For business owners, the "hustle" is often romanticized, but the reality is much heavier.&nbsp;It’s a constant state of low-level anxiety—the "mental tabs" left open to keep track of every granular detail about our buyers, deliveries, pricing, and more.&nbsp;This invisible mental load is the silent engine of burnout.&nbsp;We believe that your business should support your life, not consume it. That’s why we’ve spent the last few months working with some of our farms and hubs to build a suite of tools designed to do one thing: act as an external hard drive for your business so you can reclaim your mental bandwidth.From the Wholesale Buyer CRM that becomes your business’ Farm Diary, to an alternative CSA model that provides upfront capital for your materials – every update has been crafted to give you breathing room. By automating the "busy work,” we are helping you build a business that can finally breathe. You didn't start this journey to become a data manager or a logistics coordinator—you started it to farm.We’re on a mission to end farmer burnout – starting with providing the infrastructure that protects your energy.&nbsp;When you offload those mental tabs to the Rooted platform, you aren’t just getting organized; you’re clearing the "workbench" of your mind. We’ve built the systems to handle the "how," so you can get back to the magic of the "what." Explore the full "Burnout Cure" series and the tools we’re building to fight it on our blog, and see how these new features can help you fall in love with how you spend your days all over again.LINKS TO SERIES ARTICLES<a href="https://www.rootedfarmers.com/blog/your-farm-front-and-center-introducing-updated-public-profiles">Public Profiles and Special Requests</a>Mailchimp and Routific Integrations (coming soon!)Wholesale Buyer CRM (coming soon!)Farm Shares &amp; Retail Buyer CRM (coming soon!)Internal Notes and Webinar! (coming soon!)

For business owners, the "hustle" is often romanticized, but the reality is much heavier.  It’s a constant state of low-level anxiety—the "mental tabs" left open to keep track of every granular detail about our buyers, deliveries, pricing, and more.  We're on a mission to help you fix that.

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The Burnout Cure:  Reclaim Your Mental Bandwidth with Heavy-Lifting Tools

