What I learnt after becoming ill and overwhelmed in my business and how you can prevent this from happening to you.
I have been in business since March 2016 a little bit over 2 years now. I help women who are trying to find their own unique vision of career happiness and create this on their own terms. It’s been a great two years after being featured on platforms like Galdem, Guardian and women magazine etc as well being interviewed by other entrepreneurs like Gemma McCrae for her podcast “The Prosperity Kitchen”.
I have my own 1–1 services but also have online courses which I developed around job hunting and have been popular in my tribe. Especially my CV and LinkedIn courses. I help women who have gone through workplace bullying, depression and anxiety, like myself. I have also helped many mums return to work and find their dream job.
My business is established, and it’s been my biggest learning curve and helped me develop and grow as a person mainly for the better 😊!! I help empower women with career confidence, career happiness and achieve what they really want.
Overwhelm in your business and what happens when you don’t put yourself first.
I recently became ill a few months ago it Impacted on my mental and physical health. My imbalance was connected to a lack self-care and less quality time with friends and family.
When you are a business owner and you love what you do. It can be possible to overdo it and bad habits emerge. A bad habit on mine was being on my phone too much even in the evening so there were no business and life boundaries. I was answering emails either as soon as I woke up or before I went to bed at night.
Your relationship with yourself is even more important as a freelancer or if you are self-employed. I should have been carving out more time for myself and having time just for me even before I started my work. I have realised this very recently and what a difference it makes.
You can easily fall into patterns of working on the weekend and not spending time with family. It’s different if you have an impending deadline. However, productivity can also be affected by working too much. I now turn my phone off by 8:30pm in the evenings and avoid my laptop after 8pm when possible. I now take more weekends off and plan things with family and friends. I even take a whole day off every Friday. If something important needs to be done and it’s not complete on a weekday I will allocate an hour or 2 over the weekend but I try not to spend any more time on the computer.
As one of mentors Nicola Huelin would say to me there will be times you work on your business and in your business. So, it’s up to as the one in the driving seat to see where you need to utilise your time. Working for the sake of working may not actually create any results or help you achieve the goals you want in your business. Another great mentor of mine Kirsty Carden would always challenge me about “What’s your purpose about doing that Soma” Sometimes I couldn’t answer that. So, think about your strategies to help attract your clients, help grow your network and draw in possible collaborations.
Tips around how to stop overwhelm in your business
1) Schedule your time and think about having a theme for each day. For example, on Mondays I do admin, Tuesday is my writing day Wednesday and Friday I take client calls. I take every Friday off and do some admin on Saturday but not always. Then on Sundays I plan my social media content and plan out my week.
2) Developing good habits like daily exercise and meditation are key to how you show up in your business and how you feel on a day to day basis.
3) Support is the key thing that is most important in business without it you can’t move forward. If you need extra help hire a VA or someone who can help you or automate tasks and activities, so you can concentrate on key work.
Focus on you and shut out all the external noise
What makes you happy on a personal level? For me it’s spending time with my husband, friends and loved ones. Going out and exploring a new place in London I don’t know. Also trying a new restaurant or going somewhere new.
Some experts may advise you to write a blog, make videos start a podcast, have a membership site and the list goes on. That’s great but starting off trying to do everything can cause you as new business owner to have your cup overflowing with so much activity. Your work-life balance is all over the shop. That’s why hobbies, outside interests and time away from your business will help you. You can have a sense of FOMO if you aren’t on certain social media platforms or creating content in a certain way. If you are really struggling think about getting a mentor or coach to really help you crystallise your goals. This will stop you from feeling overwhelmed and help you produce the results you want.
Plan holidays and weekends off in advance. My business didn’t disappear when I was unwell as I had to take a few weeks off. It’s very easy to get sucked into a vacuum of the comparison trap and think you can’t stop. You can still achieve your goals by working in a way that works for you. It may be a side hustle for you and it’s so important you show up as your best, not just for you but for your clients too. You can run your business the way you want to and have specific days off but also get the right work life balance. Make decisions and prioritise your clients and important things that need to get done.
You can burn yourself out if you are overwhelmed and listen to negative feedback. We are the one’s responsible for our success and failures. If you are talking to negative business owners who are frustrated, and this can also make you feel overwhelmed and not in alignment with what you want to achieve. Be selective who you talk about your business. It’s important you surround yourself with people who help uplift your energy and enthusiasm for your business. So, pick people you know you trust and want the best for you.
I am an introvert and after reading Susan Cain’s book quiet this really helped me understand myself better and my energy levels. I need alone time and time to re-energise. If you are surrounding by negative people who people who drain you it’s up to adjust the volume of how much time you spend with people.
Conclusion
I wasn’t focusing on my current achievements and how I had already helped the women I had helped. Business can be challenging at times but if you don’t put your physical and mental health first you can’t be at your best in what you do. You can burn yourself out by not doing things in alignment with your current life. You need to nourish yourself things like meditation, taking time off at least a few days every week. Understand what the most important thing is to you in your business and lifestyle? Why did you create it and what feels aligned to you? Everyone’s business journey is different there is no right and wrong. Give yourself self-love.
This post was written for The Practical Balance, a platform to help female founders and freelancers, wherever they are on that journey, hustle in a happier and healthier way that honours their needs. To find out more, head over to www.thepracticalbalance.com
