How to stay positive when business is tough

Business performance is rarely a steady graph, rather it’s a constant roller coaster of good versus bad times, and slow versus busy periods.

Sooner or later, every business owner is faced with one or the other. To make sure these challenges don’t also take a toll on your mental health, we’ve compiled four tips to help you soldier on.

1. Build Positive Relationships

Research shows that having positive connections at work helps to make people feel less stressed and find greater enjoyment in their jobs. What’s more, when you get along with your colleagues and employees, it helps create a sense of community that makes work enjoyable and fulfilling.

You can do this, for example, through team building, scheduling time for short catch-ups and promoting a culture of open communication. This can help you create a support network you can fall back on when things get tough. That said, it’s also important to have a social support network outside of work made up of friends and family who can take your mind off things while you’re not working.

2. Practise Mindfulness

Practising mindfulness can have a major impact on both your mental and physical health, particularly to reduce stress. So, if rocky operations are causing you and your team stress, it can be helpful to implement mindfulness practices to increase your focus and reduce stress levels. For example, through guided meditations, breathing exercises or other activities.

Actively practising mindfulness can also improve productivity within your team and lift their spirits and, with it, their ability to cope. Creating a more mindful work culture can also help band co-workers together through difficult times.

3. Remember to breathe

Sometimes when things are tough at work, we need to give ourselves a bit of breathing space. This can be as simple as taking a full lunch break, going for a walk or giving yourself an unplugged weekend.

By taking things one step further and implementing a mental health strategy, you can do the same for your employees. This can help ensure everyone’s mind is refreshed and engaged once it’s time to return to work and focus on the task at hand.

4. Celebrate small wins

When your business is doing it tough, it’s sometimes hard to keep faith. To stay motivated, it can help to set yourself small goals along the way – and take the time to appreciate them when you reach them. Add a few milestones along the way of working through your business recovery plan.

It’s important to make sure your plan and goals are attainable, as failure to achieve them may lead to further frustration. This could lead to hasty decisions that could dig your business into deeper trouble.

Whether it’s just a slow period or a full-blown crisis, workplace challenges are almost inevitable. But there are things you can do to help you and your team master them. So, don’t be afraid to get a little creative when it comes to getting yourself into a better mindset to tackle the task.

This article was originally published on www.mybusiness.com.au