12 Actionable Self Care Tips for Business Owners
The word ‘self care’ gets thrown around a lot, but the concept is incredibly important, so I wanted to focus on actionable self care for business owners, with practical that we can do to balance our work, life and wellbeing.
Let’s face it - ‘self care’ is a massive buzzword right now; and it’s somehow grown synonymous with taking a bath and lighting candles.
Those things may seem superficial, and probably aren’t good self care tips for being self employed in and of themselves, BUT the premise and concept behind them is still meaningful. It’s all about taking time for yourself and prioritising your own needs and time, above the stresses and responsibilities of the world!
In this blog post I’m going to share some actionable tips and prompts to help busy, overwhelmed business owners do more of this…
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Why is self care important for business owners?
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’; if you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll find it harder to find the energy and mindset to care for others… only in this case we’re talking about ‘pouring’ into our businesses.
When you run a business - whether solo or running a team - you have a lot of responsibility all on your shoulders. You wear so many hats and there are so many different things pulling for your attention and needing you to ‘pour’ into them.
We want to show up fully, as our ‘best selves’ in our business, so that we can give it the attention and passion it deserves! But if we don’t have the energy or the right headspace, it’s not possible to show up like this.
Even worse, if we’ve been too busy ‘pouring’ our cup away onto this and not re-filling it, we can easily get burnt out. This is terrible for your own health AND the health of your business…
What is burnout and what does it look like?
I’ve shared before about ways to avoid burnout and overwhelm, but it’s important to clarify the difference between normal levels of stress and actual ‘burnout’ - because we REALLY don’t want this…
Some symptoms include:
Feeling constantly drained/tired
Unmotivated or disengaged
Feeling defeated, helpless or detached
Low immunity, more illness or headaches/pain
Withdrawing & isolating
Burnout is essentially a step beyond stress, where you lose all motivation and engagement and it starts to negatively affect your work. If you’re worried you might be suffering from this, have a read of this burnout symptoms and prevention article with more information.
Learn about my story with overwhelm and burnout in my podcast episode about how to prioritise freedom in your business.
Let’s clarify what self care is not
So self care is making sure we are filling our own cup first and taking care of ourselves, so that we can stay mentally healthy and avoid burnout, and give our ‘best selves’ to our work and passions.
However because of it being a popular buzzword, self care is often misconstrued as permission to overindulge or stay comfortable/never step out of your comfort zone.
But sometimes REAL self care looks like doing something you don’t WANT to do, because you’re prioritising what you NEED in that moment.
Sometimes I don’t feel like leaving the house, let alone exercising, but the days when I push myself outside of my comfort zone to go for a run or go to the gym, I know afterwards that was the best thing I needed for self care.
I’m not saying that is true ALL the time (sometimes you do just need to rest, and be kind to yourself if you choose to go with your WANTS), but that’s just something to note!
So now let’s take a look at what self care can look like for business owners…
1. Prioritise your mental & physical health first
Before you roll your eyes and think I’m about to preach at you and tell you to go to the gym 5 times a week - I’m not. I recognise not everyone has the capacity or circumstances to always prioritise these things (which is why I’ve included point 2 straight under this tip!).
Thinking of ways you can better prioritise these things in a way that works for you is all I’m suggesting. You don’t need to commit to change your life overnight, but these 4 things are really the pillars of truly caring for your body and mind.
Sleep
The health consequences of not getting enough sleep are shocking, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that. Even just losing 1-2 hours of sleep can have a huge effect on your brain’s ability to function, which isn’t great for your business or your mental health either.
Creating a calming evening routine and an earlier bed time is an obvious way to help, but one of my fave things has also been investing in a Lumie lamp* that wakes me up gradually to natural light! SO much nicer than a sudden alarm from my phone.
(I say this as a child-free person - parents just keep doing what you can, you’re amazing!)
exercise
This can absolutely include walking and light exercise like yoga or stretching, or if a 10k run or heavy HIIT session is more your jam that’s great! But exercise can also look like playing a game of football at the park, or kayaking at your local beach or river, or visiting your local climbing centre with friends.
The best way to easily prioritise exercise is to find something you truly love and enjoy, and make space for that in your calendar.
Nutrition
It’s all about balance and intuition - I am not here to preach diet culture at you (in fact, I’m heavily ANTI diet culture!). I love a McDonalds but also balance this with enjoying making myself nutritious meals.
If you’re able to plan and prep meals in advance (especially for busy work weeks) this can really help!
Mental health
Supporting your mental health needs could look like seeing a therapist, or it could be using journalling as an outlet for your thoughts.
I’ve never really been in to journalling (I always thought you had to do this in a notebook… but I can’t write very fast and my hand always cramps…) but recently I’ve been making time to type out my thoughts and it’s been really helpful to untangle things when I’m stuck!
I’ve also never really been into meditation, but I’ve found other things that feel meditative and achieve that ‘mindfulness’ goal for me, such as going on a walk.
Writing down 3 things I’m grateful for each day also does wonders for keeping me feeling positive too. Just some ideas!
2. …but be kind to yourself if you don’t always get it right
As I mentioned above, not everyone has the capacity and circumstances to always attain perfect levels of sleep, exercise, nutrition and mental health… in fact I don’t know if those people exist!!
No one is perfect, so be kind to yourself. It’s no big deal if you weren’t able to cook a meal from scratch this week, or fit in any exercise. Sometimes life doesn’t allow and that’s okay!
