October 12th, 2021

DECLUTTERING AND BEYOND: HOW TO MAKE TIME FOR SELF-CARE WHEN YOU'RE SELF-EMPLOYED

Strategies
 
Self-care sounds nice, doesn’t it? But before you can indulge, you have to make the time. Here are a few strategies to free up hours at work so you can use them to better yourself:

• Prioritize your MITs. MITs are “most important tasks.” Identify these, and knock them out early each day. Sending invoices and paying bills are all crucial to your operations. You’ll also want to delegate tasks early in the week or day. According to the American Management Association, this reduces stress and eases your workload.

 

• Handle business matters early. Take care of pressing business obligations, such as buying computer equipment and forming your business structure early on. In these examples, having your equipment ready to go will reduce frustration from lagging software and snail-paced PCs. Creating a business structure will reduce stress and streamline your operations — it will also take liability off of you. You can reduce frustration by researching how to register a business in Texas to understand state regulations, and you can use an online service to get the job done.

 

• Take breaks. While this might sound counterintuitive, Active Campaign asserts that a short break will help you stay productive throughout the day. Five minutes every hour or half-hour can help you reset your train of thought and look at your work with a fresh perspective.

 
Self-Care Ideas for Everyone
 
Now that you’ve got your time crunch taken care of, you won’t feel as guilty for channeling some of your energy on yourself. A few ways to practice self-care include:

• Declutter your space. Keeping your home and office clean and organized can greatly reduce stress. The key is to start with a small space so that you don't get overwhelmed. If you need assistance, Decluttered Life can ensure that your home and office stay tidy and functional.

 

• Exercise. Running, swimming, jogging, and even hiking are all excellent ways to keep your body and mind strong. Spend at least 120 minutes each week focused on physical activity. If you want to get even more out of your exercise routine, bring a friend along. This will also fuel your need for socialization

 

• Don’t skip meals. Food is a basic human need. Don’t skip breakfast or lunch just because you don’t think you have time for a healthy meal. Plan your meals ahead of time so that you have things packed and ready to go for a few days in advance. Keep in mind that your daily caloric intake will be different if you are a man or woman, you will need between 2000 and 2500 calories each day respectively.

 
Self-care isn’t selfish, especially when you have a business to run. Whether you have one employee or 100, your staff as well as your family all rely on you and need you to be at your very best. Free up time for self-care, you may just find that the time you spend working is more productive than it is when you grind the clock for 60+ hours each week.
 
Make decluttering a part of your self-care routine. Get in touch with Decluttered Life today at ​713-828-7133.

Aimee Lyons loves DIY and spends every bit of her free time on pet projects--crafting, refurbishing furniture, remodeling rooms, turning her yard into a landscaping masterpiece. She created DIY Darlin to share her DIY knowledge while also serving as a forum to learn from other DIYers.