Legaledge fractional GC and fintech specialist Natalie Connor knows how it feels to be in the driving seat; not only has she exited one tech business as a director and board member, she is also the founder of an international wellness brand, Elevate, which specialises in helping bring busy founders back to their centre.
Combining her own health and work experiences (and in particular, lessons learned from dances with burnout both as a barrister and as a tech exec) with her passion for wellness, Natalie offers some highly practical guidance for founders to help keep them on the road to success.
Here’s what she has to say:
“Wellness isn’t a fluffy nice to have. Being well as a founder is crucial to the survival and success of your business. If you are not well emotionally, mentally or physically you won’t be able to give the best to your business or, the people working in it.
But there’s no way to sugar coat it – founding and running your own business is inescapably stressful and this can really take its toll on founders’ health.
When you are setting up and scaling your business, everything falls on your shoulders – from hiring and firing to fundraising (and everything in between). You’re likely to be eating, sleeping and breathing your business and feeling like you are always on, so it’s no wonder that “downtime” let alone “me time” is often non-existent for founders.”
So, what’s the answer?
Telling a time-poor founder to ‘meditate for an hour every morning’ or to ‘take up yoga’ often isn’t helpful because it is probably unrealistic.
Here are a few more practical suggestions:
Do you need more technology or less?
The answer might not always be more flashy tech (Fitbits, Apple watches, Oura rings). Sometimes we don’t need to be reminded of just how stressed we are and how badly we’re sleeping from the data, what we actually need to find are small ways each day to disconnect from the matrix altogether.
Take micro-breaks.
It’s been proven that taking regular ‘micro-breaks’ of between 30 seconds to 5 minutes can drastically reduce mental fatigue, lower cortisol and boost productivity. My favourite way to do this is to do a quick stretch or walk around the block (without my phone). And I always try and eat my lunch away from my laptop. See what works for you.
Understand your triggers and the stress response cycle.
Knowing when you are more likely to suffer stress and how you respond to it can really help you feel more in control at those difficult moments. And more than this, understanding that stress is a physical response within your body (not a mental one that you can just rationalise away) also really helps.
Movement is your friend.
Movement is probably our single biggest weapon in the fight against stress-related illness and decline, closely followed by breathwork and physical touch (there’s so much science behind the neurological benefits of a 10 second hug!).
Listen to those around you.
If your colleagues or your loved ones are telling you they are worried about how hard you are working or its effect on you, don’t dismiss it. Accept that they are trying to help you and recognise that sometimes you can’t assess the situation objectively when you’re ‘inside the jar’.
Be realistic.
Ten minutes that you can achieve regularly is far better than trying to do an hour’s exercise class that you end up cancelling every week. Keep it small and achievable – something is better than nothing. For me, I find the best use of 10 minutes is a quick guided meditation or an ice bath – it can really get you out of your head and into your body, and I really feel the difference afterwards on a productivity level.
Learn to delegate.
As your business grows, you will no longer be able to micromanage everything – even if you feel like you want to! Find good people who are experts in their fields, tell them what you want them to achieve and let them get on with it. It’s likely that they will know more about their specialist area than you and will do a better job, so trust your judgment and theirs.
Can we help?
At LegalEdge, one of the ways we reduce the lift on founders is by providing fractional and affordable in-house legal and people support as your business grows. Our services are flexible and offer excellent value in comparison with traditional law firms. Speak to us today: info@legaledge.co.uk
