Story time…about a month ago I was feeling overwhelmed. So much to do and not enough time left me feeling uninspired and unmotivated. You know the feeling—there is so much to do that you don’t know where to start, feel paralyzed and wind up doing nothing.
One day I was beating myself up for having an “unproductive” day. Then something magical happened. I gave myself permission to have an unproductive day. Rather than focusing on the things I “had” to do, I focused on the things I wanted to do and the overwhelm went away.
From that experience, business self care day was born. What is business self care? Well, on Fridays I try to take a day to reset so I can head into the weekend and the following week refreshed and regrouped. As an entrepreneur, leaving work behind for the weekend can feel impossible. But by tying up loose ends and having a day to mentally close out the week helps a lot.
Business self care day doesn’t mean taking the whole day off (although I am all for the 4-day work week if you can pull it off). I think of it as tying a pretty little bow on the week so I can feel good about leaving work behind for the weekend.
Here’s what business self care day involves for me:
No meetings: If at all possible, I don’t schedule any calls for meetings on Fridays. Sometimes this is inevitable, but I really try to schedule all meetings for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
No new projects: Unless a project can be started and completed in the same day, I don’t start a new project on Fridays. That means no loose ends hanging over my head for the weekend.
Spend time unplugged: I promise, the world will not stop if you leave your phone for an hour or two. Try it and you’ll see. The more often you do this, the easier it becomes.
Treat yourself: Take yourself out to lunch, invest in something new for your business, buy fresh flowers for your house or office, or sleep in. Do something for yourself that you don’t do other days during the week.
Get sweaty: Exercise can work wonders for releasing the stress of the week and also give you the energy to get things done.
Get outside: Step away from the computer. Get outside. Fresh air and Vitamin D have magical powers. Combine this with exercise for a 2-for-1 benefit!
Learn something new: Listen to a business podcast about a topic you’ve wanted to learn about, attend a webinar, take a Skillshare course, or read those articles or guides you’ve been saving but haven’t read yet.
What do you think about business self care day? It doesn’t mean taking a whole day off or totally checking out. It is more about checking in and tying a pretty little bow on your week. As an entrepreneur and digital marketer, it is so easy to always be “on”, but in the end, that doesn’t serve me or my clients well.
amanda holliday 