Category: Work Life

StartupNation: Business is at full-throttle. You love your work, which leaves you in an exhilarated, heady mood at the end of a productive day.
But you can have too much of a good thing.
The same tasks that give you a mental buzz can also stress you out if you don’t take a breath and relax now and then. Before you know it, you’re fried to a crisp, which has a number of implications: You’re tired, exhausted, uncreative, unhappy, and maybe even sick.
We don’t want you to lose the fun factor in your work, or your passion for what you do. This is why we strongly feel that it’s critically important for you to take mental time-outs. Even toddlers get a chance to simmer down in time-out, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t revert. Soothe your inner kiddie when things get out of hand. You’ll regain and be able to retain your inner strength and creativity. Work – and life – will be enjoyable again.
Business Growth Strategy – Don’t Go Mental, Take a Break

Small Business CEO: Are you or your team stuck in a rut, new ideas just don’t seem to occur, everyone is almost zombi like in adherence to how things have always been done?
Do you need new ideas, would some fresh thinking be a booster shot for your business, then read on.
Here are Ten Actions you can take to Achieve Freshness Today:
1. Take a new form of transportation to work.
2. Read a new magazine or watch a new TV show.
3. Plan a lunch with people you never lunch with.
4. Get out of your normal work environment for a half-day per week.
5. Ask your family (especially your kids) to help solve a problem you are working on.
6. Allocate double the normal time you spend solving a problem, make at least three options.
7. Block out time for your whole team to do something new together once a month.
8. Take a walk in the park at lunch time.
9. Listen to the Pop Music charts.
10. Reinvent your personal job role at least once per year.
Stuck In a Rut – Ten Actions to Achieve Freshness Today [Small Business CEO]

Entrepreneur: There’s a lot of press today about people in their prime career years being the sandwich generation–caught between aging parents and growing families. I’m here to tell you that there can be open-faced sandwiches (no kids), as well as club sandwiches, with businesses layered in between family obligations. These can lead to high pressure situations for even the most prepared and organized entrepreneurs.
If you have been blessed with good health and high energy, be grateful every day because you’re already far ahead. No college or graduate school class can fully prepare you for juggling your business and life. This year my husband and I each had parents with health setbacks. Luckily because we both own businesses, we were able to take the time needed for extended visits and conference calls with doctors and family members.
The everyday pressures of running our businesses may feel like life and death on a daily basis–closing deals, collecting payment, running payroll and managing various personalities. When crises do happen, they put real life in perspective.
When Life Hands You Lemons [Entrepreneur]

Entrepreneur: If you burn out in a new business venture, it’s the result of intense and arguably greater pressure built up over a shorter interval, and it’s infinitely harder to walk away. It means abandoning your dream, leaving your employees jobless, and facing sometimes dire financial and psychological consequences. I personally know of one suicide and one near-suicide caused by the startup stress trap.
That’s why it’s important to take preventive measures to avoid letting your startup drive you to the brink. Here are a few simple ways to nip burnout in the bud:
1. Build a knowledge base.
2. Adapt your business plan.
3. Make daily lists of the next day’s tasks.
4. Hire a good team.
5. Leave your work at work.
6. Get a coach.
New Business Burnout: Don’t Be a Victim [Entrepreneur]