Tips to take care of your mental health

Being your own boss, defining schedules and goals are some of the benefits of being an entrepreneur; however, these advantages can also represent stress and mental health problems if not managed properly.

Being in front of the company, cmeet the goals and pressure of the position can lead entrepreneurs to spend more than eight hours a day on the business. In fact, a study conducted by Endeavor found that three out of four entrepreneurs work more than 50 hours a week and 20% more than 70 hours.

Furthermore, entrepreneurs have 50% more likely of suffering from anxiety, insomnia, fatigue and depression, reveals the report.

“Many times when we are entrepreneurs we give our soul to entrepreneurship and we believe that this comes first and if that is good we will continue to grow, but we must emphasize the importance of work on oneselfobserve oneself and know if it is good or not”, commented Regina Zurutuza, director of 500 Startups during her participation in Amazon Impulsa.

How can entrepreneurs take care of their mental health? Although the stress of the business, the challenges involved in growing the company, obtaining financing and the problems of the day invade entrepreneurs, they are required to take care of their well-being, because if they are well, the collaborators will be too and as a consequence the company will grow.

Zurutuza says that each entrepreneur manages stress differently, there are those who do exercise, meditate or spend quality time with family or friends, and others who prefer to spend time alone.

take a break

“The first thing is to identify what works for you and helps you to be in a better mental and physical state, to give the best performance in the company you are leading. It all starts with take a break and observe when you feel calmest”.

If the entrepreneur knows what stress alters in him and in his collaborators, he will know how to listen and understand people, have greater emotional intelligence towards others, better communication and empathy, which translates into spaces for critical and strategic thinking.

Zurutuza recommends implementing DROP spaces (stop, breathe, observe and proceed) that help keep stress calm and can be done in small moments of the day, such as having a coffee.

Delegation

A common mistake is wanting to be in charge of everything, which can harm physical and emotional health, as pressure and stress increase. Therefore, entrepreneurs need delegate tasksso that the pressure does not fall only on them.

The ideal is to have partners with skills that complement each other and recruit talent that drives the company forward.

Sleep and food

When you have little time, you usually consume the first thing you have at hand and sleep little, so it is essential to set schedules and give yourself the time to have a good diet.

A balanced diet provides energy necessary to develop the activities of the day, the same happens with sleep, because not sleeping properly has a direct impact on stress and performance.