[Happy New Year] 7 ways to be stress free

Running a small business 24-7 is an all consuming task. Add to that the current economic climate and you’ve got more stress than you can handle. This can impact your health and the success of your business. "Most small business owners do not have a good work-life balance," says Randy Moser, an AdviCoach based in High Point, N.C. (www.advicoach.com). "The number one way to reduce stress is to keep yourself, your relationships and work all in proper perspective and priority." These tips can help you live a more balanced life, handle stress better and make you healthier in 2011:

Better Business. Here are some ways to manage your business better:

Set up a calendar. "Time management is the number one issue I work on with entrepreneurs," says Moser. The first step to turn it around is to document where you spend your time for a full week. Next, based on your priorities set up a default calendar and commit to it. For example, if you need to set aside time for marketing each week, put it on the schedule. Need time with your significant other and you’re working seven days a week? Block out Friday night. Need to exercise to burn off stress and get healthier? Write it down too. By doing this you’ll give structure to chaos and reduce unnecessary stressors.

Know your limits. "The root of many stressors in our lives comes from unrealistic expectations," says Moser. "If you control your expectations, you reduce some of your stress." This doesn’t mean you don’t have dreams. It means taking a realistic look at projects you want to undertake and asking yourself if you have the resources and capability to get it done. If you do, create an action plan and get busy. If not move on.

Have a 90-day and a 10-year vision. "It forces you to live within your capacity and your resources," says Moser. Say your 10-year vision is to make $15 million producing X, Y or Z. Break it down to the next 90 days and decide what you are going to do to move closer to your goal. "If you break it down into bite-sized expectations for the next year or the next two years you can get there."

Better YOU. Here are some ways to manage yourself better:

Keep your cool. "Most businesses revolve around dealing with the public, and dealing with the public can often mean dealing with rude people," says Jay Winner, M.D., director of the Stress Management Program for a large medical clinic in Santa Barbara, Calif., and the author of Take the Stress Out of Your Life (Da Capo Lifelong April 2008). "You’ll keep your cool if you remember that when someone is rude, they are almost always suffering in one way or another." Are they under excessive financial stress (pretty likely guess these days)? Are they having health problems? Family problems? "Taking the focus off ‘How dare they treat me like this,’ and instead thinking, ‘I wonder what is going on with him,’ will decrease your stress and hostility," Winner says.

Develop and maintain a routine. "Starting and maintaining a new business can often create stress," says Serena Wadhwa, Psy.D., clinical therapist and director of the TriQual Living Center (www.triqualiving.com) in Chicago. "By creating and maintaining a routine, you develop a sense of control, calmness and consistency." This can be as simple as having coffee in a place unrelated to your business and reading a book or working out in the morning before breakfast.

Go with the flow. "Accept that not everything always goes as planned," says Dr. Winner. "When you make out an invoice incorrectly, instead of thinking, ‘What a failure I am,’ think, ‘What can I learn from this?’"

Take a stress break. Use your computer to take a relaxation break, Winner says. Utilize the free relaxation exercise at www.stresremedy.com/relax.

The author is a Greenport, N.Y., freelance writer. She can be reached at cfiedler@giemedia.com.