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Stressing about your work/life balance?

Anna Stubbs • April 27, 2023

Trying to get perfect the work/life balance can be a cause of stress in itself. If you are feeling the strain of building your business and maintaining your life the good news is that stress and a productive existence can go hand in hand. Be mindful and you can find the balance that’s best for you.


How much stress is good for you?

The Yerkes-Dodson law shows that an individual's performance increases with stress (arousal) until cortisol levels get too high and then decreases again just as sharply - the secret is to stop your stress levels sending you down the other side of the bell curve. How much is too much varies for everyone but by understanding and managing your stress levels you can use them for good.


How to manage your stress

  • Take Control - Feeling in control can decrease stress from negative levels by presenting the stress causes as surmountable challenges. Get a handle on your project, your tasks or your day by breaking them down into achievable goals and making choices about what to prioritise
  • Get positive - Your perception of your stress is important, rather than leading to panic and inertia recognise the first quickening of your heart rate calmly as powerful, making you more alert and capable
  • Connect - Social support reduces stress so good relationships within a team and the wider office environment make everyone more resilient to stress
  • Exercise - A good workout reduces bad stress and is good for the brain as well as the heart and lungs.
  • Sleep - Poor sleep is bad for stress levels and health so be disciplined about getting a good night’s rest, being exhausted will increase susceptibility to further stress and damage productivity.


If work stress is getting too much, talk to us.


We can help with managing systems, technology, payroll or other financial and administrative management. We can help with your business worries so you can get back on track.

Making Tax Digital to be extended to more sole traders and landlords

By Anna Stubbs • April 9, 2025
Hiding in the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announcements published on 26 March was a technical note entitled ‘Modernising the tax system through Making Tax Digital‘. This note announces that the income threshold for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax & Self Assessment (or MTD for ITSA) is to drop to £20,000 per annum for sole traders and landlords. If you fall into this category, this means moving your tax completely over to digital by April 2026. But don’t worry, let’s see what MTD for ITSA is all about.

Reducing the uncertainty: financial forecasting and planning

By Anna Stubbs • April 9, 2025
Uncertainty can be a major threat to your strategic financial planning. Being unsure of what lies around the corner makes it difficult to make those important financial decisions around operational budgets, investment and growth funding. But by using forecasting and scenario-planning, you make it easier to manage your finances and reduce some of the financial uncertainty.

What's new in Xero (Spring 2025)

By Anna Stubbs • April 9, 2025
Some great new enhancements have come to Xero in the first few months of the year, here's some important features that have been released: Enhancements to the new invoicing Keyboard shortcuts. Drag and drop attachments. Date Picker quick select. Exchange rate adjustments in the invoice. Tracking categories for invoices. Automated bill entry The ability to upload bills directly to Xero, create one or many bills by dragging and dropping multiple files. Xero creates draft bills with the key details, and the original document is attached. Other important features (region dependent) Bank feed updates (Australia adds Suncorp Bank, United States gains PNC Commercial). Simplified whole operations with improved sales orders (United States). Easier 1099 reporting and filing (United States). Streamlined tax workflow and compliance (United Kingdom). Easier reporting (United States Schedule C compliance report, New Zealand not-for-profit tier 3 & 4 PBE reports). For the full breakdown read Xero's update .
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