USA Today’s Rhonda Abrams recently discussed a common problem among small business owners- the addiction to business adrenaline. Of course, the ability to handle crisis situations and challenges is a must when it comes to management, but Abrams claims the thrill may actually push entrepreneurs to create their own obstacles.
She lists a few ways to keep the feeling positive and beneficial instead of stressful:
- Accept it positively:
Face is, you’re not suddenly going to be Zen-like. Recognize that challenges motivate you, and structure your business so you can undertake positive new tasks while still taking care of routine business. Give yourself hard-to-reach goals, especially sales objectives.
Get energized- and get your adrenaline going- by giving yourself big audacious goals you have to reach and a reason to get up every morning.
- Prioritize:
It’s true that squeaky wheels get the grease as well as getting your adrenaline wheels spinning, but sometimes the quiet engine requires the most tending.
Identify the most important ingredients for your success and make sure you’re concentrating on those. Don’t let urgent but unimportant matters keep you from the really important stuff.
Develop mechanisms for making the truly vital activities also the urgent ones, perhaps by manufacturing deadlines with consequences even if no external deadlines exist.
- Redefine boredom:
I once asked a former neighbor, a young emergency-room physician fresh from school, how work was that day.
He replied, “Awful. Everyone only had minor injuries; nothing was very interesting.” What a dismal way to view one’s work. Things had to be bad to be good.
Be careful you’re not seeking the business equivalent. Concentrate on the big picture.
I used to feel bored if I wasn’t really, really busy- phones constantly ringing, huge to-do list, and one emergency after the other. It took a while to realize that all that busy-ness didn’t add up to productivity.
I acknowledged that what really keeps me from being bored is constantly learning new things. And it doesn’t take an emergency for that.
- Add risk to your life:
If you’re addicted to adrenaline, give yourself adrenaline rushes through appropriate nonbusiness risks.
It doesn’t have to be a physical risk, like skydiving or bungee jumping. It can be simple, such as joining the local Toastmasters to overcome your fear of public speaking or auditioning for community theater.
- Get a happy life:
When your life is going really well, you won’t want to spend your energy on problems.
It’s amazing how much perspective you suddenly get on business crises when you have other, wonderful ways to spend your time. Having a happy life doesn’t mean you won’t have real business emergencies, you’ll just be less interested in creating them.
So if you spend all of your time putting out business fires, get out of the office and take care of the rest of your life. You may find some of the work fires extinguish themselves.
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