As business owners, you understand what overwork feels like. You throw yourselves into growing and promoting your businesses, you devote yourselves to customers and clients — and yes, you end up exhausted.
That tired feeling that weighs you down might come from any of several sources. Once you understand why you're so tired, you can start to make some changes to give you the energy you need to run your business. Take a look at some of the sources of exhaustion as well as some tips to boost your energy so you can accomplish what you set out to do.
When we're honest without ourselves, we can usually pinpoint the reasons we're tired. But sometimes they're not so obvious. Generally, that fatigue you feel boils down to one of three reasons:
Are you eating well, sleeping well, taking time for yourself? As entrepreneurs, sometimes we don't even know the answer to those questions — but the answers can have a profound effect on our energy level. Maybe you're giving yourself a boost with sweet snacks, relying on the sugar high to keep you going.
And then there's caffeine. Yes, that cup of coffee in the morning gets you going — but if you're drinking more four cups a day (that's the equivalent of two energy drinks, by the way), the crash you feel when the caffeine wears off can be exhausting.
How about your sleep habits? Do you stay up scrolling through social media and realize you're going to bed an hour (or two) later than you should? If you don't practice good sleep hygiene, you can't expect to arrive at your office with the energy you want.
You might be proud of how many hours you work per week to keep your business thriving — but those long hours are the primary cause of your exhaustion. And when you don't give your body time to unwind, it forgets how to do relax. How many nights have you spent staring at the ceiling in an ending cycle of stress as you review everything that went wrong yesterday and all the things that might go wrong tomorrow.
Stress affects your body's hormones in a negative way, so the problem feeds on itself. When you're stressed, your body produces cortisol, often known as the "stress hormone" — and its presence in your system keeps you awake, which makes you more exhausted, which makes you more stressed — and the vicious cycle continues.
Of course, the workplace isn't the only source of stress. If your relationships or home life causes stress, or if your personal to-do list is piling up, you'll find yourself surrounded by negative emotions in all directions.
We talked about cortisol, the stress hormone, above. But other hormonal imbalances can also make you fatigued and irritable. Estrogen, progesterone, melatonin and thyroid imbalances should all be treated by a physician. Various auto-immune diseases, such as lupus, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, can all affect your energy level. Once you've made the appropriate lifestyle changes, if you're still feeling regular exhaustion, don't try to diagnose yourself, but head to your doctor's office for diagnosis and treatment.
Fortunately, there are proactive steps you can take to end fatigue and regain energy. Take a look at some small things you can do to boost your energy levels.
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Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism
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Owatonna, MN 55060
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