How do I deal with anxiety as an entrepreneur?

Updated 23 July 2026 by Chanelle Segerius-Bruce

Anxiety as an entrepreneur is far more common than most business owners admit out loud, and it rarely sits still. It swings. This guide covers the three levels of anxiety a high-performance coach taught me, how to recognise which one you are in at any given moment, and the practical things that bring you back to the middle. It is for anyone running a business while quietly white-knuckling their way through the week.

The three levels of anxiety

I work with a high-performance coach who is also a psychologist, and who has managed psychiatric wards. According to him there are three states of anxiety: top level, middle level and low level. What happens all too often is that we swing between the two extremities and never settle in the middle, which is the only one of the three you actually want to live in.

Knowing which state you are in matters more than it sounds, because the thing that helps in one is useless in the other. Pushing harder when you are already in the red makes it worse. Trying to calm down when you are flat on the sofa does nothing at all.

Top level anxiety, the red zone

This is the highest level, when your cortisol is high. The physical symptoms differ from person to person. Some people feel it in the stomach, some in the chest. Common signs are a racing heart, a chest that feels like it is closing, real difficulty breathing, and a tense knot in the stomach. It is a heightened place and not a good one to sit in.

Cortisol itself is not the enemy. If there is a tiger running after you, your cortisol rises and your instincts get you out of there, which is exactly what it is for. It is a good thing as long as it is temporary. When your body holds those levels too high for too long, that is when burnout, adrenal fatigue and a compromised immune response show up.

Breathe

Circular breathing: in for six seconds, hold for six, out for six. Go longer if that feels better, and experiment until you find something comfortable.

Meditate

Even a few minutes changes your stress levels. Insight Timer is an easy place to find a guided meditation. Try fifteen minutes and see how you go, then drop to five or ten if you settle quickly. Turn on Do Not Disturb first. I use an old iPod with meditations loaded on it so there is no temptation to check anything. A calming essential oil like lavender works well as an olfactory trigger, so your body learns what is coming.

Sleep properly

Aim for seven to nine hours. Insomnia can keep cortisol raised for hours afterwards. If a full night is not possible yet, take rest and breaks where you can, or simply lie down when the anxiety is high. Sleep before midnight is worth roughly double the same hour after it.

Unplug

Most of the anxiety comes from being available to everyone at the drop of a hat, distracted, pulled in a dozen directions and running around like a headless chicken. Solid routines fix more of this than any breathing exercise.

• Turn your notifications off, on the computer and the phone, one by one. WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, email, all of it. Do it right now. The only things that make a noise on my phone are actual calls, which are rare these days, and my calendar telling me to move to the next task.
• Block your calendar. Everything goes in: gym, the school run, client calls, work tasks, dinner, bath time, bedtime. Give email its own slots and stick to them.
• Use the limits your phone already has. Downtime shuts the apps off at a set time, app limits cap how long you spend, and Do Not Disturb keeps the evening yours.
• Keep people in separate buckets. Potential clients reach me one way, private coaching clients on Voxer, team tasks in Asana, urgent things on Telegram, and WhatsApp is only friends, family and the school chat.

The middle phase, the green zone

The middle is the optimal state, and it is the one to aim for. You are driven. You are hitting deadlines. You are writing, creating and doing the work that actually needs doing, without the sense that something terrible is about to happen.

The pattern to watch for is the swing: cortisol climbing until you are heading for burnout, then a crash down into the blue. If you recognise yourself in that, the goal is not to feel nothing. It is to spend more of your week in the middle.

Low level anxiety, the blue zone

Low anxiety is where you do not feel like doing anything at all. You want to lie down, bury yourself under the covers, watch Netflix and eat everything in the house. You are not motivated and not productive. You know exactly what needs doing and you are scrolling instead. Some days it feels bad enough that you want to throw in the towel. This is not a good place to sit either, and here you need to bring your energy up rather than down.

Laugh

Network, socialise, ring a friend, put a comedy on. One study found laughing drops cortisol by nearly half.

Eat like you mean it

Whole, unprocessed food instead of the binge foods. Leafy greens, colourful vegetables, low-sugar fruit, bananas, avocados, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, tuna, salmon and whole grains all help bring cortisol down. I make a green smoothie most days. Drink enough water while you are at it.

Move your body

When you love your business it is very easy to work straight through and skip the things that actually keep you steady. Half an hour of uninterrupted exercise gives you back more than it takes, in energy and in the ideas you need for the business. You end up producing more, not less.

Do something you enjoy. Walk on the beach, surf, gym, yoga, run, cycle, ride a horse. I went back to the gym after a three and a half year gap and felt the difference in my head before I felt it anywhere else. When you are low it is hard to picture yourself doing any of it, which is exactly when it helps most.

One caveat from my coach. Most of us multitask on a walk, taking photos or listening to a podcast, and normally that is fine. If you are in the red zone, leave the tech behind. Walk barefoot if you can, because it is properly grounding, look around, and let it be a walking meditation instead of another task.

Rachel Hollis makes the same point in Girl, Stop Apologising, in the section on building foundations for success. Of the highest performers in the world, the great athletes and the great businesswomen, something like 97 per cent work out at least five days a week. Not because they were handed better genes. Because energy begets energy.

There is no quick fix

None of this cures anxiety, and I would not trust anyone who told you otherwise. These are lifestyle changes you adopt over time, whether you are on medication or not, and that last part is a whole topic of its own. I am not on anything for it currently, and there is no judgement here if you are. I made a decision to work on my mental health steadily using the things above. Talk therapy has been enormously helpful too.

Please reach out to somebody if anxiety is overwhelming you. Do not suffer in silence.

Key takeaways

• There are three states of anxiety, and most people swing between the two extremes instead of settling in the middle.
• The red zone is high cortisol. Bring it down with breathing, meditation, sleep and cutting off notifications.
• The blue zone is flat and unmotivated. Bring it up with laughter, real food and movement.
• The green zone in the middle is where you are driven and producing, and that is the target.
• Cortisol is useful in short bursts and harmful when it stays high, which is how burnout starts.
• Routines and boundaries do more for anxiety than willpower does.
• There is no quick fix, and asking for help is part of the work, not a failure of it.

Frequently asked questions

What are the three levels of anxiety?

A high-performance coach I work with, who is also a psychologist, describes three states: top level or the red zone, where cortisol is high and the body is braced for danger; the middle or green zone, which is the optimal state where you are driven and getting things done; and low level or the blue zone, where you feel flat and cannot make yourself start. Most of us swing between the two extremes rather than sitting in the middle.

How do I know if I am in the red zone?

It shows up in the body before you name it. A racing heart, a chest that feels like it is closing, difficulty breathing, or a knot in the stomach. Everyone feels it somewhere slightly different, so learn your own signal.

Is high cortisol always a bad thing?

No. If something genuinely threatens you, high cortisol is what makes you act, and that is the point of it. The harm comes from staying there. Cortisol held high for too long is what leads to burnout, adrenal fatigue and a weakened immune response.

Does exercise actually help?

Half an hour of uninterrupted movement tends to give you back more than it costs, both in how you feel and in what you produce afterwards. If you are in the red zone, leave the phone behind and walk barefoot if you can, rather than turning the walk into another task.

What if I am on medication for anxiety?

These are lifestyle changes and they sit alongside whatever else you are doing, not instead of it. I am not on medication for this and I am not making a case either way, because that is a conversation for you and your doctor. Talk therapy helps a great deal too.

What should I do if it feels like too much?

Reach out to somebody. A friend, a therapist, your doctor. Do not sit with it on your own and wait for it to pass.