<blockquote><h3>“Never make any decisions about the farm in August.”</h3>Ash Hobson-Carr, Hazel Witch Farm, Mechanicsville, VA</blockquote>Let’s talk burnout, friends.We’ve all been there: whether it hits you in August – when the days are long, your body is tired, and you feel like hanging up your shears – or it hits you in November – when you’ve powered through your season on coffee and dreams of colder days to come, wondering if you’re really going to be able to do this all over again next year.You are not alone in this feeling – even the most experienced and driven among us land in this headspace. A 2019 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950665/">Canadian study</a> of more than 1,000 small farms examined the three components of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy) among its farmers, and 57% of respondents fell somewhere in the measurable spectrum of burnout. So, you are most definitely not alone.<h4>Profile of a Farmer: Burnout in Canada</h4><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1637933076/pie_chart_a43fbeabc0.png" alt="pie chart.png" width="1770" height="788">There are two important questions to ask when it comes to this feeling and its impact on your business:<ul><li>How do I recover from burnout?</li><li>How do I prevent burnout in the future?</li></ul><h2>How do I recover from burnout?</h2>Acknowledging it is the first step. Now let’s look at a couple of ways to begin to recover:<h3>1. Rest</h3>You will never realize just how much you needed rest until you are rested. “But I don’t have TIME to rest,” said everyone with burnout, ever. We know the feeling, but the reality is that you don’t have time to not rest.You will be more productive, more efficient, and more resilient when you are rested, so the sooner you create space for rest, the sooner you will be back to your old self. If you absolutely cannot pull yourself away for rest, then make a plan for a day or time when you can – and stick to it! A few things to keep in mind:<h4>Rest looks different for everyone.</h4>Strategies: For some, rest means a vigorous cardio workout; for others, it may mean sitting quietly with a book or magazine. For some, rest is a weekend away, and for others, it may be taking back 30 minutes each day for some dedicated work-free time.The important thing to recognize is that in order to continue operating a sustainable business over the long-term, you need to carve out this time for yourself. You are making a healthy decision for your business, your family and friends, and yourself.<h4>Disconnecting is critical</h4>It is not rest if you are actively working. If you’re scrolling social media, answering emails, or brainstorming solutions to challenges within your business, then you are not resting.Strategy: Set aside time when you can completely disconnect from your phone/computer/colleagues in order to allow your mind time to completely disconnect from your work. Disconnecting is what allows your mind the space to reset, and ultimately come back ready to perform at your best.<h4>Rest is not selfish</h4>This is a myth, friends! Rest is what allows you to refuel; you wouldn’t expect your delivery van to run for eternity without giving it some juice – your mind and body work the same way. You are going to show up stronger and with greater presence for everyone in your life if you are feeling energized. You cannot fill others’ cups if you are running on empty – a very unselfish deed, indeed.Strategy: Reframe your mindset about rest; if it helps, consider it an investment in building a more resilient version of yourself for the benefit of your friends, family, and business.<h3>2. Reconnect with what you love</h3>This may be something in your work that sparks joy – maybe you fell in love with floral design and just don’t have the time for it right now – or it could be something entirely unrelated to your work – maybe you are an extrovert who has been isolated at work and need to reconnect with friends.Strategy: Reconnecting with what you love could mean people, hobbies, or places. What brings you joy and energizes you is going to look different for everyone; consider the activities, hobbies, friends, places, etc. that have helped to lighten you in this way in the past, and make a plan to weave them into your life. Tip: including these in your daily life in an ongoing way can help you to stave off burnout in the future, too!<h2>How do I prevent burnout in the future?</h2>After you’ve started working through your burnout, the next step is to make a plan to prevent or minimize it in the future. There are a number of strategies to preventing burnout; the solution that is right for you is likely a combination of these and more, and it will look slightly different for everyone.<h3>3. Set Boundaries</h3>Many of us live in our place of work – your farm is an extension of your home, so physical separation can be a challenge. However, it’s vital to create some sense of boundaries because as psychologist Evan Bick, noted “it’s just not possible to fulfill the fantasy of being 100% committed to work, 100% committed to friends and family, and 100% committed to taking care of ourselves” simultaneously.While many of these lines will inevitably blur in a home-based business, it is important to remember that this constant blurring of boundaries and lines can also be a slippery slope toward burnout.Strategy: Look for ways to segment your time or your place of work. Evan reminds us that “one of the benefits of drawing effective boundaries is that it allows you to be fully present in what you’re doing in the moment. If you’re spending time with your family, for example, and notice your attention wandering back to unfinished work tasks, gently remind yourself to focus on what’s happening in front of you. Ask yourself:Are there areas of your home that can be off-limits for work?Are there times of day that you can shift gears out of work and into family time or dedicated quiet time? Are you able to take 30 minutes of quiet time for yourself before you start the day?Do you have (or need) limits set for your social media or device use?