Self care is also about not being so hard on ourselves, and treating ourselves with respect.
If a friend came to you and complained about what a rubbish person they are for not exercising or making nutritious meal choices that week, what would you say to them? Chances are you wouldn’t berate them, you’d be kind and tell them to give themselves a break!
Treat yourself like you would a friend.
3. Make time to get outside
I kind of alluded to this above when talking about mental health, but being outside - even just for a 10 minute walk around your local area - even if it’s a bit grey and drizzly outside - can make all the difference to your mindset.
For me, it’s about perspective. If I’m feeling low or stressed, having a few minutes to be outside and just noticing things around me (nature, other people, buildings) gives me perspective about my life and problems for a moment.
4. Set clear boundaries & learn to say ‘no’
Setting boundaries around your time, your communication and what you will and won’t do in your business is a great way to honour your self care.
Some examples of boundaries could be that you won’t take more than 1 client call per day, or that you won’t work past 5pm into the evenings. Or perhaps you don’t want to sacrifice your daily dog walks, so that is a boundary that you decide to commit to.
Learning to say ‘no’ to things (kindly and politely) is also an important skill to have. Whether it’s saying ‘no’ to a client request that doesn’t light you up and fit with your goals, or turning down an event so you can prioritise time with your family instead.
Saying no and setting boundaries may seem more limiting, but in fact it can create more freedom!
5. Design a spacious work routine
When you run your own business, you’re in charge of creating your OWN schedule! This is one of the best things about being self-employed, after all.
So when you’re planning out your week, take stock of your priorities and plan those in first. Add in your pilates classes, your coffee dates with friends, your dog walks etc to your calendar FIRST, and then design your work schedule AROUND this.
Organise your business and tasks with my ultimate client, project + business management system (built in Trello) inside The Organised Designer’s Hub course.
6. Celebrate yourself and your wins
Something that’s easy to do as your growing your business is forget to celebrate your achievements and ‘wins’ - especially the smaller stuff!
I like to take a moment each week to write out my wins for the week (no matter how small), and we share this in the Mastermind business group I’m in. Reminding myself that I launched a client website this week, or signed 2 new clients, or had some great feedback on one of my courses, makes me feel more positive about my week, even if I seemingly didn’t think I achieved much.
And for the bigger things (big client signings, big product launches etc), how can you make this a memorable moment to celebrate? Perhaps you could book a meal at a fancy restaurant, book a night away at a hotel, or treat yourself to that new jacket you’ve been lusting over.
7. Spend time streamlining your business now (future you will thank you)
Making improvements to your workflows and systems in your business might SEEM like a boring task, but it absolutely can be an act of self care, if you’re saving Future You time and stress!
Looking at how you can simplify things like client communication, or your marketing activities, means you’re investing time and energy in something that will benefit you later down the line.
Check out my course, The Organised Designer’s Hub, which is specifically designed to help you streamline & simplify your business.
8. Keep your workspace tidy & inspiring
When you try to sit down at a messy, chaotic desk in a dirty room, it’s not going to help put you into the best mindset for your work.
Your environment and your space around you can have a big effect on thoughts and your motivation, and I personally find that taking a couple of minutes to tidy the night before means I come into my office feeling fresh and excited to start the day the next morning!
9. Create time & hobbies away from your business
When you run your own business, it’s probably a big passion of yours! You started doing what you’re doing because you love it. This often means we find it hard to pull ourselves away from work, and put in long hours and constantly find ourselves thinking about our businesses.
Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now, your mind can seriously benefit from some time off. Doing and focusing on other things, or trying different hobbies totally unrelated to your business, is not only healthy for giving your brain some ‘downtime’ (which helps it to process things!), but also to give you more perspective and life experience that you can then bring into your business knowledge and wisdom too!
Some of my hobbies include wild swimming, kayaking, playing games like Super Mario and Animal Crossing on my Nintendo Switch, and in the past I’ve enjoyed crafting jewellery and miniature/dolls house creations too. Just to give you some ideas/inspo!
10. Build support in to your business
This is an even bigger self care priority if you run a one person or solo business too. As humans we NEED connections, and being a business owner can be lonely if you don’t have people around you who understand what it’s like to be self-employed.
Your support system could look like fellow business owners who you connect with and network with just to chat about generally running a business! Or it could look like investing in a mentor who can help to keep you accountable and bounce ideas off you. Or it could look like hiring/outsourcing support for certain tasks you do, so that the responsibility isn’t all on you.
11. Invest in yourself
I mentioned before that self care definitely doesn’t have to involve staying in your comfort zone. Sometimes the best thing for your personal and business growth could be trying something new - whether that’s investing in your skills, or investing in your mindset as a human and as a business owner.
You could take a workshop about a hobby or business related skill you want to learn, take an online course, invest in a coach, mentor or teacher of some kind, or buy something that you know will improve your life somehow.
12. Become the ‘World’s Best Boss’ to yourself
And finally think about what you can do to be the ‘World’s Best Boss’ to yourself! What would the Best Boss Ever do to make you feel great?
Maybe that looks like treating you to a takeaway coffee and donut every Friday. Maybe it looks like encouraging flexible working hours and being kind about it. Maybe it looks like giving occasional bonuses and organising work ‘fun days’ or retreats! YES, you can do all of that for JUST you if you’re a solopreneur too!
*Indicates an affiliate link. However I wouldn’t recommend something I don’t personally use and love myself!
