Written by: Christine Deschemin, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Burnout is a potentially serious us issue with equally serious ramifications for your health. A hypnotherapy break can help you counteract the stress.
Good News for Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs work hard. Employees around the world often work anywhere from 35 to 44 hours a week. Entrepreneurs often have different schedules, working daily from the time they wake up until they fall asleep. As an entrepreneur, you might even find yourself spending your few days off plugged in, checking emails frequently, returning phone calls, and managing work remotely. Taking time away might seem like a luxury that you cannot afford. In reality, entrepreneurs need breaks, too.
What is Burnout?
For many busy professionals, burning out might sound like an occupational hazard. However, it is a potentially serious issue with equally serious ramifications for your health. According to the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, burnout is characterized by feeling exhausted or depleted. If you are burned out, you might feel negative or cynical about your job and less effective than usual.
Entrepreneurs can be particularly susceptible to stress and burnout as they juggle heavy workloads and tight deadlines. You might feel as though your life is a balancing act with numerous responsibilities and needs vying for your attention. If you are fatigued, exhausted, and mentally burned out, it might be time for a break.
The Benefits of a Break
Taking time away from the pressure and stress of work can refuel not only your body but your mind. Breaks are about more than time away from the office: They can be a critical part of your self-care routine, possibly just as important as sleep, exercise, and nutritious diets. They can improve your workflow, too, bringing you clarity, creativity, and a healthier new frame of mind.
Clarity
When you take a break, you can clear not just your schedule but the mental clutter, clearing your view and opening new possibilities. Research indicates that even short breaks from mentally draining tasks can boost brain performance. Researchers were not yet clear whether study participants experienced neural fatigue, impaired executive function, or other issues during long periods of work or focus. However, they determined that demanding tasks rapidly depleted mental fuel stores that needed to be replenished through breaks. You can use UpNow's digital hypnotherapy app to regain your focus and renew your motivation.
Creativity
Much as our focus declines with depleted mental fuel, so does our creativity. After you have spent a long period focusing on a specific issue, you might find yourself coming back to the same tired solutions. Time away from the task at hand offers a fresh new perspective. Whether you take an afternoon walk, a quick hypnotherapy break, or a mini-holiday, you will return to see the problem with fresh eyes and possibly fresh solutions, too.
Growth
Are you the one holding you back? A fixed mindset refers to the idea that your traits and abilities are innate and immutable, and it can cause you to limit yourself in many ways. During a break, you can take the time to nurture a growth mindset, embracing a healthier new image of yourself, your abilities, and most importantly, your ability to nurture, develop, and strengthen your abilities and talents.
Digital hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool for changing your mindset, which can lead to even bigger changes both personally and professionally.
Transitioning from Work to Holidays
Holidays can be exciting as well as nerve-wracking. You may feel anxious about the work that will be waiting when you return or guilty about the work you are leaving behind you. You might worry about how your business will thrive in your absence. Preparing for your getaway can help you manage your feelings and get more out of your time away.
Make a Plan
Having a plan in effect will put many of your worries at ease. You can outline your expectations and goals for your business both before and during your time away. Share your plan with your staff or those who will be taking care of your workload for you, and work together to address any potential problems before you leave.
Ensure Proper Cover
In your plan, ensure you have left a trusted staff member in charge with clear instructions. Delegate your normal responsibilities to members of your staff, and ensure they fully understand the details of what they will need to do. Try to avoid putting all the work on one person’s shoulders. Your employees are likely to be busy in your absence, so splitting the work among them can make it easier on them and reduce the risk of issues.
Lighten the Workload
Clear your calendar, if possible, of all non-essential work, and reschedule non-urgent meetings. Get creative with other tasks, and try to complete as much of your normal workload in advance. This can simplify the transition and lessen your worries.
Notify Others
Before shutting your office door and unplugging from your emails, notify clients and others that you will be out of the office and provide an approximate return date. In our modern, connected world, we are often connected 24/7, which means that you may need to route your work emails to a specific folder or account, turn your out-of-office message off, and leave the work at the office. Curb the urge to take your work with you to truly unplug and rediscover your focus, creativity, and a healthier, happier frame of mind.
Christine Deschemin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Christine Deschemin is a certified hypnotherapist and founder of the Renewed Edge Hypnotherapy Centre in Hong Kong. With a keen interest in resilience, she leverages her experience as an athlete and as a former engineer and banker in high-stress environments with her executive and sports clients. In March 2020, she released the UpNow hypnosis app to bring the benefits of self-hypnosis to the fingertips of anyone in need. The self-hypnosis downloads can be accessed online and offline to make mental health aids very affordable. In addition to her many scholastic achievements, Christine Deschemin has a Master of Science from the Ecole Polytechnique (France) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is fluent in four languages.
