How to take care of yourself while setting up your business for success
When you’re starting a business, you put most of your time and effort into it. Ultimately, this leaves little time for you to take care of yourself. In fact, you may find yourself skipping self-care to focus on your start-up. This practice is counterproductive and may result in stress and poor work performance.
As a small business ourselves who have learnt a lot about the balance between professional life and personal life, here are our tips for self-care – that will ultimately better your business in the long run.
Improve Your Diet
Many business owners skip meals to focus on work. While this may save you time, it negatively affects energy levels. Even if you don’t notice the effects immediately, poor eating habits will catch up with you. For instance, if you’re not getting enough vitamin C, you’ll reduce your immune function, leading to you getting sick more frequently. Additionally, vitamin B-12 is necessary for your energy levels, and you’ll eventually become run down without enough of it.
Ideally, you should eat three balanced meals each day, meaning the meals have a protein, a carb, and a vitamin-rich food like a vegetable or fruit.
Ultimately, when you eat right, you’ll be more productive. You’ll obtain the nutrients your nerves, muscles, and organs need to function properly and protect yourself from getting run down.
Exercise Routinely
On average, you need 30 minutes of exercise per day to optimise your health. Exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight and prevent certain health issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Moreover, exercise releases endorphins—feel-good chemicals that reduce pain and stress.
If you can’t incorporate 30 minutes of exercise time, you can break it up. Take two 15-minute walks, or ride your exercise bike for 15 minutes and take three five-minute walks each day.
Stay Positive
Sometimes, this is easier said than done, but maintaining a positive attitude does wonders for your outlook. That’s a lot easier, actually, if you do what you can to turn your home into a kind of oasis, free of negativity and self-criticism, so that you have a place where you can replenish your energy after a long day.
Schedule Some Down Time
Burnout is very serious business, and if you don’t take steps to keep it at bay, it could get in the way of successfully growing your operation. So, whenever you can, schedule some down time, whether it’s a day away from the office or a few days to truly unwind. Instead of packing a bag and heading out of town, consider a staycation.
Incidentally, down time is a lot more attainable if you streamline your business – and that’s much easier if you enlist the services of a reputable company like We Are Copywriters, who can help you take your business website to the next level by integrating more SEO-savvy content.
Learn Better Time Management Skills
In some cases, you might be your own worst enemy when it comes to becoming burnt out. Sometimes, the problem lies with time management skills. Fortunately, you can learn better time management skills to make managing your business smoother and give yourself more time.
For instance, create a to-do list each day. You’ll then have clear tasks and goals so you know exactly what you need to accomplish.
Recognise your distractions and find a way to eliminate them. If your phone is a distraction, place it in another room. If you find yourself reading the news too much, close all other windows on your browser besides what you need for work.
Prioritise Self-Care
Learning skills to help you more effectively manage your business can help you have more time for self-care. However, you must also take the initiative to prioritise your own well-being.