Managing stress and anxiety

Being your own boss can be exciting, challenging and sometimes stressful.

Long hours, unpredictable cash flow, significant changes in your industry and having responsibility for employees can leave you feeling mentally exhausted, stressed, anxious or depressed.

This in turn could affect your ability to run your business, and have an impact on your relationships with family, friends, employees, suppliers and customers.

Warning signs

Watch out for warning signs that stress and anxiety are starting to build up. You may need to pay more attention to your mental health or seek some outside support. You may not notice the warning signs yourself, so listen to comments and feedback from people close to you.

There is no shame in asking for help; one in five Australians will experience a mental health condition during their lifetime. Having good mental health is also good for the health of your business.

You may be experiencing stress, anxiety or depression if you are:

• finding it hard to concentrate or make decisions
• feeling overwhelmed and unable to solve problems 
• regularly feeling irritable, sensitive, tense or close to tears
• constantly thinking of work, even during personal time
• finding reasons not to get out of bed or go to work
• avoiding essential day-to-day tasks
• spending less time with family or friends and generally avoiding social situations
• drinking excessive alcohol or smoking more

Stress

Stress can also appear in ways you may not expect. Watch out for the following physical symptoms, which may indicate that you are under stress:

• chest pain or pounding heart, high blood pressure
• finding it difficult to sleep or feeling constantly tired
• reduced interest in sex
• diarrhoea or constipation, nausea
• weakened immune system, getting colds more often
• muscle tension, aches and pains, headaches
• fast, shallow breathing, sweating excessively
• loss or change of appetite

Anxiety and depression

Anxiety and depression are conditions that can only be diagnosed by a medical professional. Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. It’s normal to feel anxious if you are under pressure, however if these feelings happen for no obvious reason or continue after the stressful event has passed, it may be a sign of something more serious. Effective treatments for anxiety and depression are available, the sooner you seek help the quicker you’ll be on the road to recovery.

Top 10 tips for maintaining good mental health

Running your own business can leave you with little spare time, but taking care of your mental health is an investment in you and your business. Start working through this list:

1. Make regular exercise, sleep and healthy eating your top priorities.
2. Take up an activity you really enjoy – a new hobby or get involved in your community. Visit the Act-Belong-Commit website for lots of great ideas.
3. Practice relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises you can do anywhere at any time.
4. Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t.
5. Put business systems and process in place that will allow you to take regular short breaks and holidays. 
6. Decide which tasks you can outsource, don’t try to do everything yourself.
7. Don’t regularly take work home with you.
8. Set a time every day when your phone and emails are turned off.
9. Join a local business group or industry association to build a support group of peers to share and discuss your daily challenges.
10. Sometimes it’s OK to just say “no”.

Good mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stress of life, and can work productively and fruitfully, is able to make a contribution to his or her community. (Source: World Health Organisation)

Mental health education

The Federally-funded Ahead for Business free Business Wellbeing aims to assist small business owners and your employees to develop knowledge, skills and practices around mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. This training encourages users to reflect on and learn strategies to support their own mental health and wellbeing, and support others in the workplace.

Expanded in October 2022, the online training includes a training pathway tailored for small business employees, along with new content for small business owners, to support creating a mentally healthy workplace.

For more information visit the Business Wellbeing training portal.

Seek extra support

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with anxiety, stress or depression, there are many organisations that can provide information and support.

If you need to talk to someone now call:

• Beyond Blue - 1300 22 4636
• Lifeline – 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467

These services are free and available 24 hours a day.