How to Avoid Entrepreneurial Burnout This Summer

While there are fewer thrills greater than making that all important sale, or walking out of a pitch meeting knowing the client is in the bag, often having to juggle many ‘hats’ as part of your leadership role can lead to burnout.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur just starting out on your own, or you have established a small business and are looking to scale at pace, having to deal with the pressures that come with heading up a company can be difficult at times.

Listed below are some useful hints and tips to ensure the time you’re putting in to your business is not detrimental to your wellbeing:

Exercise

Getting the endorphins flowing is a sure-fire way to cope with the blurred worlds of world and work when trying to grow a business.

While you might feel as though fitting in exercise around e-mails, meetings and family time at home is more of a pipedream than a reality, you only need as little as 30 minutes of exercise to avoid symptoms of burnout.

One option is to wake up a little earlier and go for a brisk walk or jog, which will not only help stabilise your mood and reduce stress, but also gives you time to compartmentalise your thoughts for the day ahead.

Take a holiday

Despite the difficulties of venturing abroad this summer due to COVID19-based travel restrictions, it is important to take some time off when you can, particularly if you’ve been working from home for the best part of the last year or so.

If you’re worried about who will pick up the slack when you’re gone, you can try and take a day or two here and there rather than blocking out weeks of holiday at a time.

Booking time off around sales peaks and troughs can also help you avoid feeling as though you have to remain connected to work even during annual leave.

Ridding yourself of entrepreneurial guilt

It can be hard trying to carve out time for yourself and your family when you are in the throes of trying to make your business successful.

Many business leaders describe this as ‘entrepreneurial guilt’, or the feeling that you can’t be seen to stop working and investing time in the company.



Successful entrepreneurs will likely tell you that taking time out of your day to do something not related to work can actually have benefits not only for yourself, your mental health, and your relationships, but also for the business itself.