/ 77 comments

Self-Care For Entrepreneurs

Self-care is necessary if you want to run a successful business. When we are fatigued and overworked we can’t make healthy business decisions. In this…

by  [email protected]

Self-care is necessary if you want to run a successful business. When we are fatigued and overworked we can’t make healthy business decisions. In this blog post, I share self-care tips and ideas that can give you some inspiration to implement a self-care routine!

Bree Marie

Okay, I have to start this off by saying that I’m selfishly writing this post for myself. Lately, I’ve been slacking on my self-care game and I sat down this past weekend to write out a list of things that I needed to implement back into my routine. 

After making this list, I thought that it would work perfectly as a blog post. 

Listen – I am in no way perfect when it comes to consistently practicing self-care. As someone who handles anxiety on a pretty regular basis – self-care is super important to me. My anxiety levels will usually be an indicator that I need to take a step back and spend some time lovin’ on myself. 

Self-care goes beyond the aesthetic stuff, like facemasks and getting your nails done. It’s about making a commitment to yourself and your wellbeing.

And as entrepreneurs, we are notorious for not taking care of ourselves, working long hours, putting our business’s needs before our own and barely leaving our desks or apartments. 

If you’ve ever found yourself wearing the same yoga pants for 3 days in a row and forgetting the last time you washed your hair…then you know what I mean. 

It’s become my belief that we actually accomplish LESS when we don’t take care of ourselves. Decisions get made that would be different if we had slept 8 hours the night before. We sloppily get things done because we haven’t eaten all day or we are late for our next meeting. We rush through reading over an important e-mail because it’s the 159th e-mail we’ve read that day and our eyes hurt. 

So, as my perspective shifted from not making self-care a priority to starting my day with myself as the focus…my business actually got better. My days got shorter but I got more work done. I was making more money with way less effort. Business became fun again. 

Here are 6 ways to practice self-care as an entrepreneur.

1. Make Sleep A Priority

You gotta sleep. Period the end.

There have been countless studies about how important sleep is for….pretty much everything in our body to function correctly.

There is this huge debate in the entrepreneur space around “hustling” and “resting”  How many of us have seen the Instagram or Snapchat stories of people bragging about staying up till 2 am to work or working for 15-16 hours a day.

And trust me – I’ve been there! When I worked my corporate job, I was working those 12-14 hour days and working on the weekends. It landed me in bed with anxiety and burn out. Now, when I see people that post on their social media that they’ve been working for 18 hours…I don’t see them as doing better than me or anyone else. My heart feels sad. And I want to take a nap FOR them. 

I’m not going to inundate you with studies about how important sleep is for our bodies. But a simple Google search with the word “sleep” in it will give you all the information you need.

2. Exercise

As much as it’s important to rest your body, it’s also equally important to move it. This is one of those things that seems like such common sense but people (myself included) completely skip over.

Working out is hard for me. I’m not the type of person who gets up and LOVES to sweat. I’m also not one of those girls who can just go to the gym and then throw some dry shampoo in her hair and be cute. When I work out, it looks like I dunked my head in a small birdbath. It’s an entire process. 

But working out is when I get my BEST ideas for my business. It’s where I come up with course ideas, blog post topics, and podcast episodes. I would probably create pretty crappy content if it weren’t for yoga classes or my afternoon walks. Seriously! 

How many of us find ourselves sitting at our desk for hours on hours and realize that we haven’t been outside since the morning? Working out and exercising doesn’t mean you need to find the closest CrossFit or buy a bunch of weights to put in your garage to collect dust…taking a simple walk a few times a day can be a great place to start.

3. Set Boundaries

One of the crazy cool things about having an online business is that you can work with people literally around the world. However, that also means that you can work 24/7 because of all the different time zones. It can be hard to keeping track of clients who are in different countries and then they email you their questions or want to schedule calls with you when it’s 2:30 am your time. 

One of the ways that were suggested to me by a mentor was to only have two days a week when you take client calls. Within those two days – you keep your schedule open and give your clients business hours. You set the perimeters and they work it in with their schedule. For any e-mails or texts that come in after those hours, you can respond to them the following day when you have time. Even though they are a client, you still need to have boundaries. 

This goes beyond clients as well. I can’t tell you how many times my family has asked me to do something because they think I’m just at home twiddling my thumbs and eating popcorn. Yes, I work from home. No, I cannot pick up your dry cleaning. Or take your dog to the vet. Or sign for that package. Or bring your forgotten lunch to work. Or go to a last-minute dinner. I’m working. Just like you. 

