E Rejuvantion Centre is a 10 year old business that helps clients refocus and de-stress in order to improve work performance and well being.
Idea Engineering Agency created a process involving psychology, reactive marketing, systems, scheduling, and collaborative workshops to pivot the business to a more focused, simplified, and clear visioned company. The company is now attracting better suited clients, has clear systems of implementation, better company culture, and focused goals.
Whilst handling many projects at once is good for the brain’s stimuli, it might be a problem for your stress levels, if you don’t know how to handle it. Idea engineering can help you cope with stress with these simple pointers.
Stress is bad for the body and by setting your brain to think about all your great projects as stress it’s giving your work load a negative perspective. After all it’s a great thing to have many opportunities on the go, so the first tip on how to deal with stress is to see it as pressure. According the E-Rejuventation Centre’s Director Sarah McCrum, pressure should be seen as a ‘challenge to conquer a new skill’. For example, if you are feeling pressure because of various deadlines, see it as an opportunity to be more succinct in order to reduce workload on each deadline. If you see pressure as an opportunity to rise to the challenge, you automatically begin to feel less ’stressed’.
Starting the day with a great breakfast and a workout helps increase dopamine levels in the brain, which automatically releases tension and allows you to think better. Dopamine also makes you feel positive, which helps focus your thoughts on productive things rather than dwell on ‘what-if’.
Whilst it is good to have many projects on the go, focusing on one task at a time is best for our concentration. It is about multi-focusing not multi-tasking. For instance, you may focus on 10 projects, ideas, or tasks in one day, but not all at once.
Each person’s concentration levels can differ even from task to task, so set different time periods for each task. For instance, set 30 minutes to draft a new proposal, 45 minutes to do accounts, 10 minutes to reply to emails, and 15 minutes to draft a quote. That way you know that for the next ‘x’ amount of minutes you only have one deadline- nothing else matters. This helps reduce pressure and stress, because you are only thinking in this moment, instead of all the ‘white noise’ inside your head that does cause stress.
After every significant interval of time take a 10 minute break. Get up from your desk, take a walk, talk to colleagues, stretch, or distract your mind. If you are really feeling pressure, take a deep breath and release slowly. According to Neurologist Jill Bolte-Taylor, each emotion we have only lasts 90 seconds. So, let it pass you, keep taking deep slow breaths until you feel relaxed again.
Most of the problems we think we have are hypothetical ‘what-ifs’, so decide what actually is a problem, focus on the solution and forget about the ‘white-noise’. By focusing on the solution, you are distracting your brain from stressing on the problem. For instance, you are have a lot of work, low cash flow, and need to market your business. The work load, pressure, and low cash flow can all be symptoms of the bigger problem, which is that you need more business. Therefore focus on finishing the deadlines, then set time out each day to market your business. Find business opportunities that will afford you another team member so you can fix the cash flow problem, have more time for client work, and be able to take on board someone for marketing. This is terribly simplified, but people drive themselves crazy trying to fix symptoms or dwelling on them instead of making a bee-line for the problem. The minute you focus on the solution you are already minimising the problem.
Music is very powerful. It can make us energised or depressed, so choose upbeat music or classical/relaxing music whilst you work.
Every business milestone should be celebrated. This helps keep your mood upbeat. Plus it helps you realise how well you are doing instead of all the things you still have to do.
Join a coworking space. Isolation with your own thoughts can be debilitating and stressful. Talk to people and bounce ideas- it helps give perspective. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to say ‘its not a big deal, it will be fine.’
Do yoga, relaxation exercises, or go for a walk after work. Your body needs to calm down for you to get a good night’s rest. Being rested makes all the difference to stress levels, so don’t sacrafice or you will feel tired, foggy, and unable to think clear solutions.
THECUBE www.thecubelondon.comWithout Idea Engineering, our business would not have been possible.