In the UK it has been found that entrepreneurs work an average of 52 hours a week – that’s a figure 63% longer than the average employee. While you may enjoy the hard graft and see it as a short-term solution to long-term success, in fact there is evidence to suggest that burning the candle at both ends is detrimental to your overall productivity. Here, we’re taking a look at why taking time out could be the best business investment you ever made.
Exceptionally long hours, difficulty winding down and a mind that’s constantly buzzing with new ideas. If you’re a true entrepreneur this is probably a way of life familiar to you. If you’re always rushing to get started on the next project, to connect with the next valuable contact, to broker the next big deal, you may end up running on empty. That’s when it’s time to step back and reassess how your lifestyle may be impacting your overall productivity. Between 2013 and 2014, some 11.3 million work days were lost due to stress, depression or anxiety across the UK. That’s an average of 23 days per person, per year. Although you may not have overdone things to that extent quite yet, it’s wise to really think about how small changes could improve your health and also your productivity and creativity at work. We need to start thinking of relaxation as an investment in both our bodies and our businesses. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Get moving
We’re an exercise mad society and everyone knows that a good work out helps your body produce feel-good endorphins and serotonin, the hormones that relieve pain and promote happiness. However, you may not know that these hormones also help to regulate the metabolism, enable a deeper, more restful sleep and improve both motivation and concentration. There has never been a better time to dig out your trainers, your swimming costume or your mountain bike and get moving! Just 20 minutes a day could provide the time and space your mind needs to produce your next big idea, to untangle an ‘impossible’ business puzzle or to simply ease away the tension that’s distracting you at work.
Have new experiences
As an extremely busy business owner, life can become a series of patterns and routines. The 5.30am alarm, the trip to the gym, the 7.45am morning meeting, the 10am coffee… doing the same things time and time again provides little inspiration or space for creative ideas. It’s vital that you inject fresh experiences into the mix. Seeing the same faces and the same places each and every day will leave your thinking stale. Why not dare yourself to have two new experiences every month and, if you’re feeling generous, invite your team along too? Pony trekking, sushi making, willow weaving or go-cart racing… the choice is yours. The most important thing is to completely switch off from the world of work and give those neurons the chance to fire in new directions.
Dump the tech
Have you ever calculated how much of your waking life is spent with a screen in front of your face? Most of us reach for our smartphones before we’ve even raised our heads from the pillows, squinting into these reflective surfaces to check the news, the traffic, Twitter or emails before the kettle’s on. All that screen time isn’t good for your stress levels or your productivity as an entrepreneur. One way to counter it is to exercise a blanket ban on all technology for one full day every month. No telephone, no laptop, no TV – nothing. At first you’ll find this extremely difficult and those twitching fingers will be constantly reaching for buttons that aren’t there. However, once you become accustomed to the feeling that something’s missing, you’ll most likely find going tech-free liberates your brain to follow different thoughts and releases it from the stresses of constantly communicating with the outside world.
Go green
Getting back to nature in woodland, by the beach or just in the local park has been proven to be beneficial to both our health and our productivity. Health experts have even coined a term for those who don’t have enough access to the great outdoors – they’re said to be suffering from ‘nature deficit disorder’. This condition exacerbates depression and anxiety and all but guarantees you’re not working at your optimum level. Simply taking your lunchbreak in the park or making time each week to visit the beach could ensure you get your regular dose of nature. If even that is too much to ask, what about investing in a few office plants? They have been shown to boost productivity by a remarkable 15%!
These are just a handful of ways to boost your general wellbeing both for your own sake, and for that of your business. In fact, there are a multitude of options, each as different as the entrepreneurs who give them a go. Most important is that we all find ways to relax and unwind away from the pressures of business ownership.