little time that you can focus your energy to your inner self and not be distracted by external factors can go a long way in boosting your state of mind.
Neelu Shruti, founder of Love Child Yoga, says “Through physical movement and breathing, yoga allows us to temper anxiety and stress. Like other forms of exercise, yoga allows the release of endorphins that helps us feel better. What is unique to yoga is that by moving mindfully and coordinating our breath and movement, we become more aware of not only our physical patterns, but our mental patterns as well — whether that’s stress from work, life or relationships. It gives us the ability to step away and re-focus and re-center and sometimes come away with a new perspective.”
Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be an amazing health & wellness tool for entrepreneurs to create more balance. Similar to meditation, hypnosis can make you feel better immediately after the first session and techniques used by hypnotherapists can help build strong, positive emotions.
Hebb’s Theory, one of the basic rules of neuroscience says that two or more sets of neurons in the brain that fire at the same time can wire together. And the only main requirement is intensity or repetition. Your brain doesn’t care what those two things are. This means you can train your mind to reduce mental stress or anxiety by linking a physical activity, such as touching a pressure point on your hand for example, to slow rapid breathing or reduce stress. It just takes practice.
Joel Elfman, a certified hypnotist with over 13 years experience has seen incredible results and says “Your unconscious is faster and has more bandwidth then your conscious mind. Your unconscious works tirelessly in the background 24/7, balancing body, thoughts, feelings and desires. Entrepreneurs can benefit best by taking good care of brain and body, and by setting clear directions for where they want to go, what they want to achieve, and trusting their unconscious crew to get them there in the best way possible.”
Acupuncture
Factors such as stress, poor nutrition, or a change in environment can affect your stress levels. For entrepreneurs who travel often or don’t take time to eat at the proper times, these things can add to the stress and anxiety they feel.
Acupuncture works by inserting needles at specific points in the body, which makes the nervous system release painkilling chemicals. This process restores balance for metabolic function and chemical reactions that are taking place in the body on a constant basis. This is why acupuncture can be used as an effective form of stress or anxiety reduction and is best for mild to moderate anxiety.
Originally published at medium.com