It takes grit and courage to run a small business and as a small business owner, you are often the wearer of many hats – the CEO, CFO, CMO (chief marketing officer), CTO (chief technology officer), CPO (chief people officer) all the O’s rolled into one!  And like many workers, there can be a struggle to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life.

So, it comes as no surprise, that stress, overwhelm and increasingly burnout are common.  The good news is that looking after yourself and your wellbeing is not only a good investment for you, it is also a good investment for your business, your team and even your customers!

Here we look at 5 tips to help put the brakes on stress and avoid some of the traps of small business ownership that can lead to not coping, working excessive hours, overwhelm and burnout (which has just this week been classified by the World Health Organisation as an occupational phenomenon).

1. You are not alone! 

Being a Small Business owner can...

Social media: Friend or foe? 

Stress is a buzzword of the 21st century and feeling ‘stressed-out’ at work is considered somewhat normal. Discover why stress shouldn’t be the norm for your business and what you can do to lead a happy, less-stressed team.

The research is clear: Workplace stress is on the rise both internationally and within Australia. In fact, work-related stress is cited second only to musculoskeletal injury as the most compensated workplace illness in Australia!

While stress directly affects the health and wellness of employees, businesses can suffer from our high-strung state as well. Stress undermines workplace productivity, focus and employee performance. So if you want to lead a team of star-performing employees, it pays - literally - to manage workplace stress.

First things first... What is workplace stress?

Workplace stress has been defined in a number of ways but is typically described as a level of work demands that is beyond our ability to cope.

There are many factors t...

It’s a day where many of us can spoil our amazing dads, or kick back ourselves and let the socks, jocks and personalised beer glasses come rolling in.

While enjoying the festivities, we also wanted to take a moment and chat about some simple ways we can support the dads in our workplace and community, specifically those new to the ‘dad club’.

Welcoming a newborn into the family is a seriously exciting time, particularly for first time parents. Once the initial celebrations subside, a ‘new’ version of life begins. With the sweet cuddles and baby smiles, can come some substantial life changes and (literal) wake up calls. Months of disrupted sleep, new responsibilities and shifting relationship dynamics isn’t something many of us would jump at the chance to experience, but it is a realistic side effect of the incredible joy that is the newborn stage.

 57% of first-time fathers experience a moderate level of stress with their new role, while 31% still considered anxiety and depression a...

Having a good balance between work and life is a win-win situation.  It’s crucial for our wellbeing, relationships and satisfaction with life, but it’s also important for our work too. We are much more likely to enjoy our job if it doesn’t get in the way of the things we value in our personal lives, such as relationships or hobbies. When we like our job, we’re then also much more likely to be productive and have stronger performance as a result.

A satisfactory balance between work and life is different for everyone. Some people are happiest when they are working towards advancing their career, so their ideal balance includes more work-related activities. Some people are most satisfied when spending time with their family, so their ideal balance includes being at home more.

We’re human beings, we’re all different. To achieve an ideal work-life balance, it’s important to be really clear and honest about what our values and priorities in life are – and there are no right or wrong answer...

Get your values straight, and everything else will fall into line. 

According to the Oxford dictionary, values are,

‘Principles or standards of behaviour; one’s judgement of what is important in life’. 

Everyone’s values are different – some people place more importance on career progression or academic success, others care more about being present for family, or giving to other people, whilst some people just want to be humble and honest. There is no right or wrong order of ‘what’s really important in life’. It takes a multitude of different people to make the world go round after all. What is important though, is knowing which ones matter to you. 

Our intrinsic core values affect our behaviour every single day – even when we don’t realise it. For example, when you wake up in the morning and really don’t want to go to work but push through and go anyway, that might be because you value hard work, or being reliable and dependable.  

Our values give us that sense of ‘it’s th...

Recognising Burnout in your employees

5 signs to watch out for

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has just re-labelled the term “Burnout” as an occupational phenomenon, to better reflect its status of being a work-based syndrome caused by chronic stress.

So how does this affect you as a business owner and why should you care?

Your employees are your best asset, so it’s important to maintain high levels of team motivation and productivity - therefore preventing, identifying and managing burnout should be a top priority for businesses across all sectors.

Employee burnout and overwhelm can have a devastating impact on individuals and businesses, but there are steps you can take to minimise workplace stress and ensure your workers aren’t likely to suffer from burnout.

When people are subjected to on-going or chronic stressors in the workplace, they may suffer from burnout. Although their response to these stressors is likely to be variable depending on their personality and exist...

Simple Strategies to manage busy times at work.

Workplace stress is a normal everyday occurrence. Most of the time, it’s actually a good thing. How could workplace stress ever be a good thing you might ask?! The answer is simple, it puts an ideal amount of pressure on us, which then motivates us to be productive and get things done. When we feel like we are achieving something, we then feel good about ourselves. On the other hand however, when stress builds up it can become too much. When this happens, it can be really damaging and unhealthy for us and the people around us. It can affect the quality of our work, our relationships and even our sense of self-worth.

It’s important to understand that the ‘just right’ level of stress is different for everyone. Whilst some people seem to thrive when they’re under pressure, others can get really stressed over the fact they feel stress. It’s important to monitor our stress levels and make sure we are functioning at that ‘just right’ level...

Why these common excuses are no excuse!

It can be a difficult decision to reach out for extra support when we’re struggling. Not only is there a lot of stigma attached to seeking support, but there’s also a lot of common myths and misconceptions too. 

Like, therapy is only for crazy people. Or psychologists will sit you on a leather couch and ask you about your childhood. The truth is, if people reached out for support in times of stress or when they first started to struggle, feelings of overwhelm and not coping could be dealt with much more quickly and effectively. 

There’s no shame in getting extra support and it’s actually a really helpful resource when people need it the most. Despite this, people still make excuses not to speak to a professional and get the help they need.

The following are a few of the most common excuses – and reasons why you shouldn’t use them.  

 I can do it on my own. 

• Maybe you can, maybe you can’t – but at what cost?  Wellbeing & Mental He
...

All good holidays eventually must, unfortunately, come to an end.

And, regardless of how much you may actually love your job, returning after some R&R or adventuring often feels like walking through mud. The inbox is usually overflowing, tasks quickly start piling up and those deadlines that only last month felt so far way, are now just around the corner. 

Sitting back at your desk on that first day back, or returning to the worksite feels like Monday-itisx1000, and it's very tempting to walk right back out that door and back into that summertime hammock. 

Most of us feel just like this after our holidays, but there are some simple steps and fun tips you can take on to help push through and battle those post-holiday blues.   

Allow a 'head in the clouds' first day back 
Drop those expectations right down, keep your Out of Office reply on, and limit your meetings/tasks as much as possible. Maybe request to have a half day for your first day back. It's amazing what a difference thi...