6 Stress Solutions For Landscapers

Source: www.TurfMagazine.com

Being a small business owner comes with its fair share of stress. Sometimes a workload can become overbearing. Working to keep stress at a productive level and out of your personal life can seem impossible. But, as professionals in the green industry, we have the best stress reliever there is at our fingertips every day: nature.

Countless studies talk about the passive enjoyment of being in nature. Even more studies show that actively caring for plants is therapeutic and even educational, according to Turf magazine Editor-in-Chief Nicole Wisniewski.

Here are a few ways landscape business owners can remove the weight of the world from their shoulders:

1. Remember why you’re in business to begin with. Time with friends and family is the key motivator for some business owners and a big part of why you work so hard. “Nothing helps more with stress relief after a busy workweek than a Friday night pizza and movie with my family,” says Steve Rak, owner of Southwest Landscape Management.

2. Make time for time management. Spend some of your valuable time and use technology to create a time management system for yourself. This plan will change as your business changes, so be willing to adapt. “Avoid squeezing in ‘one more thing’ once you have set up your timetable for the day or the week,” advises Les Cline, owner of Teacher’s Landscaping and Irrigation, LLC.

3. Learn to delegate tasks to other team members. Delegation is key for many small business owners, and it begins with saying “no.” Don’t commit to more responsibilities if they will move you or your company into a direction too far out of your expertise. Creating a team around you that you can trust makes it possible for you to step away from your business for a vacation, even if only for a few days.

Read more: 6 Steps for Taking a Painless Vacation

4. Keep learning and improving. By staying knowledgeable and relevant about the latest trends and technologies, your company will be industry leaders. Staying up-to-date can help prevent the stress that comes with falling behind competitors. Continuously implementing better management practices will help improve your company’s operating success.

5. Eat well. This should be common sense, but it can be easy to sacrifice our eating habits because we feel strapped for time. “Eat smart. We all know how hard it is to not go for the super-sized “quick” lunch; this only adds fuel for stress,” says Paul Wolbert, franchise business consultant.

6. Exercise more. Exercise releases endorphins, so get off the couch. According to Wolbert, exercise goes hand-in-hand with eating healthy. Running 5k races is something Steve Rak enjoys, and he says he makes a point of setting aside time for a run. He even completed a marathon race alongside the Iron Cowboy last summer. How’s that for some inspiration?

Share your best stress reliever in the comments below.