Entrepreneurs and self-care. For most women who own businesses, this reads like an oxymoron.
Add that to most women’s need to multi-task, manage family life and grow their businesses and well, self-care can feel downright impossible.
The truth is, it’s not.
In fact, taking care of yourself will actually improve your clarity, creativity and productivity at work. So that makes self-care a downright business necessity, right?
Here then, are eight ways to ensure you are getting your self-care game on and taking the right steps to be your best—at home and in your business:
1) Discover an outlet for community outreach for a charitable cause that brings meaning. Discovering your own depth of spirit while helping others find theirs is a way to nourish your soul.
2) Stick with your routine even when meetings and requests for action try to compromise it. If your day starts with exercise, meditation or simply being with your family, resist setting up business commitments during that time.
3) Engage in mindlessness each day—even if it’s just watching a fun television show or playing a silly board game. Those activities clear your mind so important thoughts can enter later.
4) Go out into nature and breathe in the day; whether it’s in the evenings, mornings or at lunch. There’s nothing quite like the smell and expanse of green grass, trees, running streams or hilly paths to give you peace of mind.
5) Keep looking amazing every single day, even when your mood says to compromise. In fact, those are the days that you’ll want to wear attractive clothes or get a pedicure, manicure or hair makeover. What you wear outside your home gives your stakeholders a subliminal message about how you feel about yourself.
6) Journal, read and reflect on how far you’ve come. It’s crazy how a work idea can pop into your head as you read an autobiography or write down your inner thoughts from the day.
7) Be with people you love and who love you as often as possible. There’s nothing quite like feeling unconditional acceptance of all sides of you that gives you the reassurance to make tough decisions when the going gets tough.
8) Get those endorphins flowing through exercise, uplifting conversations with best friends or watching your children play. This positive chemical reaction in your brain actually revives your energy and allows you to call on good feelings throughout your day.