Having a self-care routine as a female entrepreneur may seem like an impossible feat to most. I’m here to tell you not only is it possible, but it’s a necessity if you want to create alignment with a thriving business + a life that you love.
It’s that time of year when so many entrepreneurs are either swamped with an overwhelming workload (and an inability to turn down clients), or they are hustling like no other because they HAVE to make ends meet somehow. But when you run yourself into the ground, you will get nowhere real quick…and you’ll feel like shit in the process. So I want to give you my 6 top self-care tips for female entrepreneurs. After following these tips for myself the last few years, I’ve found myself WAY LESS stressed + actually enjoying a more abundant career + lifestyle. If that sounds like something you’d like, keep reading below.
1. Run your work through a 3-D Filter.
Look at the tasks that you have on your to-do list, and give yourself 3 options: Delete it, Delegate it, or Delight in it.
Delete it – Are there task items that aren’t getting you closer to the results that you want? Are there items that don’t align with your values but you feel like you are “supposed to” do them because everyone else is? Delete it. The more time you spend working on these items, the less productive you are going to be doing the things that actually move the needle in your business. For example – posting on every social media outlet every day to keep your presence up. But maybe that’s not your thing to show up on Twitter or Snapchat and maybe you (and your aligned clients) prefer weekly emails or blog posts instead. Nix the social media and focus on those emails/blog posts instead.
Delegate it – Sometimes there are things that you do need to do in your business that you don’t always enjoy (creating + sending invoices/contracts, shipping products, etc) but you can find someone else to handle it for you. While asking for support isn’t always an easy thing for entrepreneurs, it’s extremely helpful + necessary to grow (and for your sanity). Find a CRM where you can create templates + automated emails. Find a product hosting sight that allows manufacturers the ability to ship directly to your client without you being a middleman. Hire a virtual assistant. There are many options of how you can delegate work so you can put your focus where it needs/wants to be.
Delight in it – now that you’ve deleted + delegated, you can focus more energy on the things that actually align with you. But even then, you may not always be feeling delighted. Like when you are 5 sessions deep into editing client work and have 5 more to do. But something to remind yourself is that, while not all work is fun in the moment, you CAN choose to show up in a way that makes it more enjoyable. What you resist, persists so when you complain + delay, it will only take longer.
2. Schedule “Me-Time” first
It may seem counterintuitive to schedule personal leisure time first, but it’s one of the best things that you can do for yourself. So often we schedule all the work in (many times overscheduling ourselves), and then we have no time for the things that truly offer us joy outside of work. But the brain needs rest to focus, problem-solve, + create. When you are happier + less stressed, you actually become more productive (and less resentful). So be sure to schedule that personal time so you feel rejuvenated + ready to get down to business with your work!
(And crazy thought…maybe you don’t need the 40-hour workweek invented by Henry Ford. Often times when we give ourselves more time than is needed we waste time + are less productive because let’s be honest, who can focus on work for a solid 8-hours straight?! Experiment for a week with fewer work hours + a little more leisure time and let me know what happens!)
3. Batch Process Your Work.
I know that we crazy entrepreneurs are KNOWN for our multi-tasking abilities. But here’s the honest truth…humans can NOT multi-task! It’s a complete lie! You truly can only focus on one thing at a time. While you may “think” you are multi-tasking, you are really “Switch-tasking” which takes up more mental focus from your brain and causes you to take MORE time to do the tasks at hand instead of less. So I highly recommend batch tasking to simplify + lighten up your workload. Answer emails during a particular hour of the day. Write a bunch of blog posts or record a handful of podcasts on a set day and time each week. This will lessen the mental work your brain has to do switching from task to task and you will actually become more efficient + save yourself a ton of time…for those fun “me-time” things I mentioned above! 😉
4. Create a productive environment
Think about how stressful it is when your desk is covered in piles of papers + sticky notes and you cannot for the life of you find that client’s phone number to call them back! You end up feeling overwhelmed + you waste time in the search. So creating a calming + minimal workspace can do wonders for creating calm + productivity in your life. Make sure that it also includes things that inspire you. I love to create a desktop background that reinforces the lifestyle that my future self plans to live. This makes me excited to sit down to work each morning.
Also, don’t forget about your attire. I know, I know…when you work from home, it’s so easy to forget that morning shower and stay in your pj’s with pizza stains from last night’s dinner, but let’s try to instead – dress for success. There’s a thing called “enclothed cognition” where what you wear informs you how to feel and what to do. When you are still in your stinky jammies and your hair tied in a rat’s nest on top of your head, you’re likely telling yourself how tired you are and how much more beneficial a nap is. Dress for work (even when it’s at home) as the future super successful + confident version of yourself and see how your productivity + self-confidence change!
5. Enjoy the small victories
Every day isn’t going to be a $10k+ day. It might even be a -$100 day! But if you focus on the negative, you’ll just find more of it! So instead, focus on the small victories. A new inquiry. An unexpected sale. Getting all your tasks completed for the day. Those small victories will start to pile up and before you know it, you’ll be sitting on some pretty major wins for yourself + your business. So take a moment every evening and ask yourself, “What’s one thing I can celebrate today?” And bonus, when you focus on celebrating work + life, everything just seems a helluva lot more fun + easy!
6. Self-Care means focusing on yourSELF!
It can be hard to not envy the person next to you and wonder why you aren’t where they are despite how hard you are working. But remember, their story is NOT your story. And it never will be. You most definitely can use others’ successes as motivation, but never use them to beat yourself down. You can acknowledge + love others for their successes + still create your own versions of success. And let me tell you when you love others’ successes alongside your own, it’s WAY more fun!
Are you interested in some more personalized self-care tips so you can thrive in your business while also having a good time in the process?
Sign up for a FREE phone consultation with me, your personal certified life coach, and we will chat more about how 1:1 coaching will help you finally love your life both in and out of your job.
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