<h3>4. Prioritize</h3>There is a difference between urgency and importance; some tasks are both important and urgent, and some are not. Running a business is a marathon, not a sprint. Not everything needs to be completed today.Strategy: Lists can be an extremely helpful way to organize your thoughts and tasks, and to help you sort out which of these are urgent and important (high priority), and which are important, but less urgent (lower priority). If you are still unsure about a particular task, try using a what-if question for tasks that you are unsure about with regard to urgency (e.g. “what if I wait to do this until tomorrow? Or next week?).Consider making daily or weekly lists for yourself, and utilizing calendar reminders (either on your phone, written on a paper or whiteboard calendar) for tasks that are not urgent and can be done at a later date. If you have a tendency to wake up overnight remembering things, keep a notepad by your bed to record these reminders. Writing tasks or thoughts down on paper removes the mental load of remembering these items, while still letting you keep track of – and plan for – your urgent (and not-so-urgent!) to-dos.<h3>5. Beware of Multitasking!</h3>Multitasking is often an unavoidable reality of wearing many hats, but there are many times where it actually slows us down (gasp!).Certain types of multitasking – scheduling phone calls while you are harvesting, or listening to podcasts while processing product – can be both efficient and effective; but others can end up slowing you down (e.g., trying to train a new employee on an unrelated skill while also checking your harvest list), and yield poorer results all around – often even leading to repetition of the tasks at hand.Strategy: Be honest with yourself about where you feel able to effectively multitask, and where there are areas in which you would be more efficient if you are fully present. For those tasks that require singular focus – writing proposals, sorting orders, operating heavy machinery – consider how to best segment your time to allow for dedicated attention and staying on task.If possible, physically separating yourself from possible distractions is ideal. If physical separation is not possible, try letting those around you know that you are available if something urgent comes up, but otherwise are focused on [insert task here] for the next [X minutes/hours]. A less direct approach is to don visible headphones/earbuds; even if you aren’t listening to anything, they can send a signal to those around you that you are trying to focus!<h3>6. Be Ruthless about Your Value-Add</h3>Value-add work is work that adds value to your business. Growing more product adds value (increased supply) to your business. Visiting buyers adds value (quality time, relationship building).Your value-add is value-add work that only you can and should be doing, and could not be effectively automated or outsourced to someone else. Remember: your time has value. You have a finite number of hours in each day, and how you choose to spend them will drive outcomes in your business and in your personal life. You’ve heard it before: work smarter, not harder. Now it’s time to apply this principle to your own business.Consider the following scenario described by Brie Quinn &amp; Brendan Cullinane of <a href="https://www.fairlanefarm.com/">Fairlane Farm in Maine</a>: notes are written by hand in the field, transcribed into a Google sheets document, and sent to a wholesale client list to notify them of availability. As order and product inquiries happen throughout the day via phone and email, the Google Sheet needs to be manually updated to accurately reflect availability. Repeat this process 2-3 times a week.Does this process sound familiar? Where is Brie and Brendan’s value-add in this scenario? Are there any steps in this workflow that could be reduced or eliminated? Take a few moments to complete this exercise for your own business:What are the areas of your work that you absolutely have to do? What can be outsourced?Which are the areas of your work that spark joy for you? Which are the areas that drain you?Where do you spend the majority of your time in the off-season? Where do you spend it during production season? Do these tasks align with your answers to the above questions?If you had more time/labor/resources/help, where would you ideally like to be spending your time in your work or personal life?Strategy: When you reflect on your answers to the questions above, remember that your time has value. Time spent on unnecessary, or non-value-add tasks is time that you cannot spend on the other areas of your business and personal life. Identifying and reducing or eliminating these non-value-add tasks is a key step in growing your business and making it more sustainable over the long-run.If you had extra time each week, would you spend it growing more product (value-add)? Harvesting and selling more (value-add)? Meeting new buyers (value-add)? Enjoying time with your kiddos or partner (most definitely value-add!)? The possibilities are endless!Brie and Brendan track their hours and workflows carefully, and found that after joining Rooted, they estimate saving 6 hours a week! That’s almost a full workday EVERY WEEK! Between inventory management, order logistics, customer management and, growers who switch from Google Sheets, Shopify, text, or DM-based sales are reclaiming their time. Learn more about how the Rooted platform can help you spend more time on your value-add work <a href="https://www.rootedfarmers.com/farmers">here</a>.<blockquote>“Rooted has given us a tool which has had a significant effect on our operation. It dramatically increases our efficiency in making and executing sales. That efficiency gives us the time needed to focus on production and opens a channel to scalability and profitability that would not have otherwise existed.” - Brendan Cullinane &amp; Brie Quinn, Fairlane Farm</blockquote>For a more in-depth look at the mental-health implications of burnout and strategies for setting up healthy work habits, take a look at our <a href="https://www.rootedfarmers.com/blog/mental-health/">discussion on mental health for farmers with Psychologist Evan Bick</a>.

