As everyone who runs their own business knows and understands, stress is part of the game. It’s part of the package you signed on for when you made the decision to chart your own course and open your own business. The good news is that science has demonstrated (repeatedly) that we need a certain level of stress in our lives. It is the thing that keeps us sharp and on our toes, and, from a medical perspective, intermittent stress of moderate levels actually prompts the brain to create new cells that keep our memories sharper and our minds more agile.

Despite all that, it is equally well known that too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. High stress levels for prolonged periods can erode self-control, lead to depression, alcoholism and a variety of other chemical dependencies, and cause or worsen health problems like high blood pressure and heart disease.

The question then is how to walk the line. How do you go about keeping your stress levels high enough and intermittent enough to keep things interesting without going overboard and heading into dangerous waters? It seems clear that based on the above, those people who can do that and do it consistently will succeed more often than those who do not.

Don’t Be Afraid To Unplug

This is the biggest thing you can do for yourself, and if you’re of an entrepreneurial stripe, also one of the most difficult things to force yourself to do. After all, it’s your company. If you’re not actively engaged in it on a daily basis, if you’re not involved in every little detail (or at least as many as you can handle without going insane), then you don’t feel like you’re doing enough. Unplug. Learn to divorce yourself from your company on a regular basis. It not only gives you the chance to regroup and recharge, but when you plug back in, it gives you the ability to see things with a fresh set of eyes, and that fresh perspective can lead to solutions you might otherwise have missed.

Rely On Your Support System

Your support system isn’t just your professional connections and the inner circle you started the company with, but friends, family, the co-worker you sometimes play tennis with and more. Each of them provides you with something you need. Something non-work related, or at least not directly work related. Use that. Use your system of supports and connections to pump yourself up and center yourself when things begin to feel out of kilter, and make sure to be there when you’re called on to provide those same services for someone close to you.

Sleep

This one is easily overlooked, and almost as hard for some to do as it is to unplug. The reality, however, is that you’re not doing yourself or your company any favors by running on fumes. Rest and recharge. Give your brain a chance to unwind and process without the pressures of the day. Few things look as dire after a good night’s sleep as they did when you are staring them in the face in the midst of an unfolding crisis. Never underestimate the power of sleep.

There are more of course, but if the only things you do or change are these, you’ll find your stress levels dropping to manageable levels faster than you may have thought possible.