How Entrepreneurs Can Overcome The Emotional Pressures of The COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 stepped on the scene and changed the landscape of businesses around the globe. The changes required to keep everyone safe have forced non-essential brick and mortar locations to temporarily close their doors and/or transition to virtual platforms while essential establishments have had to make significant changes to meet new health and safety regulations. 

Emotional Challenges for Entrepreneurs

Though the pandemic has had an adverse impact on businesses of all sizes, small businesses are the hardest hit. Most don’t have the financial reserve to keep their operations afloat during these uncertain times. For entrepreneurs, this means making hard decisions as it pertains to the future of their business. 

From letting go of key employees and having the financial means to continue supporting remaining staff to reinventing processes to meet the needs of their target audiences and potentially shutting down for good, this is quite the emotional load to bear. 

Consequences of Keeping it All In

Failure to acknowledge and manage all of these emotions, can, unfortunately, lead you and your business down a dark and complicated path. As it pertains to your health, you might notice changes in your eating habits, difficulty sleeping, weight fluctuations, body aches and pains, increased illness, and much more. Emotionally, you might feel angry, fearful, worried, panicked, stressed, or even sad.  

This combination then causes you to be less focused, unproductive, and ineffective professionally. This may then lead to chronic stress, anxiety, depression, overeating, and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol which would require the need to get addiction help for entrepreneurs in Santa Barbara (or near where you live). 

Keeping Emotions Under Control

So, how does an entrepreneur function under the extreme amount of pressure brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic? Here are a few mental health tips listed below: 

 

• Take Care of Your Health – You’re of no use to your business if you’re not at your physical and emotional best. Though there’s a lot to preoccupy your time at the moment, don’t forget to prioritize your health. Make sure that you’re eating right, exercising, and getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

• Express Yourself – Remember, you don’t want to hold those negative emotions in. There’s likely no one that would blame or judge you for feeling overwhelmed during such uncertain times. So, express yourself (in a constructive and professional way, of course). Write down how you’re feeling in a journal, talk to a mentor or significant other, you might even express what you’re feeling to your staff. 

• Create a Plan of Action – When you have no idea what you’re going to do to keep your company afloat during the pandemic it triggers feelings of fear and anxiety. You can help to ease these emotional pressures by creating a plan of action. When you have a step-by-step concept of how you’ll run your operations, manage your teams, meet the needs of your target audience, and generate revenue, you’re not as worried about how the pandemic will impact your business. 

• Rely on Your Team – If you’re fortunate enough to have a team of employees, don’t be afraid to rely on them during these times. Not only do they want your business to succeed, but their livelihoods are also tied to the success of failure of the company. Therefore, they are more than willing to step up and pitch in. Instead of trying to take everything on yourself, ask for ideas, and delegate tasks to your team. 

• Make Time for Things You Enjoy – When you spend most of your days stressing over the future of your business and the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re putting your mind and body under a lot of stress. Break up the chaos of current times by finding time to do things you enjoy. Now that you’re at home, perhaps spend one day of the week with your family, learn a new skill, pick up an old hobby, take a class, read a book, or tackle a home improvement project. 

 

The coronavirus pandemic brought with it changes that have reshaped the way organizations do business. Though these changes are stressful and scary, it is imperative that entrepreneurs learn how to manage their emotions during this crisis. Ultimately, being physically and emotionally at your best is the most efficient way to stay in the fight and weather the storm.