april12, 2021

Author: Satya Nelms

When running your own business, you are often dictated the narrative that in order to be successful you have to hustle.

“We’re taught that you have to work really hard and put in a ton of hours, in order to make an income. The more hours you put in, the more income you’ll have,” says Khatija Dadabhoy.

Khatija Dadabhoy has an MA in counseling and over 20 years of experience in her field. She has witnessed the results of burnout when working with her clients, but she has also experienced it first hand as a business owner herself.

“I would jump in right from the morning, feeling like I had to do all of the things, and then I would not stop until late at night,” Dadabhoy recalls.

Cinneah El-Amin says rest was at the forefront of her mind when she set out to create her business. She built her company Flynanced, a company committed to helping people find their way to financial freedom so they can do more of what they love, while intentionally leaving space for down time.

“I feel very strongly that I should not be replicating the same 'grind' culture from corporate America,” says El-Amin. “As a Black woman who comes from generations of Black women who were overworked and underpaid, I acknowledge that making time for myself to rest and unplug is an act of resistance.”

Knowing you should make time to rest,and actually setting aside the time to rest are two different things though. (It's an especially loaded distinction for Black women and moms who often feel both cultural and socioeconomic pressures that make rest feel like an undeserved—or impossible—luxury.)

As a business owner with a full schedule, actually resting can feel far easier said than done. So, El-Amin and Dadabhoy offered their advice on how to take the time to breathe and exhale.

1. Start small.

Take stock of where you are right now, and consider your circumstances when deciding how much time you will build in for self-care each day.

“If you say you’re going to take an hour to yourself every morning and your mind puts up resistance to that idea, it’s going to end up sabotaging you,” says Dadabhoy.

So, start with five minutes, or whatever feels manageable for you. Beginning is the important part; you can scale up after you establish a practice.

2. Make a firm decision.

You have to commit to taking care of yourself and make it a priority.

“You have to say to yourself, 'This is what I’m doing,'” says Dadabhoy. If you don’t take your self-care practice seriously and decide that you are going to make it happen, it won’t. You have to commit to a plan for self-care like you would commit to a business plan and be just as dedicated to it.

3. Set aside the time.

The same way that you block off time for client calls and business development, you need to also schedule time for rest.

El-Amin is protective of the time that she sets aside for herself. “I'm a big believer in time blocking” she says.If you do not set clear boundaries around the time you have set aside to take a breath, you will find your work time bleeding into your rest time.

4. Create a support system.

Part of the reason business owners don’t feel they have enough time to rest is because they have too much on their plates.“Create systems and processes to get the help you need,” says El-Amin. “Outsource anything where you do not have expertise. You do not have to do everything in your business. We have to unlearn the superhero trope.”

El-Amin works with a business coach to help her better automate her business so that she can focus on more high-value activities.

With all the tasks and responsibilities on your plate as a business owner, you may think “How can I possibly carve out time to take care of myself?” but in reality there is nothing more important. “If you take the time to take care of yourself, you will actually find it easier to get the things that you need to do done,” says Dadabhoy.

El Amin adds that as a creator, she has noticed that she has creative blocks when she doesn't make enough time for her rest and self-care.“I create better when I rest,” she says.

Make time to breathe and exhale, knowing that both you and your business will benefit from the investment you are making in yourself.

Photo: Getty Images