Yesterday I shared with you my top  Anxiety and Stress SLEEP advice you haven’t heard so today I want to flip the script and discuss daytime advice.

Being a small business owner is the most amazing blessing while also being such a massive source of stress that it’s not uncommon to start getting gray hair in your mid-30’s if you launched your business 10+ years prior. Although you can never stop the stress you can learn ways to make it a little easier to deal with. With that being said, here’s 6 simple things I have learned over the past 16+ years in business (in no particular order):

GET A GOOD SLEEP, EVEN IF IT’S ONLY 4 HOURS. If you can sleep solid it’s going to completely change your stress level during the day. Be sure to read my previous article How to Sleep with Anxiety and Stress.

INPUT = OUTPUT. This may sound crazy, but it’s completely true: What you intake is what you will put out, meaning, if you spend your free time absorbing hateful, angry media you are bound to be hateful and angry. Examine what shows you are watching, what music you are listening to, what accounts you follow on social media, etc. If you surround yourself with motivation, inspiration and uplifting people and content you will automatically be less stressed. If you’re not sure if you’re intaking motivation-killing substance, just look at it. If you open your social media and 9 out of 10 of the first posts you read start with “I hate”, “I’m so depressed!”, “Life is so hard when...” or “America is the worst EVER!”, you are subconsciously absorbing negativity. My suggestion would be to mute or unfollow these accounts and instead add accounts that make you feel like you can conquer the world today. Truthfully, I gave up all social media 4+ years ago and it was the best choice I ever made! I still use it for work, on the business accounts, but that’s it. Trust me, you not only will live without social networks but you will be so much happier without having other peoples problems and drama dumped on you! With that being said; if the shows you are watching or music you jam to is filled with negativity, you can equally expect to feel really down. I personally switched my shows for documentaries as well as business shows like Shark Tank. I rarely listen to Billboard music and I now listen to podcasts. Not only do I learn things (which stimulates the brain) but I also feel “accomplished” versus depressed.

KAVA - If you have never experienced Kava, it’s 100% all natural and has been used around the world since the 18th Century! Barely anyone knows that Kava is actually part of the Pepper Plant family, however it’s not spicy at all. It’s earthy, like a tea. Anyhoo, Kava is one of the absolute BEST anxiety reducers / relaxation aids. What you want to buy is a good quality MICRONIZED Kava. Micronized means you can put a scoop or two directly into water and mix it with a spoon without having to shake, strain or boil. The amazing thing about Kava is that it’s fast acting and can be a phenomenal sleep aid. Personally, I usually drink mine during the day at work, typically around 1pm when I feel the need to get more focused but a large quantity of people prefer to have it an hour before bed. Despite what you may see in the media, you do NOT “get high” and there are no other side effects other than feeling relaxed and less stressed. It’s pretty much the same as a 5mg Buspirone pill which is one of the most common prescriptions for anxiety. The difference between Kava and Buspirone is that all prescription pills have side effects whereas Kava does not because it’s a plant root. If you want to give Kava a try to sleep I suggest Happy Kava brand or Kalm with Kava brand. Kalm is better but it’s also double the price. Happy Kava is really good and cheaper. If you have the money to spare, buy Kalm.

TIP: Make sure the listing says MICRONIZED!!! If it’s not micronized you will need to purchase a Kava Shaker bottle.

RECONFIGURE “BREAKS”.  For some reason the internet “advice” strongly promotes taking “breaks” however I have discovered that it is counterproductive to become frustrated and essentially reward yourself with time to relax, so instead just switch gears. For example, if you becoming increasingly angry while shipping, stop shipping and instead work on photography. Or, if you are absolutely livid due to a bitchy customer, change pace and clean your office area. And, if you are so totally fed up with online work as a whole, do something productive around your house or in your yard.

Once you train yourself to keep going you will get in the habit of never losing time until the time comes when you CHOOSE to take a break, not because your upset, but because you are ready to enjoy Friday night watching a movie with your son… and having a planned break is worth every moment of work because you can truly enjoy every moment of it.

CHANGE YOUR ATMOSPHERE.  I wrote about this in the blog post How to Deal with Burnout; This can be as simple as cleaning / reorganizing your desk to revamping your work area with new decor, a new mouse pad, even a rug from Amazon. Sometimes a change of ambience is all you need to feel re-energized. If you’re super broke, instead of buying wall art, print some motivational sayings and throw them in some Dollar Tree photo frames. If you can’t afford to buy an artificial plant, go dig one up from outside. Or, double dip; pickup a 50-cent bunch of green onions. Throw them in a cup of water and they’ll grow super fast! Not only do you have nice greenery but you also can eat it! If you have a couple bucks, check out our article How to Make Your eCommerce Office Awesome.

MAKE A BREAK COUNT.  If you feel super burned out and truly need a break, grab a glass of wine and a notepad and go sit outside (if it's nice weather) or make yourself a comfy area on the couch.  Use your notebook to jot down ideas on how you can improve... and, of course, enjoy a nice wine while you think.  If you are at the point where you can't stand another second of writing / typing, bring your cell phone with you outside and LOOK at your listings or site.  Notate what you could make better.  If you have no idea what you could make better, scroll through other peoples listings and get some ideas. 

PLAN FOOD FOR TOMORROW.  Trust me; I know exactly what it's like to eat junk daily because you have no time between sorting, photographing, listing and shipping to have an actual meal, so you grab the leftover pizza slices from last Friday, but we all know that eating trash every day makes it harder to focus in addition to giving you the sluggish, tired feeling.  Planning food doesn't mean spending hours doing Meal Prep.  Instead, grab some super easy, microwavable healthier options.  Here's a few of my daily go-tos:

EVOL Brand - I order through Whole Foods on Amazon because THEY DELIVER FOR FREE if you spend $35+!  

I have never had a "bad" evol brand item. I love their egg sandwiches but everything is outstanding.

AMYS Burritos.  I also order these through Whole Foods on Amazon however I have seen them at most grocery stores and Kroger usually has a nice assortment (they're in the "healthy stuff" section, NOT in the normal food freezer section)

SUSHI!!!  As you can likely guess, I also order this through Whole Foods via Amazon because it's cheaper than Uber Eats and WAY better quality!

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