When you are happy with your life as a whole, you have more resources to work and, consequently, to succeed. This is particularly true for the self-employed. If you notice signs of burnout or feeling unwell, start paying attention to the following things and see if you can improve any of them.
- Speak. Speaking – verbalising your sensations and feelings – to a friend, a peer or a professional helps you analyse things and situations. This way, you will not be left alone with your thoughts running in circles in your head. Do not hesitate to speak up early. Your feelings and thoughts are valuable.
- Rest. Find time for rest and recovery and take breaks during your daily work. Plan your time off and vacations, mark them in your calendar and stick to them. If you have trouble sleeping, seek help without delay.
- Eat well and sufficiently. Pay attention to your meals and their contents. Reserve time for eating. Give yourself permission to enjoy food.
- Exercise at least a little each day. Find a sport or another form of exercise that interests and motivates you. For example, if you enjoy nature, go exercise there. You can get your daily exercise in little pieces.
- Contacts. Keep in contact with other people. Pay attention to your other roles in life besides the work-related ones: are you somebody’s friend, team mate, parent, sibling or spouse? You can be many things.
- Mindfulness. Learn to relax and calm down every day. If you like meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and so on, practice them. Interrupt compulsive planning and thought work for a minute and pause in this moment. Try to accept it as it is.
- Economic planning and other preparations. You cannot prepare for everything, but for some things, you can. Go through your worst case scenarios. Take stock of what you can affect and prepare for and what is beyond your control. Make a clear difference between these two categories.
The list is long, and you may have seen it in many other contexts. It may sound like just additional demands. Adopt what you want from it. You can also make your own list and prioritise things as you see fit.