Being an entrepreneur is stressful enough, but managing a venture during pandemic times is problematic. We are in World War 111, and it's humans versus the Covid-19 virus. But this battle is different from a military confrontation—we can't see the enemy, and it plays both a biological and psychological game with us. The world's largest psychological experiment is happening, and we are the lab rats.
We can choose to be lab subjects, or we can decide to take control of the situation. While viruses are very adaptive, we have the intelligence weapon in our arsenal, which has given us the edge in our evolutionary past. Can we outthink a creature constantly rewriting its DNA and hosting it in our bodies?
Twin psychological effects
In a June 2020 study, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracked 5,412 U.S. adults and found a marked increase in mental health issues. For example, the CDC study showed that 25.5 percent and 24.3 percent, respectively, had symptoms of anxiety and depression three times and four times the data from 2019.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, we had an epidemic called stress in the workplace. According to the WHO, it is the "global health epidemic of the 21st century." The current crisis has increased stress to extreme levels, and our minds are in battle station mode, as the military describes reacting to a grave and imminent threat. However, the human brain cannot function effectively if continuously given negative news. This extreme stress leads to anxiety, panic disorders, other mental health issues, and poor decision-making.
High anxiety is a common problem in these times. It is a state where we are worried about the future. Entrepreneurs have an obsession with the future and the constant need to stay focused on planning and implementing. While anxiety is not bad, a higher level can have some harmful effects. Although worrying has some benefits, as a carefree person can quickly become a low performer, being concerned motivates us to action. "Moderate anxiety is our friend", says David Barlow, founder of Boston University's Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders.
Anxiety has been referred to as the "Shadow of Intelligence" as it pushes us to think and plan for the future, at times, though it can be obsessive and destructive. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs are perfectionists and want to cover all their bases to prevent the odd event from destroying their life's work—the venture they have created.
While I am not a clinical psychologist, and you are probably neither, we still should know some basics. After all, we all have minds which determine our success, happiness, and well-being. You might think that we live in a hopeless situation. However, resilience sheds light on how humans can survive and emerge victorious even when the odds are heavily stacked against them. Extreme uncertainty and trauma might be the mind's enemy, but there is a way to navigate out.
Resilience psychology
Norman Garmezy, a developmental psychologist, told a story of a boy with the "bread sandwich". The University of Minnesota professor studied thousands of children in his four decades of research, but one story has stayed with him. He remembers a nine-year-old boy who came from a home with an absent father and an alcoholic mother. He would come to school with two slices of bread as there was no one to make this sandwich and nothing else to put inside it.
Garmezy would later recall the boy wanted to make sure that "no one would feel pity for him and no one would know the ineptitude of his mother." Each day, he would arrive at school with a smile on his face and a "bread sandwich" in his bag.
As the "boy with the bread sandwich" showed, some are not devastated by their situation. They even did better than others who had more opportunities. While difficult to measure, resilience is your ability to bounce back from a challenging problem. As we all know, successful entrepreneurs overcome extreme odds with limited resources. Resilience might be one of the drivers of their success.
Resilience strategies
What can you do to improve your chances of overcoming extreme stress and anxiety and improve your overall mental health?
1. Control what you can: often, we become overwhelmed with what we have to do. Time management with proper scheduling can reduce anxiety about forgetting an appointment. On the other hand, don't try to do too much, and remember that your smartphone can help you plan your days. Also, note that you have no control over some things; don't let it burden you.
2. Manage your energy levels: just as time management is essential, your oomph levels are crucial if you are like me with a lot of horsepower in the mornings, try to do the difficult things before noon, and cruise later with the less demanding stuff.
3. Take a break: this might be a monumental task for an overachieving entrepreneur. I sometimes work for forty-five minutes and take a break by walking to my backyard garden (sometimes I will have a hand-picked fruit) or have a short nap. Research shows that a ten to twenty-minute siesta can recharge your batteries. Over that time limit, your nighttime sleep will be negatively impacted.
4. Social closeness: the current advice is to practise social distancing. This approach is bad advice as we want to share our feelings and thoughts; we are social creatures. The term should be physical distancing, keeping us safe from the virus.
SME & Family Business Advisor & Author
Fellow of the Family Firm Institute
Build Your Legacy Business: Solopreneur To Family Business Hero
Sajjad Hamid is an Entrepreneurship Educator who supports entrepreneurs in scaling their ventures. In his spare time in Trinidad and Tobago, he tries to produce organic tropical fruits and vegetables and practise sustainable farming in his home garden.
You can contact him at [email protected]
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