Hey Confident Lady,
This week over in The Confident Ladies Club we talked all about "Unplugging from the demands of your Business".
I am always stressing the importance of unplugging and have vowed to take at least one FULL week off each quarter. Here are a few tips that have worked for me:
1. Plan ahead, but leave room for flexibility. We all know that when you plan ahead you have more control over your schedule.
2. When you do unplug, don't overbook yourself. I used to be guilty of this. I would take a day off, hop on the train into NYC to see friends, and meet up for breakfast, coffee, lunch, dessert, dinner, and second dessert dates. I would feel so rushed all day, my mind would feel preoccupied, and I would come home feeling completely drained and thrown off for a few days. Bottom line, SET LIMITS WITH YOURSELF.
3. Get used to unplugging. Give yourself a goal or create a rule in your business. Mine is: meet at least one friend per week, have a phone date with a bestie at least once per week, text at least a few friends per day to check in, & be in contact with family at least a few times per week. For me, spending time with people when I unplug feels really good. I feel refreshed and inspired (when I'm not overbooked though, like my post above!). Each day I have 30-60 mins of self care time built into my schedule where I listen to an audio book, take a walk, read a book, do my nails, crochet, anything that provides a little extra joy in my life. This comes pretty natural, but the socialization piece I have to schedule in and plan because it can be easy to get sucked into work and not find time for the people I love the most <3
4. AND take at least a FULL WEEK off each quarter. In business #1 I NEVER took time off. I worked 40-hour weeks on my business while working a 40-hour a week 9-5 as well. And once I quit that I worked about 85 hour weeks on my business. I pretty much missed out on a good 10 months of everything life related. I began to feel burned, stumbled upon coaching, and realized I wanted to live a different lifestyle and that’s how this business was created. When I began, I vowed to never let it control my life the way business #1 did. But that fear came back up. It couldn't just go away, I would have to work on it. I would fear, “if I take time off, I will miss out on all the clients. If I don’t post, that client interested in me will go find someone else”. Ummmm now that is CRAZY talk!! That is the WORST way to run your business, basically enslaved to it.
I knew I just needed to trust, work on my mindset around this, get into a mindset of abundance, and then PRACTICE actually taking off. What I found was that when I took days off something big would happen. I would be having fun and a cool idea would come up for a program, a new topic for this group, a new way to support my clients, and so on. How do you think I’ve been able to create SO MUCH content and so many new offerings in such a short period of time?!?! It’s because I take time OFF! I refresh and renew my mind. I come back FILLED with energy and inspiration and BOOM execute in NO TIME.
We can dream dreams for our business, but if you don’t execute, those dreams are wasted. You’ve gotta allow yourself the space to dream, the space to build up the energy, and then come back and jump head first! I am NOT going to lie, but I do miss work DEARLY when I am off. But I know when I come back I will be an EVEN STRONGER leader for you.
How would you feel about unplugging from your business for say a week each quarter?! Does it scare you? The last time I did it, I came back to FOUR new clients waiting to work with me long term PLUS filled my 1:1 practice just 3 months later. Can you let go? And believe that if you put the work in now, nothing will change, but only for the better when you go away?
I want you to think back on how you’ve been running your business. Have you given yourself time to take off? Time to practice self care? Time to just live life? If not, what’s held you back? And how can you change this pattern for the future?
Need some support with getting into an abundance mindset? Shoot me an email at kate@katecrocco.com and I'll tell you how I can help support you in this!