#166 6 Daily Habits That Create Burnout For Small Business Owners

In this conversation, Ilonka Ras discusses the pervasive issue of burnout among business owners, emphasising that it often sneaks up on individuals and manifests through various emotional and physical symptoms. She identifies three primary causes of burnout: chronic stress, ineffective planning, and operating from a place of fear. Ilonka also outlines six daily habits that contribute to burnout and offers actionable strategies for creating a sustainable business environment that prioritises proactive rest and effective planning.

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Transcript

Ilonka Ras (00:00.108)
Let's talk about burnout because as a business owners, it's something we all want to avoid. You may even be wondering whether you are currently in burnout and what you can do to get out. I've coached hundreds of business owners and we all tend to fall into the same burnout traps. I say we because I've been there too. The good news is that burnout doesn't happen overnight. It's not one big crash. The bad news is it can kind of sneak up on you if you're not aware of what creates it. 

Ilonka Ras (00:28.184)
For most of my clients, they recognize burnout pretty quickly because they are action takers and when they are in burnout, everything just feels like it's too much. The things they got done easily in the past now feel like mountains too big to climb. What burnout looks like for you might be different and you might not be experiencing all of the possible symptoms at once, but you will be experiencing at least a few of the common ones. Things like waking up tired, no matter how well you slept the night before, struggling to sleep. 

Ilonka Ras (00:56.116)
Isolating and pulling yourself away from people even though you know you need support. Overthinking even the smallest of things. Constantly feeling anxious, stressed, worried. Struggling to switch off but also not having energy to do anything productive. Feeling disconnected from your business, your purpose and really just questioning the point of all of it. I remember when I had burnout in my business it simply felt like I didn't have any more capacity. 

Ilonka Ras (01:22.39)
Even the smallest tasks and responsibilities felt like huge heavy obstacles. If you're watching this and thinking, yep, that's me, keep watching, because I'm going to break down the three biggest reasons business owners burn out without realizing it, six daily habits that drain your energy and create the perfect conditions for burnout, and how to set up your business to avoid burnout long term. Now, it's important to understand that burnout is an emotional response. It happens in your mind way before it happens in your body. 

Ilonka Ras (01:51.586)
Contrary to what most people think, burnout doesn't actually come from hard work. You can work hard even long hours, not that I would recommend it, without burning out. And it's because burnout is less about how much you work or how hard you work and more about how you work, your emotional response to situations and how well you manage your emotions day to day. Now, whenever I coach someone on burnout, there are always three specific things we can tie to the burnout. 

Ilonka Ras (02:20.131)
The first one is stress, but not just any stress, constant chronic stress. The kind of stress you know isn't healthy. It's constant stressful thoughts, almost like you're constantly in fight or flight mode. The thing about stress is that we often convince ourselves that stress is just a part of business. And so we don't always get a grip on it before it leads to burnout. Because we tell ourselves that stress and worry is just a part of running a business, 

Ilonka Ras (02:48.066)
We also tend to feel like if we do stress and worry about things that we are giving it our attention and that in itself can feel like we're being productive. But stressing and worrying about something isn't the same as doing something about it. And when we look at the things that cause stress and worry, so much of it can actually be solved by sitting down, making a plan and taking action. So take a moment to ask yourself what is causing the stress and worry for you right now. 

Ilonka Ras (03:17.336)
Can you do something about it, even if it's uncomfortable, even if it isn't easy? And for those things that are out of your control, find ways to create safety for yourself. Do breathing exercises, go for a walk, focus on what you can control and let go of what you can't. The second culprit behind burnout is ineffective planning. Now, most business owners fall into one of two categories when it comes to planning. Number one, they don't plan at all and they just sort of react to whatever is urgent. 

Ilonka Ras (03:47.2)
And number two, they plan for a perfect scenario where nothing ever goes wrong. Now, neither of these are helpful. Good planning includes the strategic action you want to take towards your goals. It takes into account the things that might not always go according to plan, and it includes time for rest. When I say rest, I mean real rest, not binging Netflix on one screen while catching up on emails on another. 

Ilonka Ras (04:13.229)
Real rest is where your brain can actually switch off from work, where it's getting time off from problem solving for your business. The third factor that always pops up for business owners who are in burnout is operating from a place of fear and urgency. This is where we view everything in our business as urgent and as life or death. Now the truth is everything isn't urgent, but when we operate from this place, we can make really bad decisions. 

