Let’s be honest: the definition of being a woman is being busy. For as long as you can remember, you’ve been busy. Whether it’s checking up on your friends when they need your advice or spending long hours studying to pass a final, or scheduling appointments with your hairdresser so that your male colleagues will listen to you when you’re giving a presentation, it’s like you barely have time for yourself. And now that you’re running your own business, this is even truer. That’s a problem if you care about your health.
Taking care of yourself, after all, is something that takes time and dedication. And as an entrepreneur, you’re usually spending time and dedication on your business instead. Luckily, by following these tips, you can stay healthy without losing too much time or money.
1 Know your stressors
Did you know that work is the top cause of stress in the US? It’s no surprise, considering how important money is to people, and how desperate we are to pay off our credit card debt and our kids’ expensive schools. People spend long hours at work, and even when they’ve stayed late, their drive home might take them forever. And as an entrepreneur, you have even more to stress about: you have your own business, you own livelihood, on the line.
That’s why you have to understand what your stressors are, and how to handle them. Depending on how you work, different things might stress you out. Is it deadlines? Is it meeting with potential investors, because meeting new people makes you feel anxious? Is it creating a business plan, because your perfectionist tendencies make you feel like it’ll never be good enough? Once you know your stressors, and how they affect you (whether that’s overeating or never sleeping), you can find strategies for dealing with them.
2 Sleep
Even more important than exercise or eating well–though, of course, you should be doing all of these–is sleeping enough. Specifically, the seven to nine hours required for adults. And we know it’s hard for you to make time for it. And that the minute you start to fall asleep, you finally come up with the brilliant idea for an online store that you know no one else has ever thought of. And that’s why sleeping well seems like the antithesis of good business, and it’s a hard sell to you even if you need it physically.
But did you know that sleeping well is not only good for you but also your business? Just take a look at what the Harvard Business Review has to say: “In a separate study of 81 organizations and 189,000 people around the world, we found that four types of leadership behavior are most commonly associated with high-quality executive teams: operating with a strong orientation to results, solving problems effectively, seeking out different perspectives, and supporting others. What’s striking in all four cases is the proven link between sleep and effective leadership.”
So if you’ve been thinking of sleeping more, do it. Take a long bath, read your favorite business book, and lull yourself to sleep. And don’t forget: encourage your employees to do it more, too.
3 Eat well
Sure, knowing what stresses you out is important, and so is getting sleep, but if you want to feel healthy every morning (and before every big meeting), the next step is to eat a balanced diet. This can be hard to do in the business world; even with the pressures women face to stay thin and be healthy in theory, you can’t count how many times you’ve been handed a cocktail that’s too sweet but that you can’t say no without offending a potential client. And with so many free bagels available in morning meetings, and Chinese takeout orders on those nights you have to stay at work late, it’s a challenge to eat well.
Luckily, some technologies can help you be healthier. Take the MyFitnessPal app, for example. According to pocket-lint.com, MyFitnessPal “is a free calorie counting app that features a food database of over 5 million foods…The app…creates a custom plan for you, providing you with a calorie goal to work towards, which appears on the top of the diary page where you add your food, exercise, and water intake. As you add, you’ll see the food calories being deducted and the exercise calories added, so it’s easy to keep track.”
And when it comes to exercise, it’s the same. Take a look at these apps that make exercise less of a bore, and make it possible anywhere, even on company retreats and business trips.
By using these strategies, you can stay healthy, no matter how busy your schedule. What strategies do you use to stay healthy? What’s your greatest challenge?
Photo credit: CocoPerez
