Self Care for the Self Employed

Self Care is an important activity for anyone but especially for those who are self-employed. It'ss easy with the hustle and bustle and stress of being self-employed to forgo important activities that will ultimately lead to less productivity and possibly even burnout.

What is Self Care?

Self Care is simply anything you do to take care of yourself. This is not “selfish” care. Taking care of yourself and making sure your mind, body and soul are in good condition means the rest of your life will function better. You’ll be better at your job. You’ll be better at relationships. You’ll be better for your family and friends etc.

Self-care can include such things as exercise, taking vitamin supplements, getting enough sleep, taking breaks from the computer, eating a healthy diet and so on.

Self Care Tips for Self Employed

Why is this article specifically about people who are self-employed? That’s because, in my 20 years of experience working as a self-employed person, I know what can happen when self-care drops out. I become less efficient, prone to muscle strain and tiredness which makes me even less efficient.

Maybe the project you’re working on is taking longer than expected so you keep working for a couple of hours extra to try and get it done.

Or you don’t have any new work lined up so you feel stressed and keep snacking and drinking coffee.

Or you never leave the house because you don’t actually have to step outside the door to go to work!

I used to joke to my friends that I’m “walking to work” by going for a walk around the block first thing in the morning before I start work. It may have been a joke but it was an important part of my day and helped me to “start” the workday and set some discipline in my schedule and set some boundaries.

Here are some tips that I’ve found useful in my self-employed life.

If you work from home start the day with a walk.?It gives the day a proper “start”. There’s nothing worse than rolling out of bed, grabbing a coffee and sitting at the computer to start work!

Take a few minutes break regularly.?This is important so you keep your body moving every so often if your job involves a lot of sitting. When there’s no one around and no interruptions it’s good because you can concentrate but at the same time you may sit there “concentrating” for 2 hours and then suddenly notice how stiff you feel. I’ve done that – head down in some issue and then suddenly 2 hours have gone by and my neck is stiff. This little break could be as simple as standing up, doing a few knee bends, a few windmills with your arms, a few waist twists and then sit down again and carry on working. If you do a job that involves a lot of movement then sometimes you need to sit for a few minutes as this will prolong your energy for the rest of the day.

Take a proper lunch break.?Stop what you’re doing, move away from the computer or whatever tasks you’re involved in and take a lunch break. There are 2 reasons for this. One is that it gives you a longer break than the 1 or 2 minutes mentioned above and allows you to extend your attention beyond what you’ve been working on. And secondly, it gives you a chance to pay attention to what you’re eating and not just mindlessly shovelling it down while you continue to work!

Prepare your meals in bulk.?This is especially important if you are working on a tight deadline. If you’re on a tight deadline you don’t always have time to cook a meal or even make a salad and you’re more likely to grab something that might not be so healthy to eat! If you cook a pot of vegetables, a pot of potatoes and maybe roast a chicken, you’ll have at least 3 days worth of nutritious food which is quick to throw together. My favourite is a lentil soup with lots of vegetables and herbs to flavour it. When I make a big enough pot I have at least 3 meals worth and sometimes more which I can freeze for a day when I have nothing prepped. If you don’t work from home then this bulk preparation is helpful because it makes it easy for you to prep your lunch for the next day – which means you won’t fall prey to the fast-food places, not to mention saving yourself a lot of money.

Do some deep breathing throughout the day.?Taking some mindful deep breathes every so often is a good way to stay alert and energised because you are getting additional oxygen into your body. It’s also a good stress reliever. I notice that sometimes when I’m really concentrating on something my breathing becomes very shallow and I feel the need to suddenly take a big breathe in. You can just do a few deeps breaths in and out or follow the 4 – 7 – 8 system: breathe in through your nose for 4, hold for 7 and breathe out through your mouth for 8. Do this 2 or 3 times throughout the day.

Exercise.?Yes, of course we all need to exercise! This can help your mind as well as your body. Exercise gets you to use muscles that you don’t generally use when you’re sitting around. Or if you do have a job where you’re moving a lot then perhaps you need to move some different muscles.

Don’t drink too much tea/coffee.?Drinking a lot of tea and coffee means you’re getting a high dose of caffeine which is a stimulant. It’s very easy to become addicted to caffeine and require more and more to give you that lift, but it’s also easy to get into the habit of drinking it just as a habit. You know, you sit down at your desk in the morning and it’s your habit to have a coffee while you check your emails. If you’re really mindful about what you’re doing and drinking you would probably find that you could take control of that habit and maybe have the coffee later. The later you push that coffee the less you’ll drink during the day. Same for tea! I’m a tea drinker myself and I do my best to limit consumption of tea to 3 a day, interspersed with green tea and herbal tea.

Set an “end” time to your day.?When you’re self-employed it’s very easy to be “on” all day and extend it into the evening. It can take a certain amount of discipline to stop working at dinner time or whenever your workday should end.?If you don’t do this you may find yourself checking emails and messages throughout the evening. Or you might decide to “just work on this for another half hour” only to have 2 hours go by. Sometimes you need to work longer hours in order to finish a project but this shouldn’t be the norm as it will end in burnout. This doesn’t mean you should sit and watch TV all evening! Use the time to work on other aspects of your life – your favourite hobby, doing some exercise, spending time with your friends and family etc.

Have a separate phone for your work-related calls.?The reason for this is so you can really “turn off” at the end of your workday where your job is concerned. You literally turn off the phone (which also prevents you from checking it every half hour!). These days you can get cheap handsets and a low-cost pay-as-you-go SIM card – or get a low-cost contract. Either way, having 2 handsets will help you draw the line between business and personal.

Pay attention to how you’re sitting, standing, walking etc.?Did you know that the average human head weighs 20 pounds but when you tilt it forward, like when you’re texting on your phone or looking down at a laptop, it can weigh as much as?60 pounds?depending on the angle of the tilt. That puts an incredible strain on the next and shoulders. So when you’re sitting at the computer make sure you’re sitting correctly, have a comfortable chair and you’re not tilting your head forward – especially if you use a laptop. If you do use a laptop either get a stand for it (I use one in an office I occasionally work in) or get a separate larger monitor that you can plug in which is more in line with your eyes.

If you stand a lot, make sure you don’t slouch and you distribute your weight evenly. I bought a book called?Natural Posture for Pain-Free Living?which I found particularly helpful. It discusses how we should sit and stand based on the natural stance of our childhood. Whenever I use it correctly I notice a big change in how my back feels.

Summary

So there you have 10 ways to practice self-care as a self-employed person. You may have other activities you do to take care of yourself, if so please do leave a comment as I would love to hear what they are!