Once you reach a major milestone growing your start-up, survival isn’t your primary concern anymore. Now you’re hoping to develop your business and begin growing what you created into something big and prosperous. But, this new chapter transitioning from entrepreneur to CEO isn’t easy. In fact, it may the most stressful part of your journey so far.

First, you need to know where you are now and know what might be holding back your business right now. Is it overwhelm or working IN your business not ON your business. Is it bright, shiny object syndrome? Are you a control freak and having a hard time delegating? Are there undefined roles on your team? Remember, what got you here might not get you there.

5 Secrets To Reduce Stress While Growing Your Business

1.Go Digital

To get to the level you are at, more customers or clients are interested in your company and the products or services you provide. But each one of these prospects can come with a trail of paperwork if you haven’t clearly created the systems to start and stay digital as you run your business. Communications, quotes, receipts, invoices, faxes and customer notes can pile up on your desk and the sheer number of envelopes you have to open daily can cost you a lot of time. If you prefer the digital life, why not choose a company like physicaladdress.com that can digitize your mail, leaving you paper free at home?

Going digital is amazing. I use Evernote and dropbox to manage all of my files. I don’t print anything and prefer to keep all of my to-do lists online. If I have to write down my daily to-do list, I write it on my dry-erase board.  I am actually getting rid of all of my books too and just going to be reading on my kindle. It’s amazing how great it feels to get rid of all the papers you really don’t need that just make you feel overwhelmed, stressed and disorganized.

2. Outsource

Outsourcing is one of the best ways to cope as your business grows and we at CCG highly recommend that you get yourself a virtual assistant ASAP (you’ll thank us later)! You can also look into using a telephone answering service to deal with the growing number of people contacting you as well. You might even choose to outsource your web service so you don’t have to keep the website going by yourself. This will give you the option to expand its reach and its functionality and start delegating what you hate doing yourself. Why not see if your entire ordering system can be automated, freeing you up from sending confirmation emails back and forth?

3. Self-care and Unplug

Rest and relaxation are essential for the busy entrepreneur. You have a very high risk of burnout. Take an hour for yourself every day that is just for supporting your body and mind. You may choose half an hour of exercise and half an hour of reading a favorite novel. It doesn’t matter what you do providing it’s a clean break from the business. It will help you focus more, sleep better, and cope with the stress of running a business.

Make sure you are also unplugging from your phone and computer. You should have dedicated times to be “on” and then batch check administrative items such as social media and checking email so you can focus as much as you can on revenue-producing items.

4. Consistent Planning and Routines

A clear strategy with detailed objectives and goals can help reduce stress as your business develops. Knowing exactly where you’re going and how you’re going to get there takes the pressure off the day-to-day tasks. Listing your day-to-day duties and making them more routine can also help. You’ll become quicker and more efficient at them and you won’t have to make so many decisions throughout the day. Routine should be your best friend so you can save the important decisions for running your business. After all, the more you do something, the more relaxed you’ll be at it which can apply to everything from updating your blog to pitching presentations.

5. Be Honest

Here are some really important questions to ask yourself today to become the CEO you need to be next year:

-Who do you have to become to lead your team as a CEO?

-What change do you need to make?

-What is the most powerful action you can take right now?

-If you are committed to everything, you are committed to nothing. What are you committed to?

Reduce stress now and increase your longevity in this business. It’s important that you take the time to relax and switch off.

[RELATED: How to Make the Transition From Entrepreneur to CEO]