Set these boundaries ahead of time and learn to just say ‘NO.’ I fell into the habit of trying to rearrange my schedule or rush to places or bend over backward to help out a friend or family member only to experience anxiety and stress. Then that lead towards resentment to my friends and family when really – I could have just said ‘no.’ 

4. Make a hard cut off time for working

Speaking of boundaries, having business hours is a must. It doesn’t mean you have to work from 9-5 or 11-7 every day. But working into the wee hours of the morning or late into the evening can do more bad than good. The longer and harder you work, you’re actually producing less. You will make more mistakes and poorer decisions when you’re fatigued and overworked. 

This was one of the hardest things for me because I can be a #workacholic. But establishing hours that I would and would no work did wonders for my mental and physical health. 

I rarely work after 5 pm. And any “work” that I do after dinnertime is usually more creative activites surrounding my business. I do my best writing at night. I get my best ideas at night. But I’ve learned to jot them down and write quick drafts so I’m able to shut my mind off and get to bed at a decent hour.

5. Find a hobby outside of your work

Hobbies aren’t just for your grandma who goes to bingo three nights a week. Unless of course, you want to go to bingo with your grandma three nights a week! Hobbies are an important part of life. For many of us, our hobbies turned into our businesses. Which is great…we just need to find *new* hobbies. I like to think that one of my favorite hobbies is just having new experiences. Take a pottery class, learn to ice skate, take a cooking glass, try out paddleboarding. No one says you have to be the best at it – you just have to keep trying something new.

6. Do 1 thing a day that brings you joy

When was the last time that you felt a great sense of joy? Maybe it was over drinking a cup of coffee this morning before the day got started and the phone starts beeping and dinging? Maybe it was taking a yoga class? Maybe it was a 15-minute catnap this afternoon? Joy, to me, is one of the best and most expansive feelings that I can experience. It immediately grounds me and brings me back to what is important to me. I find joy in sitting with my dog and playing with him for 15 minutes in the middle of the day. Or, I like to sit outside with some water or tea for a few minutes…without my phone or laptop. When I feel the sun warm up my skin and my feet in the grass, I’m reminded that the things I’m stressed or worried about will all be solved. For the next few minutes, the only thing I need to do is be present. 

Obviously this is a very shortlist! There are tons of other ways to practice self-care. 

What are some ways that you practice self-care? Or is there a particular area of self-care that you want to focus more on?

I’d love to hear where you’re at in the comment section! 

77 comments

  5. 817153 502749This is the fitting weblog for anybody who desires to locate out about this topic. You notice a great deal its nearly onerous to argue with you (not that I truly would wantHaHa). You undoubtedly put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Good stuff, simply great! 550645

    Reply

  7. 674777 968974An intriguing discussion is going to be worth comment. I believe which you can write read a lot more about this topic, might effectively definitely be a taboo topic but usually folks are inadequate to chat on such topics. To a higher. Cheers 170115

    Reply

  8. 852896 522776This kind of publish appears to get yourself lots of visitors. How will you acquire traffic to that? It provides a terrific unique twist upon issues. I guess having something traditional or maybe substantial to give info on will be the central aspect. 536974

    Reply

  9. 776219 814383I was suggested this weblog by way of my cousin. Im no longer sure whether or not this put up is written by him as nobody else realize such detailed about my trouble. You are great! Thanks! 267718

    Reply

  20. 269611 175237Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn anything like this before. So good to find any person with some authentic thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this web site is something that is wanted on the internet, someone with a little bit originality. beneficial job for bringing something new to the web! 13567

    Reply

  22. 953982 722755Ive been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How regularly you update your internet web site? 128581

    Reply

  27. It is in reality a great and helpful piece of info. I am happy that you shared this useful info with us.

    Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  29. My programmer is trying to convince me to
    move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
    But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type
    on a variety of websites for about a year and am concerned about switching
    to another platform. I have heard great
    things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

  31. Doug, an Australian transplant, has generated a European style backpacker lodge having
    an open air gathering place that boasts internet access.
    But because volume increases, there will also be low-cost knockoffs available.
    These factors could become a life-changing injury should
    your career will depend on your fitness level or just being in your feet for prolonged periods.

    Reply

  39. Doug, an Australian transplant, has built a European style
    backpacker lodge having an open air gathering place that boasts
    internet access. But because volume increases, there will also be low-cost knockoffs available.
    However, if you utilize tall clients or clients of varying height and size, you could appreciate a massage table which is longer than the
    industry standard.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.