Often referring to careers and other related scenarios, burnout is a state in which an individual may enter as a result of overly excessive and prolonged stressful situations.
This is often related to careers as an individual may feel strained by their responsibilities and job tasks that they are assigned. In the modern world, burnout has been shown to be becoming a greater and greater presence (1).
When it comes to work-life balance for entrepreneurs and individuals who work from home, can be even greater due to the additional stresses that an individual may experience in these circumstances.
Burnout is something that all individuals should strive to avoid due to the huge impact that it can have on an individual’s life, as well as the ways in which it may affect other areas of their life.
What is Substance Misuse?
Substance misuse – often referred to as an addiction – is a disorder in which an individual becomes dependent on a substance or substances due to the ways in which it affects the body.
Despite the negative consequences of substance misuse and abuse, an individual who is addicted will continue to consume the substance they are addicted to and will begin to experience deterioration in a number of different areas of their lives, often needing help in the form of inpatient or at-home rehab and detox.
Considered to be a mental health issue itself, addiction is something that occurs for a number of different reasons depending on the individual, their personal differences, and their lifestyle.
However, stress is known to be one of the most common reasons why an individual develops an addiction and that is the primary focus of this article.
How Might Burnout Lead to Substance Misuse?
As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for an individual’s development of an addiction may be due to stress and pressures that they are subject to as a part of their daily life.
The short-term ‘benefits’ of consuming recreational substances can often be an ‘escape’ for some individuals, and it may be seen as their way of coping with their situation, without taking any additional steps to stem the stress at its source.
In these situations, an individual can often enter a vicious cycle of addiction where they may begin to consume more and more of the substance as their tolerance grows and as their stress continues to impact their lifestyle.
In addition, substance misuse is known to co-occur with other mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, or borderline personality disorder (BPD), meaning that burnout is even more of a challenge to overcome in some situations.
Creating a Healthy Work-Life Balance – Why is it Important?
When an individual is self-employed or a ‘home entrepreneur’, then there are even more reasons why they may struggle with additional stresses and pressures as a part of their daily career routine.
This is why it is essential to create a some style of work-life balance for entrepreneurs that works for their needs, requirements, and suitability, without sacrificing their business.
A healthy work-life balance refers to a state of routine in which an individual can comfortably manage both their professional and their personal life, without difficulties or challenges in one area affecting the other.
This is essential for business owners, as well as for those who work from home alone, as it allows for greater general overall productivity (2).
Top Tips for Creating a Healthy Work-Life Balance
So how can a home entrepreneur create a healthy work-life balance for entrepreneurs? This can be achieved in a multitude of different ways – all of which depend on an individual’s personal preferences, habits, and their flexibility on change within their work and personal life.
The following 5 points cover some of the main focusses of creating a healthy work-life balance for entrepreneurs, each of which individuals will be able to apply in their own unique and tailored way.
This ensures that these changes are suitable for them and do not impact their business, their wellbeing, or their regular work routine.
1. Physical Location Separation
One of the first steps that individuals are recommended when setting up their own business or workplace at home is to ensure that there is some form of physical separation in terms of where an individual conducts their business and where they have space outside of work.
For example, having a dedicated study room or desk is a great way to create separation between work and pleasure meaning that, when an individual is finished with work, they are able to make the mental distinction between being ‘switched on’ for work and when this is no longer something they have to consider.
If it is not possible for an individual to have an entirely separate space for work compared to general space, then setting up and putting away equipment/tools for work can be another way to achieve this, playing on the idea of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.
2. Creating a Realistic Schedule
Another way to create a health balance between work and time off is to create a schedule that an individual will realistically be able to follow.
For example, knowing that work takes place between dedicated hours of the day and that any other issue outside of these hours can be dealt with later creates a strong sense of divide and balance.
However, the ‘realistic’ portion of this top tip is the essential part as, without honest expectations of workload/time taken for this, individuals may run over or under time, creating additional stress and adding to the overall challenges.
3. Fair Workloads
Similar to having realistic time schedules for completing work, it is therefore just as important for individuals to only accept as much work as they can viably manage.
This means not saying yes to every job that may cross their desk or taking on more duties than the individual can handle.
Often, knowing that there is more and more work to complete creates huge amounts of stress, again adding to the risk of burnout and generally creating an imbalance in an individual’s professional and personal life.
4. Ensuring Suitable Pay
In all cases of home entrepreneurs and working from home, these individuals should ensure that they are being paid correctly for their time.
Though it is hard at the beginning of an entrepreneurial journey to see the value of the product or service the individual is providing, this comes over time and should never be less than the individual feels comfortable with and/or is worth their time.
5. Taking Time Off
In all cases of burnout and stress as a home entrepreneur, it is always recommended to take a break every now and then.
Although not everyone who works from home can afford to take time off, this can refer to small periods of time in which an individual thinks of nothing work-related and completely switches off from their professional life, even if only for an evening, for example.
Getting Help for Burnout and Substance Misuse Today
To seek help for burnout and substance misuse today, individuals should always contact their local health services to get further information on mental health services and, if necessary, suitable addiction treatment (rehabilitation) services.
References
[1] Edú-Valsania, S., Laguía, A. and Moriano, J.A., 2022. Burnout: A review of theory and measurement. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), p.1780.
[2] Meenakshi, S.P., Subrahmanyam, V. and Ravichandran, K., 2013. The importance of work-life-balance. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 14(3), pp.31-35.
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