Daily self-care is as essential as eating, sleeping, and breathing. While denying yourself personal maintenance may not result in immediate damage, you wreck your mental and physical health by ignoring practices that sustain you. Examine these ideas from the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce to find ways you can preserve your self-care schedule as a busy entrepreneur.

Prioritize Sleep

No matter how busy you are, you can't afford to sacrifice your sleep. Create a sleep schedule to go to bed and wake up at the same hours daily. Enjoy abundant sunshine during the day and gradually lessen light exposure during the evening. Stay off devices close to bedtime to avoid sleep-disrupting blue light. You should also avoid caffeine after noon and alcohol two hours before slumber.

Protect Your Business and Yourself

Safeguarding your business and personal property reduces your stress. Form your Minnesota LLC to gain tax advantages and increased flexibility with minimal paperwork. Limited liability protection means tax or legal issues for your business don't touch your personal assets. States have distinct regulations for LLC formation, so get help from an online formation service if you're not comfortable filing on your own. The companies assist you at lower fees than attorneys. In fact, ZenBusiness will file your LLC for free right now — all you need to pay are Minnesota’s filing fees.

Another way to minimize costs from hazards and anxiety over adverse circumstances is to buy sufficient insurance, explains Embroker. Investigate policies to cover property, liability, interruption, and cyber risks.

Eat Clean

Processed foods are packed with fat and excess sugars that stimulate unhealthy cravings. Bphope explains that clean eating can boost your mood and enhance your fitness without the stress of counting calories. Plan your diet around meals based on natural foods with few ingredients. A good rule of thumb is if you can't pronounce an ingredient, rethink if you should be ingesting it. 

Save Time with Productivity Tools

Time is your most precious resource as a businessperson. Gain more hours and minutes with productivity tools and tips for efficiency. For example, streamline your communications with your remote team members by putting project files into a single PDF. Instead of sending multiple lengthy emails to explain adjustments and directions, use a free PDF editor tool to add text, sticky notes, drawings, and highlights to the PDF to indicate suggestions.

Search for other productivity tools to speed up tasks. An editor and grammar checker keeps your messages and presentations professional without embarrassing errors and can suggest ways to make your text more readable. Email marketing platforms keep you on schedule with your campaigns and help you track progress. Cloud storage makes working on projects simultaneously a cinch.

Stay Grateful

The ability to start a business in a free economy is not a privilege everyone has. Take time daily to count your blessings and practice gratitude as self-care. A daily journal with prompts can help you get started. If words just won't come, draw your feelings or record them in video or audio.

Exercise Regularly

Your body is designed to move. Long hours sitting at a desk work against your natural need for activity. Make exercise fun by joining a sports team or a gym where the camaraderie can motivate you to continue. Gardening, biking after dinner with the family, or parking at the back of a lot are simple ways to put more movement into your day.

Make Time for Self-Care

Running a business often means that you don’t have a lot of free time, but personal care must be a nonnegotiable aspect of your routine. Review which techniques you need the most and gradually work them into your life to keep balance and vitality. And make more time for yourself by adopting productivity tools and ensuring you have the right business structure. Any changes you can make to simplify your business will free up time for you to focus on self-care, so take those opportunities when you can find them!

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