5 Simple Self-Care Tips for Entrepreneurs

Stopping to take care of yourself is is just as important as the hustle, ya'll!

You might be rolling your eyes at me right now. "I don't have time for self-care right now, Carrie!" you say. That may be true, but scheduling in some time for yourself is essential to your overall health and success as an entrepreneur. If you don't take care of yourself, you can experience burnout at a much faster rate. 

Below, I will share five tips on how to easily and simply begin to implement self-care into your busy routine.

Check your schedule.

Take a good, hard look at your scheduled. Or...do you even have a schedule? Are you tracking the time you use to complete tasks in your business and making a note? If not, you really need to do this ASAP. Figuring out where your time is going and how to organize is key to beginning and sustaining a quality self-care regimen. You can easily track this by keeping an ongoing note on your phone, in Evernote, or on your computer in Google Drive. Just simply put down how long it takes you to complete each specific business and personal task you do in a given day and week. 

Block out time on your calendar. 

Once you've figured out your time and tracked it properly, it is time to build out your daily/weekly/monthly calendar. I know, for some of you that sounds like me asking you to rip your eyes out. I know it can be a frustrating task for all my non-type A peeps. But I promise you, it will be worth it!

Spend some time giving your tasks a date and time for each day and/or week of the month. Then keep the appointments you set with yourself! BUT DON'T FORGET....schedule in some time for you! This means adding in an hour, thirty or even ten minutes of personal time just for you. 

If you need some help in how to do this, check out my live video here to see how I use google calendar to schedule tasks! <insert link here>

Figure out the things you love to do.

Now that you've set aside time on your calendar, what is it that really makes you happy or gives you joy? This can really vary from person to person. For some of ya'll, it can be as simple as taking a hot bath once a week for fifteen minutes. For others, it may mean getting your nails done at the salon on Saturdays for a few hours once a month. Perhaps you enjoy reading and make space for getting into your favorite book every night before bed or right when you wake up. 

Self-care does NOT have to be expensive or require a babysitter for your kids. The key is finding time to do the things you LOVE AND ENJOY that are not apart of your business tasks. So, what are those things? Spend some time making a note about your favorite things to do. I really love taking hot baths for about twenty to thirty minutes, and I try and do this once or twice a week at the end of a long, hard day. It helps me wind down and relax before bedtime! 

Communicate your need for self-care with family + friends.

Now it's time to involve those you love around you in your need for self-care. This means you need to express to your partner, children, other family members and/or friends that you need some time for you. If you're a mom like me, finding time for self-care is challenging and requires you to schedule and communicate with your partner and children about when you plan to take time for yourself and why you need to do this. 

Getting on the same page as these loved ones is KEY so there isn't miscommunication or a problem with scheduling. For example, I won't be taking personal time for myself when it is dinner time with my family OR when I need to help get my girls to bed. These routines are for our entire family to participate in, and they need me to be fully present for these times. However, I can sit down with my husband and girls to discuss a good time for mom to spend some moments on her own to recharge. 

Start implementing self-care NOW!

Once you've done all of the tips above, it's all about implementation. It's so easy to say we are going to do something and then NOT implement this into our daily routines. Research shows it takes upwards of twenty one days to build a habit into your schedule. So, make sure you are consistently keeping the appointments with yourself. 

Believe me, I understand that things happen and sometimes concessions have to be made within any task on your schedule, business or personal. As a busy mom myself, I have had to take care of sick kids or rush out to handle an issue for my husband on more than one occasion! 

So...get out there and take care of yourself!

What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy yourself? Favorite self-care strategies and tips? Share them in the comments below! 

Hop on over to my facebook page tonight at 9 p.m. EST to hear me chat about my struggles with self-care and how I am implementing self-care into my routine every week.