You’re all alone in the workplace…again. It’s been a crazy week at work. Your need for “entrepreneur self-care” is nowhere on your radar. You need to organize a high-visibility conference, lead a social media initiative, all while looking at a stack of unfinished paperwork. So, how are you going to squeeze all these responsibilities into regular work hours?
Self-care is all too often neglected as the go-getters in our midst put off “non-essentials” such as food and sleep long past the point of wisdom. They tend to work late, postpone time at the gym, reduce or even eliminate socialization, and even unintentionally miss meals. To keep pushing forward, they don’t think twice before making self-care a footnote, something other people need to worry about.
Typically, it takes some sort of unpleasant wake-up call to force them to realize how much their lives have suffered from a lack of balance. But it’s not an effective business strategy to wait for a rude wake-up call. Entrepreneur self-care is too important to ignore, and not all that difficult to implement. Here are a few thoughts to consider.
How much time should you spend on self-care?
Allocating 15 minutes per day for self-care is a good place to start. Choose a hobby you find relaxing that doesn’t involve work-related activities and indulge. According to Neal Taparia, founder of Solitaired, a short phone call with a friend, a calming game, or a quick swim in the pool are all great ideas. It’s up to you to decide what you find relaxing. If you don’t have any interest in activities like these, consider giving guided meditation a chance. According to Verywell Mind, fifteen minutes of meditation helps relax the mind and relieve tension.
Add self-care to your prioritized to-do list.
It’s much easier to achieve a goal once it’s been planned, whether that’s spending time at the gym, completing a work task, or attending a meeting. When it comes to self-care, apply the same principle. Self-care veterans know that it’s important to schedule these sessions, much like every other activity. They take short personal care periods throughout the day. This could be ten minutes of daily meditation, 15 minutes for a coffee break, or 20 minutes of reading right before bedtime. Don’t put off self-care until you have free time. That free time won’t magically appear. Make it a daily part of the schedule and a prioritized item on your to-do list.
Delegate.
Activities that consume your creativity or derail your creative process should be outsourced.
Bringing in the reinforcements will affect your margins at first. However, as any good CEO knows, building up a squad that helps you develop and thrive pays off in more ways than just increased sales. With reduced distractions, you are freed up to concentrate on inventiveness. You are able to innovate in your industry rather than being constantly distracted by daily operations.
Don’t be nervous about leaning harder on staff when you’re not feeling good or on the verge of burnout. That’s why they’re there in the first place. Assuming you’ve trained your staff correctly, they will take care of running your company so you can dedicate some time to yourself.
Choose a self-care method that’s creative.
These are challenging days and, as a result, we all tend to expect too much from ourselves. However, the more we push, the more time we require to recharge. In the rush of the day, it’s easy to lose sight of suppressed needs.
For example, if you feel like having a game night with friends, go ahead and organize one. Use a short break at work to relax and create a quiz in just a few minutes. Have fun making up questions you know everyone will enjoy. If you like blog writing and your job has nothing to do with it, it’s never been easier to dive in and start your own blog. Blogs are a great way to express yourself. If it helps you relax, it’s a legitimate form of self-care.
Asking for help is an acquired skill.
Make time to meet people working in your niche and especially others who aren’t. New viewpoints provide you with a much-required escape from boxed-in thinking. Get out of your office, catch up with a friend, or meet someone new (even online). Chat about something that isn’t related to your job and don’t hesitate to ask for help. Whenever you ask for help, you establish a bond with the other person or persons. Entrepreneur self-care means remembering that life is more than just your job, particularly human interaction. Humans are social beings that are intended to interact with others rather than work alone.
Look for short intervals of time throughout your day.
As previously mentioned, 15 minutes a day for self-care is a great starting point. However, if you want to take things to the next level, try taking more breaks throughout the day.
It can be helpful if you prepare in advance, especially if you tend to work nonstop. Prepare an agenda for the day that includes short periods for rest and breaks. Avoid the build-up of stress during the day. Some ways to help you remember to take breaks can be setting a timer on your phone, leaving time in between assignments when making a schedule, or going to get a snack or a drink.
The good news for entrepreneur self-care? You can say “No.”
Is a coworker looking for assistance at a time that clashes with something else on your schedule? Is a customer pressing you to finish “that other thing” today when you’re already overloaded?
The good news is that if you go home today at quitting time — rather than two hours later — the world is unlikely to end. To serve others well and continue to innovate, your private life and health need to be prioritized. If you haven’t already done so, learn how to politely say no and mean it. When you learn to say no effectively, you are better able to serve people from a place of strength and willingness. Saying yes when you mean no only contributes to bitterness, burnout, and lack of peace.
Why is self-care so important?
Self-care, just like anything else worth pursuing, necessitates commitment. If you’re like so many other successful entrepreneurs, deciding to invest in this way might sound like a waste of time. You’d probably prefer to spend that time working on new business ideas. However, there’s an overwhelming amount of evidence to suggest that implementing a few simple self-care ideas is well worth the time and effort.
From boosting productivity to living a more fulfilled life, the advantages of dedicating part of your time to self-care will become obvious in a short amount of time. Entrepreneur self-care can seem unnecessary at times, but the success of your endeavors depends in large part on your long-term durability.
