Last month's article focused on managing the minds of your furloughed workers, but how are you managing your own mind?
The Coronavirus epidemic has hit businesses hard. There are lots of facilities available to support those suffering with the physical effects of the virus but what about the effects on one’s mental health. Where is the help there? As a business owner, there is a lot to consider and it’s not just about now, but the knock-on effect on your cash flow further down the line. There are conflicting decisions that must be made. Do you risk taking your staff back on now in case there is a second wave and you lose the option to furlough? Are you having to make decisions to make good staff redundant or worse still, close your business? All of these things can play havoc with your thoughts and create sleepless nights, which further affects your mental wellbeing.
Focusing on your business and the impact is a great way of distracting you from what is really going on with yourself. It is so important to take time to reflect on how you are. Not taking note of your mental wellbeing now can have a much bigger impact on your mental health later down the line. Then who will be there to manage your business? Be your own observer and look for the changes in your behaviour. Are you more impatient than usual? Are you being short tempered with your staff or family? Are you fighting with dark thoughts? Does your heart race every time you think of the worst case scenario?
Then there is self-talk. How aware of you of your internal dialogue? This is influenced by your subconscious mind, and it reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas. Self-talk can be both negative and positive, depending on your personality. If you are an optimist, your self-talk may be more hopeful and positive whilst the opposite is generally true if you are more of a pessimist.
Positive thinking and optimism can be effective stress management tools, as well as providing you with some great health benefits. Before you can learn to practice more positive self-talk, you must first identify negative thinking. This generally falls into four categories:
Personalising – You blame yourself for everything
Magnifying – You focus on the negative aspects of a situation, ignoring any or all of the positive
Catastrophising – You expect the worst, and you rarely let logic or reason persuade you otherwise
Polarising – You see the world in black and white, or good and bad. There’s nothing in between and no middle ground for processing and categorising life events.
There are some things in life that you just can’t control, however there are always solutions. They may not be the ones you want to hear but there are options. Firstly, know you are one of thousands going through the same issues – you aren’t alone. Secondly, remember to breathe. Scientific studies have shown that correct breathing can help manage stress and stress-related conditions by soothing the autonomic nervous system. Breathing exercises can significantly reduce anxiety and reverse your body’s natural reaction to stressful conditions, which will help you manage negative emotions and even physical pain more effectively. Be self-aware. What is your internal dialogue and how can you flip this around?
But most importantly talk! Talking through your options with someone who understands can help offload and often help you find a way forward – doom mongering’ will not help you, your family or your business.
So dig deep, breathe through it, and talk!
