So much is happening on a daily basis: there is too much work to do and too few hours. Or alternatively, our heads may be full of issues, ideas, strategies, searching for solutions to our challenges. And yet, it's actually even more crucial, at pressurised times to find some time just to sit, ponder, and be quiet. This article encourages you to take time for yourself and your mental and physical health, away from work or daily stresses.
The fact that all the responsibilities of owning and running a small business rest squarely on your shoulders, probably causes you a lot of stress. And that's before you've even started with the hard work and long hours. Adopting some stress management techniques can help you cope and even use it productively. This article outlines the techniques you can use in your everyday life.
With SMEs usually having a small staff, the environment becomes quite intimate and your employees often feel like an extended family. So it's not surprising that a worker's death can sometimes be very difficult to deal with, particularly if the death was sudden and tragic. Accepting the death of an employee can be difficult for both you and your other employees. Here are a few suggestions to help you adjust with as little disruption to your business as possible.
For over 54 years FAMSA has been developing human potential by providing counselling, education and training for South Africans who want help with relationship issues. Communities have developed skills and gained from services work in FAMSA Focus areas such as Violence and Trauma; HIV/AIDS; Abusive relationships; Poverty and Relationship Breakdown. FAMSA’s Mission is to preserve the family with preventive and remedial services which build on existing strengths in individuals, couples, groups and communities and enables people to deal with modern day stressors and issues that threaten Family Life.
Running a small business usually means your working day is almost never a nine-to-five affair. While this is the fate of most entrepreneurs, it's important that you strike a balance between being on top of everything at work, spending time with your family and getting some much needed rest and relaxation. This article explores how finding a good balance between they key aspects in your life starts with learning to set boundaries.
As a SME owner you need to know yourself well. Why? Well, to a large extent the success of your enterprise will depend on you, and how you view and manage your world. You therefore need to take a critical and honest look at who you are and what has made you the person you are today. We all differ with regard to what factors cause stress in our lives. Here are some of the key factors that impact on our ability to manage stress in our lives.
Stress is part of daily life. For you as the entrepreneur there are many factors that may contribute to you experiencing stress. For example, you need to establish your business, have clarity on the products and services you offer, and ensure that you have the right calibre of staff who are trained to perform their tasks effectively. Over time additional stressors develop, therefore it's important to acknowledge and learn how to manage your stress. Do this quick assessment to see how stressed you really are.
With the pressure of an increasingly demanding lifestyle, finding a balance between work, personal life, and all other activities can be challenging. Sometimes we feel like the hours are not quite enough to complete the tasks we have in one day. This can make you feel incomplete or that you have wasted some of your time. Others feel they are productive enough and therefore don’t explore new ways of maximising productivity to go even further in life. Here are a few tips that may help you enhance your daily productivity.
As the owner of a small business, you may wonder what your employees' emotional or mental health has to do with you. Well, not only does an employee's mental frame of mind impact directly on his or her ability to perform, but also on your organisational productivity and profitability. If your company has a high employee turn-over rate, the environment is probably not an emotionally healthy one. Here are some tips to promote optimism, loyalty and the willingness to go the extra mile amongst your employees.
In the 1960′s, Alan Walker a Protestant clergyman, received a telephone call from a Roy Brown, a man who was so desperate that he said he had written a letter, outlining his intention to commit suicide. The minister arranged to met him the following Tuesday, but before the meeting could take place, he learned that Roy Brown had committed suicide.
It was then that Alan Walker decided to start a telephone service that would offer support and hope to those in distress. LifeLine came into being in Sydney, in 1963.
The Rev. George Irvine, and The Rev. Paul Welsh started LifeLine Ekurhuleni (East Rand) in Benoni in 1970.
As a business owner you have most likely have quite a bit of experience in dealing with various “obstacles”. These may come in different guises e.g. a new product or service that is slow to take off, having a variable cash flow but fixed overheads, handling demanding tasks or clients, etc. The key question is: How do you manoeuvre yourself through these situations without becoming negative, angry, feeling helpless or staying stuck? This article explores some of the options available to you.
It may seem as though some of us get more knocks in life than others. The truth is that some people can ride with what life gives them, whereas others have difficulty doing so. The difference is what is referred to as “emotional resilience”. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from all kinds of experiences and feelings: grief, depression, humiliation, depression, fear, etc. Resilience gives us the opportunity to recover from what we “perceived” as a disaster or failure and to try again.
Stress is expressed in many different ways. Usually there are some subtle (or obvious) signs that you are out of balance. When you ignore these signs they tend to become more exaggerated, to the extent that you will become physically ill if you fail to take prompt and preventative action. This article provides a comprehensive list of the various symptoms you can experience as a result of stress.
SADAG is a Non-Profit Organisation, a Registered Section 21 Company, with an 18a tax exemption. It has on its board a powerful team of Patients, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and General Practitioners. SADAG was established twenty years ago to serve as a support network for the thousands of South Africans who live with mental health problems. Currently, it is estimated that 1 in 5 people will, or do, suffer from a mental illness. SADAG manages a 16-line counselling-and-referral call centre, and is the voice of patient advocacy, working in urban, peri-urban, and the most rural communities across South Africa.
No one can question the immensely positive impact technology has had on business and our lives. Communication is faster and easier. We can access information quicker. We can reach others more easily, etc. There are amazing advantages for all of us. Relationships are being affected both positively and negatively. We can quite easily identify how relationships are benefiting, so this article rather explores some of the areas we need to focus on more closely.
When last did you laugh so much that your stomach started to ache or you just could not stop? Yesterday, last month or over a year ago? Well humour is one of the most powerful coping strategies in life. This article looks at the health and emotional benefits of laughter as well as how you can bring more laughter into your life.
Your immediate reaction may be: “I can skip reading this, I am fine” or “yes, I know my health isn’t perfect, but there is no time to deal with that now.” So if anything, see this article as helping you with a quick assessment to determine if you need to take action soon or change some habits. Our health determines whether we will be in a position to run a business. Take heed of the small warning bells, as life has this habit of making the warning bells stronger should we ignore them!
