Rise to the occasion: the art of balancing business and self-care

If you’re an entrepreneur, raise your hand. Okay, so technically I can’t see if you raised your hand or not, but chances are you… did. I guessed this because according to Apollo Technical, there are 31 million entrepreneurs in the US. Can I make another pretty spot-on guess? I’m sure most of us in that category struggle with maintaining a work-life balance.

Most people who work for someone else probably heard about the company’s work-life balance policy at some point. But what if you work for yourself? What policies do you have in place to ensure that you won’t burn out? Sometimes, we tend to forget that following your dreams and working on your passion is work, too. Not only is it work, but it’s WAY more work than a 9 to 5 because you really are working nonstop — there’s no clock out time.

So, how do we establish some boundaries with ourselves and implement work-life balance? Well, this is different for everyone. Some people work best at night while others prefer working during traditional “work hours”, etc. Whatever your workday looks like, here are some things I’ve implemented and helped me tremendously:

Time management: it doesn’t matter what time of day you get the most work done — make sure there is structure and an end time. If you want to devote 5 hours each day to your business, only give it 5 hours each day and stop when those 5 hours are up. It’s very easy to ignore our own structure when there’s no one micromanaging us, but your life will be so much better off if you do.
Setting boundaries: I can honestly write an entire post about this, but I’ll keep it short because I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. Set healthy boundaries and stick to them. It’s not enough to set boundaries and break them — there’s honestly no point and I can attest to this. Set boundaries with clients, vendors, or whoever you work with, and make sure you are also abiding by your own boundaries. It’s the only way they will work.
Self-care: this one is near and dear to my heart because it truly changed the game for me. If you relate to working hours and hours in front of a computer, please read this until the end. There’s nothing like being young but feeling like your body has lived decades and decades because everything hurts. Don’t let this be you! Take mid-day walks, get up from your computer chair and do a 5-minute stretch, meditate whenever you’re feeling flustered or overwhelmed, and most of all don’t let work become your idol. There is so much more to life than business, no matter how much your passion fuels you!

I’ve struggled with keeping up with these practices, but the better I become at utilizing them, the better my overall health has been. I feel more recharged when working and that’s what I want you to feel! I encourage you to figure out what work-life balance looks like for you and get to it!

Sincerely,
SOS