Self-Care for Founders

Are you feeling stuck with the year end to do list? You might be feeling like you need this holiday season to escape your tasks. Honestly, even if you escaped by going on a vacation, spa, binge watching the latest Netflix series, your to do list is still here.
Real talk here: spa, vacation, binge watching, and etc. are not what you need. You need a real self-care day where you take care of your to-do list because no amount of spa is going to wash your to-do list away. Taking care of your to-do list is the ultimate way of self-care.
I have met founders who are still working on their 2016 tax returns, or have been avoiding that phone call to a customer for the past 3 months. You want to avoid that thing on your list because there is a mental barrier to it. Then you start procrastinating and start doing other things that might not be high on the priority list. Then you return home physically exhausted but still feel unfulfilled as your to-do list is still there. Now, you are mentally overwhelmed and physically exhausted and maybe it is time to go to a spa or go on a vacation to escape your task. STOP! Don’t do it! Again, escaping is not going to save you. It is not real self-care. Self-care is when you finish all your tasks so you can finally relax. It sucks to be on a beach somewhere thinking about your tax return from a year ago. Trust me, I have been there.


So, a few months ago, I started a routine of having a to-do list to prioritize what needs to be done. So this is what goes down: I normally have a to-do list, and if there is an item on it that I have not crossed out in 3 days, I know I have a mental barrier to this task, and would try to eliminate the mental barrier by just easing myself out as I perform the task. Most of the time, it is emailing or calling someone. I know many people who are the same way. And maybe you are one of them who is currently overwhelmed by the thoughts of your tasks.
These are the detailed steps for getting that mental barrier out of the way.

1. Prioritize- Understand that you are not going to finish everything in your head
2. Make a to-do list to get these tasks out of your head
3. Start drinking tea, coffee, wine, or beer to get you in the right state to work
4. Take a deep breath for the more overwhelming tasks
5. Focus
6. Get it done and cross it off
7. Relax and repeat for the next week

Sounds easy right? You think you can do it? Get started! If you are having trouble, come on over to our Founders Self-Care Day to get yours started.
*You don’t have to be a founder to show up. You can be a consultant, freelancer, or anyone who just needs to come in for self-care day to get that task crossed off.

​Related: Entrepreneurship Ideas in Action