“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

As a business owner, there’s nothing like a hard day’s work doing something you love. But while that inner sense of accomplishment is great, it often can cause stress to invade your daily routine in many different ways.

Let’s go over some things you can incorporate easily into your daily routine to alleviate your stress load:

1. Be an Early Bird!

Let’s think about this logically. What time of day is always the quietest and most calming of all? Early morning: from 4:30am-6:00am.

Your neighbor’s are asleep, your family’s still in bed, and there are rarely any cars buzzing by your home. Take advantage of this opportunity to sit down for at least 30 minutes…have a cup of coffee, read the paper (or a book) in total and utter silence.

If you have a habit of going to bed late and getting up late, don’t try to make the change too drastically. Personally, I developed a really bad habit of doing this during college but I gradually started shaving 30-45 minutes off of my nights every week and as a result adding 30-45 minutes to my days.

2. Thanks Giving

No, not just the holiday. Take a few minutes out of your day to think about everything and everyone in your life that you’re thankful for. You’d be surprised at how something so simple will keep you going!

3. Review your Day

Take a few minutes every night (maybe after dinner) and reflect on your day, your goals you set for the day and how you did in accomplishing those goals.

Have a bad day? No sweat. As long as you take the time to acknowledge them when they happen and work at accomplishing your daily goals, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to improve yourself for the following day.

4. Reading is Fundamental

Sit down every day and read a book or a magazine….anything as long as it’s not related to work! A great book will allow you to escape your stresses — every time.

5. Talk to Your Spouse

This is a big one. Simply because work-related stress can easily make your loved ones stressed. Take an hour every day (I prefer nights) to sit down and have a real conversation with your spouse about your day and how it went, what your goals were, how your favorite sports team is doing…and then ask him/her how their day was. If you have kids, split the hour in half…focus half of it on them by playing with them, helping them study or simply by reading to them.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means so if you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment!