6 ways to beat fatigue and burnout while growing your business

It seems that bosses find it easy to control their emotional state and prevent burnout. Absorbs stress? Take a day off any day. Don't feel like doing something? You delegate the task to someone else. However, in reality, everything is far from being so simple.

Research showD. Shepherd, G. Marchisio, et al. Entrepreneurial burnout: exploring antecedents, dimensions and outcomes / Emerald Insightthat the risk of "burnout" for entrepreneurs is much higher than for employees. In addition, when you are really passionate about your business, it can be difficult to notice the first signs of overwork. Sometimes months and even years pass before you notice that your physical or emotional state has deteriorated significantly.

There are a few steps you can take to avoid fatigue, sleep problems, irritability, and other symptoms of burnout.

1. Find a reliable business partner

Most modern startups have two or even three founders for good reason. Creating and growing a business is a complex task that is almost impossible to handle alone. Even if it seems that you can do everything yourself, do not forget: the number of responsibilities and problems will only increase as the company grows.

When looking for a business partner, you should focus on several main criteria:

• This is the person you fully trust. Ideally - a proven former colleague or even a co-founder with whom you have already tried to launch a startup.
• He knowledgeable and patient professional.
• Your views on ethical principles and work habits are the same.
• Financially, practically and emotionally, he is as involved in the business as you are.

For example, Supliful co-founder Richard Peaks and his partner Martins have been childhood friends. They worked together on several business ideas, and their friendship was seriously tested for strength during the bankruptcy of the previous company. Gradually, joint efforts and mutual trust helped the friends build a successful business.

2. Set priorities as early as possible

When you start your business, the list of tasks and plans seems endless. It is simply impossible to fulfill all the points. That is why you need to learn to identify priorities and take small but conscious steps in the chosen direction.

If your company is still at an early stage, pay attention to the tasks that will help you create a product with minimal functionality. This is the simplest version of a business idea that can be released to the market. This is how you start your business attract customers and get feedback.

If your business is already well established, consider outsourcing some tasks to other employees. This will allow you to focus on the main goals and the most important aspects of the business.

Founder of organic women's health company Kali, Jonna Piira worked on a variety of projects until she had to take a forced vacation. It was then that she realized that she was burnt out and decided to reconsider her priorities. The entrepreneur made a list of all her duties from the most loved to the most hated. Then I calculated how much time it took for each task and crossed out the unnecessary ones.

If you're not sure where to start, try this method. This way you will understand what is really important to you.

3. Delegate Responsibilities

Entrepreneurs who are just trying their hand at business are much more prone to burnout. This happens because newcomers operate in an atmosphere of uncertainty and are responsible for every aspect of the company. Entrepreneurs with experience, on the contrary, understand that it is impossible to control everything.

The following tactics will help you start the transition process:

• Hire talented people and trust them in everything related to their job responsibilities.
• Focus on your list of priorities instead of constantly checking on your team's work.
• If necessary, schedule regular meetings with different departments once a week or once a month. This will help keep abreast of the most important processes.
• Give some tasks to freelancers. Copywriters, designers and other professionals can be found on specialized platforms and regular job sites.

Before becoming co-founder and CEO of IT company Setupad, which specializes in advertising technology, Toms Penders worked in advertising for almost 10 years. That is why he was sure that he would be able to properly organize many processes, and wanted to make absolutely all decisions on his own. But as the company grew, he realized that he needed to trust his specialists and delegate responsibilities, otherwise he would just go crazy.

4. Document processes

To avoid personal involvement in every process in the company, try to describe and document standard operations as early as possible. These may be instructions on how to perform tasks specific to your field of work, or instructions on how to use work chats or programs. Such fixation of processes will help to establish uninterrupted work, and the adaptation of new employees will be faster and more efficient.

If you are starting a small business, it may seem that the recommendations in this section will not be useful to you. However, as the company develops, you will notice how much time you have freed up thanks to the description of the processes.

5. Use Apps

Every time you find yourself spending too much time on routine tasks, look for an app that will do them for you. In the modern world, there are a lot of different technologies that greatly facilitate the life of entrepreneurs.

For example, instead of keeping track of current tasks and how employees perform them, use programs or web services for project management. And instead of scheduling the old fashioned way, you can always turn to one of the many time management tools. Most of these services have a free trial period that will help you understand if the resource is worth the money.

Julia Gifford, co-founder of PR agency Truesix, says her life has become much easier since she started using billing software. This allowed her to stop wasting time typing small data into spreadsheets and get on with the really important things. In addition, this method significantly reduced the likelihood of errors in the calculations.

6. Make time for your personal life

There's a universal truth that many entrepreneurs only learn when they've hit their stride: it's not just work that leads to burnout. Usually the cause is a whole combination of external and internal factors, including lifestyle and even character traits. Our mental health is directly related to our physical health. Weak activity, fast food, inappropriate sleep patterns, smoking, alcohol - all this affects our condition.

If you regularly experience stress, it is important to learn how to deal with it competently. Meditation, sports, massage, or any other activity that allows you to relax may help you. Remember to take regular breaks for exercise or outdoor activities, such as during lunch.

The founder of the fintech company TWINO, Armands Broks, during the burnout period, completely revised the structure and work of the company and started all over again. He had to transfer his duties to another person in order to focus on strategy development and business development. This happened back in 2017, when the problem of burnout was practically not discussed. The entrepreneur noted that this taught him to maintain mental health and maintain balance in all areas of life.

Many entrepreneurs on fire with their idea find they can't slow down or stop when there's so much to do. But the first signs of burnout can and should be dealt with. In addition, it is important to develop the idea of ​​balance within the company, for example, allowing people to take time off when employees are tired or have mental health problems.