It can be challenging to work for yourself, and that burnout and stress are real concerns. As a business owner or entrepreneur, you often must work unusual hours, deal with time pressures, irregular money, all while the risk of failure is constantly looming around. However, self-care should be part of the process for any entrepreneur. Self-care is an activity that helps you maintain your mental, emotional, and physical health, and it makes you feel relaxed, healthy, and ready to face the world.
Here are some simple and easy-to-implement self-care practices that will help you soar even higher in both your personal and business life.
Create ‘me time’ in your routine
Whether it’s journaling, meditating, or going for a walk in the neighborhood, successful entrepreneurs should make a spot for some me time in their daily schedules. This means finding moments to quiet your mind, check with yourself, or chill out so you can start your work anew. Gather your thoughts, contemplate on the day, and review where you are now and where you are going.
The me time also can be as simple as enjoying some extra time in the morning, slowing down during the day, and eating lunch without responding to emails. While your successful achievements may come with status, success also can make you feel isolated and lonely. That’s why mindfulness is important. Mindfulness is learning to focus on your present experience and connect with other people on a deeper level, which are both important for your happiness and overall well-being.
Automate and delegate what you can
Countless new tools and apps appear every day to help make entrepreneurs’ lives easier while doing business. There are new robots that act as assistants, accounting software that sorts out your records, and payroll systems that automate your staff’s payments. There are also formation services that can handle the establishment of your business structure for less than a lawyer would charge you. When doing your research on which model to choose, consider going for the one that helps your business the most and saves you stress and time.
Most small businesses choose to form an LLC since it’s easier to establish with little paperwork, offers tax deductions and limited liability if something happens with your company, and increases your flexibility. You can handle the formation by yourself or hand it to a professional service so you can focus on other parts of your business that need your attention. If you decide to file the paperwork yourself, make sure you check your state’s laws before moving forward with the process.
Overall, automate and delegate everything you can as it makes your business work smoother and saves you time, stress, and money. This way, you can make more time for the things that matter, like self-care.
Stay active
Have a break to work out during the day, be it in the early morning hours or whenever you find time. If you are working from home and the gym is too far away to lose that time commuting, join an online class, do yoga, or create a fitness station near your office and do bodyweight exercises. Sometimes and for some, it’s difficult to see the value of taking time to work out. However, when you consider that exercise boosts your energy levels, improves focus, relieves stress, and enhances creativity and confidence, the value of physical activity to entrepreneurs becomes obvious.
The bottom line
You should never hold off on self-care, no matter how hectic your daily schedule is. The idea of working hard most of the week and recovering in a day or two is a ridiculous concept, and you should treat it as such. Rather, balance your personal life with your career, and you’ll see how things—both in business and everyday life—will improve significantly.
Derek Goodman
Derek Goodman is an entrepreneur. He’d always wanted to make his own future, and he knew growing his own business was the only way to do that. He created his site Inbizability, to offer you tips, tricks, and resources so that you realize your business ability and potential now, not later.
