When was the last time you practiced self-care?

As a successful speaker or coach, you most likely have a very full plate and a hectic life. Your career sees you frequently traveling to events and booking engagements while trying to keep up with social media posts, marketing, and bookkeeping. You’re quite possibly falling behind on writing proposals, returning phone calls and emails, and updating your website. Being a busy entrepreneur does not come without its challenges. Being overwhelmed with work is a symptom of being successful; but, if you’re like many Business owners, you are probably no longer prioritizing time for yourself.

Are you missing time with family or friends? Maybe you can’t remember the last time you participated in a hobby or activity you love. Those things are signs you aren’t taking enough time to take care of yourself. We all talk about self-care, but do we really practice it? Personally, I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, and need to start putting my money where my mouth is!

It’s easy to put yourself at the bottom of the priority list, but that is not where you belong. Especially not if you want to be of service to others.

Practicing self-care is easier said than done though, isn’t it? To carve out time to care for you? I get it. I’m a busy entrepreneur myself. That’s why, when it comes to self-care, I propose you start small. 

How to carve out time to look after yourself.

Self-care doesn’t have to be extravagant or fancy. It can be as simple as treating yourself to a latte and a good book on a Sunday morning. Or sitting in the sunshine and eating your lunch. Or for me, like I did yesterday afternoon … sitting down to an episode (or two) of Downton Abbey with a nice hot, decadent bowl of Cream of Wheat. My idea of comfort food!

You might start by scheduling in a five-Minute break every day to do something that fills your soul a little bit. This could be any number of things. Here are some examples:

• Taking a walk
• Playing with your kids/pet/grandchildren
• Closing your eyes
• Stretching
• Exercising
• Reading a magazine
• Coloring a picture
• Journaling
• Drinking a cup of tea
• Praying
• Calling a friend
• Listening to the birds
• Sitting by the ocean
• Praying
• Listening to music
• Writing or reading poetry
• Sitting quietly by yourself

What it all comes down to is … do more of whatever makes you happy. Five minutes is a good start. After you try five minutes, see if you can work that up to ten minutes. Or twenty. Stop what you’re doing and just take a break to do something that makes you feel happy. You might be surprised to discover the world won’t stop spinning if you take a few minutes to stop working! And even better, you might discover you can be even more productive when you’re taking time out for yourself.

The truth is, you are every bit as worthy of your own time and attention as are your clients. And sometimes, you simply need some time to step away from work and business to regroup, focus, and give yourself a breather.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and too busy to take time for you, why not go ahead and get yourself some help? A team of online marketing professionals can step in and take some tasks off your plate, so you can start taking more time for you.

Do you have any tips to share about how to take more time for yourself?