Ilonka Ras (04:42.957)
And it's because we're reacting to everything, right? Which makes it hard to think things through or to think objectively about things. These three things create a cycle that can feel impossible to get out of. Stress makes it harder for you to plan. Poor planning makes you more reactive. And reacting instead of thinking strategically creates more stress. 

Ilonka Ras (05:04.953)
So you can stay stuck in this loop for months or even years. Burnout happens when we consistently do things that stress us out and that drains our energy. So preventing or even recovering from burnout is all about taking small steps consistently, doing more of what gives you energy and less of what doesn't. Managing your stress levels and emotions daily. So here are six of the daily habits I see most often in my clients that are a breeding ground. 

Ilonka Ras (05:34.383)
for burnout. Notice which of these you're doing so that you can replace each of these with healthier habits and start running your business in a more sustainable way. First on the list we have perfectionism. This is when you're constantly tweaking, adjusting, over analyzing, delaying because it isn't perfect yet. You're holding yourself and others to impossible standards. It's simply never enough and it's never done. Then we have avoiding negative emotions. 

Ilonka Ras (06:02.039)
When we avoid dealing with negative feelings, the difficult conversations or stepping out of our comfort zone we buffer by keeping ourselves busy. Staying busy is a lot easier than dealing with the stress, the uncertainty or the fear. Avoiding is when we push down the negative feelings like frustration, anger, overwhelm, instead of processing it. We tell ourselves, I'll deal with this later, but later never comes. 

Ilonka Ras (06:28.163)
Suppressing and avoiding your emotions increases stress and makes burnout worse. Next on the list is not giving yourself space to just be. You're always on, working, consuming content or checking your phone. You feel guilty when you're not being productive. You never give your brain a chance to pause, to do nothing. Number four is trading this moment for a future one. 

Ilonka Ras (06:54.701)
This is when you're constantly chasing the next thing, delaying joy and rest because you believe that future you will have more time. I'll rest when I hit X milestone. You allow burnout now because you think working more will create success later. A postponing rest just makes you more exhausted, less productive and less happy. You may even reach your goal only to realize that it isn't everything you thought it would be. Success should make your life better, not 

Ilonka Ras (07:24.495)
put it on hold. Number five ties into poor planning, specifically planning only for a success. You assume everything will go smoothly and when things go wrong, you panic instead of adjusting. You don't build in flexibility for setbacks. Now good planning includes buffer time. Expect that things are going to take longer than you planned. Have a backup plan for when things don't go as expected so you're prepared, not overwhelmed. 

Ilonka Ras (07:52.089)
And then finally, number six is only resting when you're exhausted. This is when you push through until you have no other choice but take a break. I call this reactive rest. This happens mostly because we don't see the value of rest. We see it as a reward for hard work and not something that fuels us for it. Reactive rest doesn't work. By the time you take a break, it's too late because you're already drained. Instead, build in proactive rest. 

Ilonka Ras (08:20.333)
Take time off before you hit a breaking point. Every business owner needs a game plan to prevent burnout. So here are three things you can incorporate into your business that will set the foundation for a burnout free business. Firstly, integrate real rest into your business growth strategy. Don't wait until you're exhausted to take a break. Plan your rest days, weekends off and vacations ahead of time. And make sure that when you do rest, that it is real proactive. 

Ilonka Ras (08:50.005)
rest. That you're allowing your brain to switch off from business and be present in your life. Secondly, set up systems. When your business has the right support structures in place, it will create space for you to breathe, think strategically and be more creative because you're not bogged down in the day-to-day operations. Systems will also help you to take vacations and time for rest without feeling like you need to check in all the time. Number three, plan your week in advance. 

Ilonka Ras (09:19.395)
Plan for the week instead of planning day by day. This will help you to think more strategically about the actions you take in your business and get you out of reaction mode. Remember to add white space and rest into your plan first before adding any work related appointments or activities. Rest should be a priority, not an afterthought. If you found this video helpful, share it with a friend in business and hit that subscribe button for more insights in designing a business that works for you. 

Ilonka Ras (09:48.861)
I'll see you next week.