maintaining your mental health while running a business

one thing we feel a lot of business owners don’t talk about is the toll it takes on your mental health. i’m currently writing this at 3:20 AM with work on my mind. every part of your business has the potential to keep you up at night. problems with equipment, operations, culture, finances, etc. on top of the constant pressure to always be growing & evolving. your brain never shuts off and is the psychological price so many entrepreneurs pay

the reality is, owning a business is stressful. there’s no escaping it. while we're learning to manage the anxiety & stress better, we're still in unchartered territory overcoming new hurdles each day. i would love to sit here and tell you that if you do yoga or meditate the anxiety will clear, but unfortunately there's no cure-all for this lifestyle. while we hope you find ways to cope in a spiritual & healthy manner, we also understand the importance of having a reference tool to help guide you along your journey

here's what has proven to work for us

that we hope will be a source of comfort & direction while you're still soul searching... 

live & learn: living through it once and knowing how to better handle it the second time. we completely lost it when we had our first employee leave. we thought it was the end of the world as we knew it. while it was sad to lose someone we felt so close to, we couldn't dwell on what was out of our control. we had to shift our focus in order to pivot & recover. it's still an incredibly stressful moment that we've fortunately not experienced much, but we now have policies & procedures in place for the future on how to handle and move forward in the most amicable way

delegation: when we opened house of preservation, we oversaw everything.  we literally worked the front desk for months because we didn't see how we could trust anyone else to answer the phones and questions callers might have. we are so glad to have those months of experience, but as the company grew it became more and more apparent that we couldn't do it all. giving up control is one of the hardest things to do but you will stretch yourself so thin and have nothing left to give if you don't. we quickly realized we were going to drive ourselves insane if we didn't start delegating responsibilities. this has been instrumental to our growth

time management: it was extremely hard for us to figure out how to balance our work & home life in the beginning. we didn't know how to break away or shut off, which in turn became self-defeating. as hard as it is, you have to give yourself time to recharge and breathe for a second. trust us, it's for the benefit of your health and your business that you do. every day at 7pm i put my phone on silent and close my laptop. it's so important to be present with your loved ones and it's impossible to do if you're focus is elsewhere

have a support system: starting this business together has been our biggest saving grace. while having a partner is not for everyone, it's so important to have an outlet where you can vent and connect with like-minded individuals over the similarities you face. both of our hair stylists have started their own business and it is so refreshing to have peers and mentors in the industry to bounce ideas off of and get different perspectives from. knowing that you're not alone and can talk about your issues with someone who's been in your shoes makes all the difference in the world

write-it down: a good old fashion notepad and pen will do wonders for your mind. there is nothing more gratifying than making a list and crossing it off. prioritize & organize your thoughts on paper. it's a great way to break everything down and not feel overwhelmed when there is so much to be done. it's also a great way to jot down an idea that you don't have the mental capacity to deal with now, but don't want to forget. iPhone notes work too

walks: we are intentionally avoiding the wellness angle in the post as we really wanted to give tangible tools for you to implement into your work-life balance. however, there is something to be said about a long walk and fresh air while listening to a podcast/texting/scrolling- basically doing anything but working to help you shift & refocus