15 Self Care Tips for Entrepreneurs To Avoid Burn Out
Being an entrepreneur means that you are pretty much always busy. Most of the time, entrepreneurs wear multiple hats and often balance starting a business with their full-time job. Although this is a necessary part of building your empire, entrepreneurship can lead to burnout - a state of exhaustion that could prevent you from reaching your long-term goals.
Luckily, burnout is preventable through simple self-care habits that can be adopted into your daily routine.
If you’re a business owner, or you’re about to embark on your empire-building journey, here are 15 self care tips for entrepreneurs to avoid burn out in 2024.
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What is Burnout?
Burnout is a common experience for entrepreneurs that is characterized by emotional exhaustion, a sense of reduced accomplishment, and depersonalization.
Entrepreneurs often experience burnout due to the high demands of running a business, including long working hours, financial pressures, and the constant need to make critical decisions.
The pressure to succeed and the blurred boundaries between work and personal life can exacerbate burnout symptoms.
Luckily, it is possible to spot signs of burnout early and take steps to prevent the condition from getting in the way of your success!
One of the most effective ways to avoid burnout is to practice daily self-care.
15 Self Care Tips to Avoid Burnout as an Entrepreneur
I have been running my own online business for 2 years now alongside working as an SEO editor. Throughout my journey, I have learned a LOT about how to avoid burnout.
Here are 15 self-care tips that you could add to your daily routine to around burnout as an entrepreneur.
Also see: 20 success affirmations for entrepreneurs
1. Set boundaries
If you only take 1 tip away from this entire blog post, it should be this one!
Setting boundaries as an entrepreneur is incredibly important and can have a HUGE impact on your well being - and risk of burnout.
One of the main reasons that entrepreneurs experience burnout is because they take on more than they can comfortable handle. The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to learn to say no.
There are many reasons why you should learn to set boundaries as an entrepreneur. Setting boundaries:
Increases productivity
Improves your work-life balance
Improves your communication
Improves your respect
Improves decision making
What does setting boundaries look like?
Setting boundaries as an entrepreneur involves knowing your limits and saying no to tasks or responsibilities that push these limits. It looks like prioritizing tasks that are the most important and saying no to the one’s that aren’t as important for your desired outcomes.
Setting boundaries as an entrepreneur might also look like knowing when to ask for help. This is something that entrepreneurs can find very difficult.
Check-in with your boundaries regularly to make sure that you aren’t over-filling your plate!
2. Optimize your workspace
If you are starting an online business, you probably work from home. For a lot of entrepreneurs, this means working from a kitchen table, coach, or even from your bed!
Working in this way seems great at first. But it isn’t sustainable.
An impractical workspace can lead to cramps, irritability, and low productivity.
One of the best ways to invest in yourself as an entrepreneur is to create your dream workspace that accommodates all of your needs.
This means buying a comfortable chair, a large desk and all of the equipment that you need to comfortable run your business.
This is your sign to go shopping!
3. Avoid the comparison trap
Every entrepreneurship journey is different. Some new business owners seem to excel within days but for others, it might take a few years to get things up and running.
Comparing your success as an entrepreneur to someone else’s is a big mistake! They say comparison is the thief of joy and they are right. Comparing yourself to other business owners will only increase your stress levels and reduce your confidence.
The only person that you should compare yourself to is yourself.
So, how can you stop comparing yourself to other successful entrepreneurs?
Every time that you catch yourself falling into the comparison trap, take time to write down 3 things that you are proud of and 3 improvements that you have made since this time last year.
You could also try these 50 success affirmations to shift your mindset to one that is less comparative.
4. Set realistic business goals
Talking about setting yourself up for failure, one of the most sure-fire ways to burn yourself out as a business owner is to set goals that are unrealistic.
Yes, we would all love to make 6-figures in our first year - but is this really possible?
You should learn to set business goals that are realistic and SMART. This will ensure that you can actually achieve the goals that you set, which will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.
5. Take breaks often
As an entrepreneur, taking a break from your business probably seems terrifying! However, doing this every now and then is crucial for maintain good mental health.
If you feel yourself feeling the early signs of burnout, consider taking a few days away from your business and focusing on yourself instead.
If you are unable to leave your business unattended, consider outsourcing your day-to-day tasks to a freelance assistant. There are some excellent VAs on platforms such as Fiverr who are able to handle the basic tasks of being an entrepreneur such as answering emails, managing your social media and updating your website.
Taking regular breaks not only prevents burnout but, it could also help you to increase your creativity and come up with new ideas to drive your business forward.
You will be surprised at how much clear your head will feel after a few days off!
6. Start a hobby that isn’t related to your business
One of the best ways to avoid burnout as an entrepreneur is to start a fun hobby that has nothing to do with your business venture.