Strategies for recovering and avoiding future farmer burnout. 

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Burnout: 6 Ways to Recover & Prevent It

Flower farming involves many repetitive activities such as bending, pulling, twisting and carrying. Repetitive motions can cause stress and strain on the body, and in particular the soft tissues such as tendons, muscles, and ligaments. Pain can occur anywhere, but common sites may be neck and back, knees, wrists, and shoulders.<h2>Prevention</h2>Early identification of the problem can help to prevent a minor ache or pain or injury from becoming a bigger issue in the future. One way to combat an issue early on, is through activity modification. Activity modification means to change or adjust how a particular activity or task is being completed. This can include minimizing time spent in sustained postures, changing positions frequently, taking more frequent breaks, intermittent stretching, changing tasks, and using proper tools. For instance, it may be better to use a kneeling pad in order to get close to the ground to weed, rather than bending over at the waist and reaching for the ground. Other examples may include: making sure tools are sharp to prevent overuse, using stools or steps to assist in reaching to prevent overextending, and changing from a kneeling to a sitting position.When moving loads, these are some things to keep in mind to keep yourself safe. In general, pushing-type activities are safer than pulling-type activities. Use tools and help from other people for lifting and moving. For instance, using a cart or wagon to move a load from one place to another is much less stressful on the body when compared to carrying it alone. Using a helper to move heavy and/or awkward shaped items will greatly decrease the work. Sometimes this may take a bit more planning (such as moving objects only when someone is available to help) or time, but in the end could save you oodles of time that could be lost due to an injury.In addition, using proper lifting mechanics can save your back from a serious injury. This includes squatting down to the load and lifting with your legs versus bending at your waist and lifting from your back. Other tips include: keeping the load close to your body, creating a shorter lever arm, and moving your body as one versus twisting (do not keep feet in one place and rotate your body while holding a load).<h2>Simple Stretches</h2>There are some simple stretches that can be done anywhere, without any equipment to help combat the stress and strain that may result from work activities. These stretches shown below can be done as a warm-up prior to starting work, and/or throughout the day. The stretches should be gentle and not forced. Forcing through a stretch can result in injury. If you have a history of injury, surgery or other concern, consult a medical professional before adding to your routine.<h2>Hands, Wrists, and Arms</h2>These are two stretches for the muscles in the forearm that extend and flex the wrist. The forearm muscles are very active in weeding, pruning and many other activities. Hold each position for 20-30 seconds, 2x on each side. This one is easy to do throughout the day after repetitive activity.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_hand1_d8d2de1d65.jpg" alt="article-rmip-hand1.jpg" width="214" height="182"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_hand2_3db4ee4add.jpg" alt="article-rmip-hand2.jpg" width="214" height="179"><h2>Back and Hips</h2>This is a stretch for the low back and hips. Begin on all fours in a crawling position and then flex and extend through the low back and hips. Movements should be gentle and controlled. Reverse positions approximately 10 times.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_back1_14cdbf484a.jpg" alt="article-rmip-back1.jpg" width="294" height="182"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_back2_72ac30da36.jpg" alt="article-rmip-back2.jpg" width="295" height="193">This is a stretch for hip flexors that likely feel tight after a lot of bending and squatting. Stand in a split stance position and then slowly shift your weight forward so that you feel a stretch on the front of your hips (the leg that is behind should feel the stretch).<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_back3_04d5ab438b.jpg" alt="article-rmip-back3.jpg" width="164" height="235"><h2>Chest &amp; Shoulders</h2>Below are two stretches for the chest and shoulders. In the first one clasp your hands together behind your back and then slowly pull away from your body. Hold this for 20 seconds. Keep breathing gently as you stretch. Do not hold your breath. For the second stretch, begin with your hands extended in front of you and then open the arms wide to get a nice stretch across your chest and shoulders. Hold for a couple seconds and repeat five times. This is a nice one that can be completed anywhere.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_chest1_793b9f3b1a.jpg" alt="article-rmip-chest1.jpg" width="252" height="299"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_chest2_78ce95b2ae.jpg" alt="article-rmip-chest2.jpg" width="337" height="180"><h2>Lower Body</h2>This is a stretch for hamstrings that also can feel tight after lots of squatting. Be sure to bend at your hips rather than through your back. Keep the knee straight of the leg you are stretching. You should feel the stretch down the back of your leg. The hip flexor stretch above and the hamstring stretch below can both be done for 30-60 seconds and on both sides, preferably two times on each side. Remember to breath as you stretch.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_lower1_0eb4035eea.jpg" alt="article-rmip-lower1.jpg" width="285" height="214">The following is a movement to help moves into more extension-based movements as we tend to use our flexor muscle groups much more frequently than our extensor muscle groups. To start this exercise, you begin in a crawling position with your back in neutral, hands under your shoulders and knees under hips. Then extend back one leg and reach forward with opposite arm. Make yourself long, versus reaching toward the ceiling. Hold this position for 1-2 seconds and then repeat with opposite side. Complete 10-12 reps on each side.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728573/article_rmip_lower2_b373267697.jpg" alt="article-rmip-lower2.jpg" width="344" height="208"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/djd5ioypi/image/upload/v1625728574/article_rmip_lower3_5c6a2ef5a6.jpg" alt="article-rmip-lower3.jpg" width="344" height="168"><h2>Wrapping Up</h2>Please note that the focus of this article was to introduce some simple stretches that can be completed nearly anywhere. There are also many variations of strengthening exercises that can be done to further combat injury, using simple bands and body weight. However, that would be beyond the scope of this article. It is always best to consult an MD or PT before starting any new exercise program.

Simple stretches can be done anywhere, without any equipment to help combat the stress and strain that may result from work activities.

