Posted on: Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Find the antidote to burnout
By Joyce M. Roseberg
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Burnout is one of the biggest problems that small-business owners face. It hurts their productivity, clouds their ability to make decisions — and makes it very hard for them to get the pleasure they seek from their companies.
Burnout isn't inevitable. While building and running a company is stressful, it doesn't have to lead to the feelings of anxiety, exhaustion, irritation and perhaps even despair that are part of burnout.
And even if you find yourself burned out, it doesn't have to be a permanent condition.
In an unscientific survey of small-business owners by The Associated Press, regular exercise was one of the most frequently cited antidotes to burnout. Many owners make sure they get up early several times a week and get to the gym before they start the day. They make it part of their routine.
Many owners also said taking time off was critical — including vacations, days off and even time away from cell phones and pagers.
Susan Matthews Apgood plans her vacations far in advance, as much as year and a half ahead, to give herself something to look forward to. It's not just the time off that helps, but the planning. When she needs to take a mini-break, she'll check out Web sites to help her plan one of her upcoming trips.
"It helps me get through the time when I'm feeling overly stressed, so I know there's an end in sight and I'll get some rest and relaxation," said Apgood, owner of NewsGeneration Inc., a Bethesda, Md., communications company.
Just as important is time off during the week, and time spent with family and friends. Many new entrepreneurs believe they need to put every possible minute into building the business, and many find they quickly burn out. Owners who have been through the experience know that too many hours at work hurt rather than help a new enterprise.
For Schreier-Fleming, owner of Best(at)Selling, a Dallas-based sales consulting firm, the answer was to give herself a day off each week, no matter what. That day is Saturday.
"It saved my life," Schreier-Fleming said. She does work on Sunday, but does so at a more leisurely pace than Monday through Friday. And Sunday mornings are also time off.
Many owners said they make sure they take part in activities that are relaxing and fulfilling.
Scott Hanson, owner of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, umpires baseball games throughout the year. It gets him out of the office at a decent hour — high school baseball games start in late afternoon — and it forces him to stop thinking about his work.
"If you're not concentrating when you're calling balls and strikes, you're not going to do a very good job," Hanson said. But the baseball field is a much less stressful environment than his office.
Maura Schreier-Fleming said she spent 18-hour days the first three months that her company was in existence. She was so tired that "my mother goes, 'You look horrible.' Then I was also thinking, this is terrible, why am I driving myself that way?"
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Fight off the exhaustion
Tips for avoiding small-business burnout:
• Exercise regularly. Many small-business owners make sure they get up early several times a week to hit the gym.
• Take time off. That includes vacations, days off and even time away from cell phones and pagers.
• Look out for signs of anxiety, exhaustion, irritation and perhaps even despair that can lead to burnout.