Top tip: try to choose something creative as this will help you to come up with better ideas as an entrepreneur.
Taking time out of your week to do something fun and different can help you to clear your mind, relax and destress.
Some of my favourite hobbies include running, colouring, paddle boarding, and painting!
7. Write down your thoughts
Entrepreneurship brings with it a lot of worry and stress. If you’re anything like me, you probably get at least 10 doubtful thoughts throughout the day that play over in your head.
If you let these thoughts fester, they can quickly lead to mental exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout.
I have found that the best way to deal with anxious thoughts is to write them all down in a journal. By doing this you are taking them out of your head and putting them to the side until later.
I find it helpful to write everything down throughout the day and then spend about 30 minutes at the end of my day addressing all the thoughts that I have had.
Doing this is the easiest way to remove myself from anxious thoughts and look at them from a more objective and reasonable perspective.
8. Learn to prioritize
Learning to prioritize effectively is one of the most underrated self care tips for business owners.
It involves learning how to organize your daily tasks so that you complete the most important ones first. Doing this boosts productivity and makes it a LOT easier to manage the millions of tasks that come with entrepreneurship.
So, how do you know which tasks are the most important?
This comes down to your business.
For some business owners, the most important tasks might be those that bring in the most revenue. For others, they might be tasks that are time-locked so need to be completed within a certain timeline.
If you struggle to manage your daily tasks, write everything down and then order each task by priority.
9. Have a good old pamper session
I think its almost impossible to talk about self care without mentioning the benefits of having a good old pamper session.
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is have a warm bath, put on a face mask and pour yourself a nice glass of wine (or your favourite drink!).
Studies have shown that pampering yourself can significantly reduce stress and anxiety. Having a pamper session can also improve your self-esteem and improve productivity.
So, if you were looking for an excuse to treat yourself. Here it is!
10. Watch or listen to a funny show
One of my favourite forms of self-care as a busy entrepreneur is switching on an episode of Friends or The Office at the end of the day. In fact, I love watching anything that makes me laugh.
I would really recommend this to anyone who finds themselves worrying a lot or overthinking throughout the day.
Laughing produces dopamine and endorphins which are feel-good hormones.
If you don’t do it already, try watching something that makes you laugh every day. It’s amazing what it can do for your mood!
11. Get enough sleep
It is no secret that sleep has a HUGE impact on your health.
Entrepreneurship is a busy venture that requires a lot of energy and focus. Therefore, it is vital that you get enough sleep each night.
Sleeping enough will also prevent burnout by making sure that you are well-rested and not at risk of exhaustion.
The recommended range of sleep to aim for each night is 7-9 hours - depending on your individual needs.
If you don’t already get enough sleep, think of ways that you could increase your hours.
You could try switching off your phone earlier or listening to music that helps you to fall asleep. Some people also drink relaxing tea or use aromatherapy to improve their sleeping patterns.
12. Socialize
It can be very easy to get caught up in your own little business bubble and find yourself going weeks without seeing your friends.
However, socializing is VERY important for wellbeing. Hanging out with friends or family reduces risk of depression and anxiety, which often come alongside burnout. It is also a great way to unwind and clear your head.
You could take this one step further by socializing with other business owners who could offer solutions to your problems and help you to grow your network.
13. Eat well (and enough!)
I get it, being a business owner can be busy and you might not always have time to cook yourself a 3-course meal! However, it is important that you eat a balanced diet throughout the day.
Eating a good diet has SO many benefits to your health and can prevent burnout by providing you with the energy that you need to complete your daily tasks.
Try to eat 3 meals and some healthy snacks to keep yourself going throughout the day.
Don’t just rely on coffee!
14. Check in with yourself
Burnout cam sometimes creep up on you without even realizing it. The best way to stop this from happening is to check in with yourself daily.
I like to use a journal to conduct my daily checking every evening.
Ask yourself questions such as:
What is my current mood?
How have I been feeling today?
What has happened today that challenged me?
Have I done something for myself today?
What act of self care have I done today?
Have I accomplished everything that I wanted to?
Conducting daily checking will help to spot early signs of burnout and prevent it from becoming a serious problem.
15. Be kind to yourself
Last but not least, one of the most beneficial self-care tips for entrepreneurs is to be kind to yourself.
This means showing yourself the same compassion and understanding that you would to a friend.
We all make mistakes and THAT’s OKAY!
Next time that you find yourself criticizing yourself, stop and think about whether you would speak this way to a friend. If the answer is no, consider changing your language!
Our thoughts have a big impact on our well-being and can impact our confidence, motivation, and drive. As a business owner, you need all of these things to be pretty high.
So, speak to yourself in a way that encourages growth and motivates you to keep going.
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