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Repetitive Motion Injuries: Simple Stretches for Flower Farmers

Most farmers will affirm that farming is both the most wonderful and most difficult work they have ever undertaken. Our focus here is on coping with some of the challenges that often accompany this line of work.While we should always be conscious about the impact of mental health on our work and our community, it is even more important in today’s COVID-19 climate to maintain an open dialogue on these issues.We encourage you to read through our conversation with psychologist Evan Bick, PsyD, below. Evan was kind enough to share some of his thoughts and strategies around how we can work through some of the unique challenges that we face in agriculture. Our exchange below is intended to help reduce the stigma around this topic, and to encourage you to seek out resources to help maintain your own mental health as you work to support the communities around you.If you or someone you know are struggling with any thoughts of self-harm or suicide, you should phone 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.Farming is often an all-consuming profession (or hobby). Many farmers live on the property that they are farming, so there is no physical boundary between them and their work. Separately, as a generalization, we farmers tend to be the type of personality that has difficulty knowing when to stop. Work/life balance is a consistent challenge for most of us, but it is made more difficult to overcome without some of the more typical work/life boundaries in place. Are there strategies that might be helpful to us in recognizing when we should draw a line?It’s important for everyone to find ways to create effective boundaries between the various aspects of their lives, for at least a couple of different reasons. Perhaps most importantly, it’s just not possible to fulfill the fantasy of being 100% committed to work, 100% committed to friends and family, and 100% committed to taking care of ourselves. Another reason is that trying to get everything done at the same time, all the time, usually makes us less effective in each of those areas. While we’re all discovering this in the age of coronavirus, working from home, etc., farmers have always had a couple of obstacles that make this particularly hard. As you mentioned, living and working in the same place makes it ‘easy’ for these different domains to bleed into each other.I encourage the people I work with to think about three things in order to maintain the work-life boundaries that make it easier to function effectively. First, be explicit with yourself about when you’re working, and when you’re not working. This could take the form of a schedule or simply setting rules for yourself (like “when I’m in the kitchen, I’m not working”). Of course, what this looks like would be different for everyone.The second strategy, which might sound ridiculous, is to multitask as little as possible! One of the benefits of drawing these effective boundaries is that it allows you to be fully present in what you’re doing in the moment. If you’re spending time with your family, for example, and notice your attention wandering back to unfinished work tasks, gently remind yourself to focus on what’s happening in front of you.The third strategy is to give yourself permission to put things aside when you need to! It can be really difficult to allow yourself to, for example, take time for exercise when there are work tasks you could theoretically be doing, but it’s important to recognize that making time for each of these roles will be helpful in the long run.There are meaningful layers of this field of work that are out of our control, but also have a tremendous impact on our ability to produce quality product. The weather, pests, economic pressures, or simply time. What would you recommend to someone who might be starting to feel overwhelmed by these stressors that can derail our best-laid plans? Are there coping tactics that can help us to manage how we approach these issues?One of the easiest ways to get frustrated is to be in a situation where we feel responsible for things we can’t control, and of course farming of any type is more susceptible to this problem than lots of other professions—weather, insects, or just changes in the market can have an important impact on how successful you feel as a farmer. One way to push back against this tendency is to focus on aspects of your performance that actually are within your control—asking yourself “am I doing the best that I can, regardless of what the outcome is?”Similarly, it’s often helpful to evaluate yourself by how much effort you are putting into a task, rather than the results. Effort is nearly always within your control, but results may not be.Farming is a very physical job, so it is easy to convince ourselves that we are getting “exercise” in our day-to-day, but I suspect that manual labor does not meet the quota for what you would consider healthy physical maintenance. Can you talk a bit about the intersection between physical health and mental health, and how we might reframe our thinking about how we are approaching our own physical health? What are some of the items you would put on your “must do” list for physical health if you were a farmer?Exercise is another area where it can be difficult to separate work from other aspects of life, particularly when work seems to provide all the physical exertion you can handle. While I’m not an expert on the relationship between physical exercise and mood, it’s worth noting that not all activity is the same when it comes to physical and mental health. In particular, cardiovascular exercise seems to have more of a positive effect on mood than other types of physical exertion, and it’s easy to imagine that the types of highly-repetitive movements that come up in farming could contribute to injuries in the long run if you’re not able to incorporate other forms of exercise.In addition to the straightforward physical benefits, it’s also helpful to think about exercise as a way to make time for yourself.Social media is a big marketing driver for our industry, so it is a necessary tool for our businesses, but there are a number of studies that have shown that social media can be damaging