10 Ways to Decrease Burnout While Still Managing Your Business Effectively

When running a business, you may feel like your only option is to go big or go home. That’s what launching a business in the first place feels like. But remember that progress and success in highly competitive areas will always be hard to come by—or at the very least, remember that they take time.

“Large-scale dreams are a wonderful thing in business if they are supported by enough evidence,” says Brianna Bitton, Co-Founder of O POSITIV. “The goals you set for your company should start in your imagination, but then you need to back them up with research to ensure they’re realistic and achievable.”

Demographics, product interest, interest rates, and more contribute to the business landscape. Be certain you are fully informed on these factors as they affect your business’s ability to plan realistically.

Delegate What You Can

In the early stages of your business, progress of any kind probably happened due to your efforts and nothing more. But at what cost? Do you recall how tired it made you at times? Have you learned to let go of tasks that no longer require your specific attention?

“Despite what your brain wants you to think, there’s nothing noble about overloading your work plate,” says Bradley Hall, CEO of SONU Sleep. “Giving subordinates more responsibility can help your mental health, and it can help your employees develop new skills.”

Deciding what to delegate and what to hold on to can be tricky, so start by evaluating the skillsets of your employees. This way, you can give appropriate responsibilities to talented and eager employees and help them grow along the way.

Guard Your Sleep

Burnout is a physical symptom of stress overload. Therefore, it stands to reason that stress management tools can help decrease burnout. One essential part of combatting stress and burnout is ensuring you get enough sleep each and every night.

“Many business owners feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all they need to,” says Susan Kim Shaffer, President and Co-Founder of Pneuma Nitric Oxide. “Some people are willing to sacrifice sleep to counter this, but doing so will only speed up their burnout.”