to self-esteem and mental health. Are there strategies (or tools) that we can use to learn how to use social media in a healthy way, or limit our use to only that which is necessary for our business? (Think apps, or time limits, or alternatives to mindless scrolling)It would be useful to try to separate how you use social media as a business tool, which is an important part of running a small business, from how you use it to connect with friends, etc. If you can, it might be helpful to consider scheduling social media time to avoid letting these different aspects of your life blur into each other.One thing to pay attention to, particularly when using social media tools to build connections, is our tendency to compare ourselves to what we see friends and role models post on social media. It’s easy to become frustrated when we compare the highlights of our friends’ or role models’ lives to the challenges that we have to face day-to-day, so I often encourage people to remember that what we see on social media probably isn’t a direct comparison to our own lives.Similarly, social media presents a lot of opportunities for negative comparisons to other farmers, who seem to ‘have it all,’ at least on Instagram. It’s helpful to recognize both sides of the thoughts that come up in this situation—not just “oh, that person’s life seems so great” but also “I should be more like them” or “I’m not doing as well as they are.” Ask yourself, “Is that true? What does their experience have to do with me?”For farmers who are pursuing this as a full-time career (or even those who aren’t!), it can feel daunting – or even negligent – to consider taking time away from the operation that we are responsible for running to focus on ourselves. Whether that comes in the form of time with friends and family, or basic self-care, or indulgences that might help us restore and reset. The idea that “if I don’t do it, no one else will,” can be paralyzing when we begin to consider these as options. What would you say to someone who is having trouble justifying their own time away from their farm work?At the risk of sounding like a cliché, running any kind of business is a marathon, not a sprint! I can think of a couple of ways to consider reframing the concerns you mentioned about “if I don’t do it, no one else will.” The first is to recognize that part of successfully running a business is to figure out how to run it sustainably, and one of the things that needs to be sustained is you! It’s just not possible to work at 100% effort forever. A helpful tool can be to ask yourself “what would I say to a friend who was dealing with these problems?”One other perspective, of course, is to think about the fact that feeling like a complete person probably requires taking some time to address the other aspects of life you mentioned, in addition to focusing on work. So, I would boil these two points down to say that setting effective boundaries between work and other parts of your life is a) necessary to be successful in running a business in the long run and b) something that you deserve whether or not it helps the business!There can be a stigma around asking for help in an industry that is often characterized by its toughness as a badge of honor. At what point should we reflect on our own mental health and consider seeking some outside help from a trained professional? Are there signs that we should look for in ourselves – or our colleagues, employees, or friends – that might be indicators that we should loop in a therapist or doctor? How should we think about the stigma?There are two ways to think about this question. First, we can think about some of the key symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are the types of mental health problems most likely to arise from work or family stress. Key symptoms of depression include negative thoughts about yourself, lack of motivation or energy, changes in sleep or appetite, and difficulty with attention or concentration. Thoughts about death or suicide can also be a symptom of depression and should be discussed immediately with a health care provider or emergency services.Symptoms of anxiety might include worry that feels out of control, or a sudden rush of fear or panic that seems to come “out of nowhere.”Another way to think about mental health concerns is to be on the lookout for changes from what feels normal for you. You are almost certainly your best resource for noticing changes that might be helpful to discuss with a health care provider or therapist.Unfortunately, the stigma that still exists around mental health can be an obstacle to seeking treatment, and it certainly can be hard to admit that things aren’t working the way we want them to. It’s helpful to think about mental health treatment as a way to get back on track towards your goals, rather than a sign that something is “broken” or that you’re weak.What are some resources out there for folks who might be looking for some outside help from a mental health professional, but aren’t sure how to go about that?Primary care doctors are a great resource for getting started in talking to a mental health professional. Many primary care practices have mental health therapists and prescribers “built in” to the practice, which makes it easier to get started.One benefit of the coronavirus outbreak, as strange as it is to say, is that many therapists and insurance companies are transitioning to new models of providing care, such as virtual visits/telehealth, and hopefully this will continue to make access easier in the future, particularly for people living in rural areas who may have difficulty accessing care.You can also use a resource like <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us">Phychology Today</a> to find a therapist near you, or other helpful online resources like <a href="https://www.headspace.com/">Headspace</a> and <a href="https://www.talkspace.com/">Talkspace</a>.

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Health & Well-Being

4 Articles in Health & Well-Being

The Burnout Cure: Reclaim Your Mental Bandwidth with Heavy-Lifting Tools

Burnout: 6 Ways to Recover & Prevent It

Repetitive Motion Injuries: Simple Stretches for Flower Farmers

Mental Health for Farmers

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