How to stay sane working from home running your own business

IT’S SO DIFFICULT TO STAY SANE WHEN WORKING FROM HOME RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

There’s always so much to do and the jobs are never ending.

But burn out can be a real problem amongst entrepreneurs. Especially bloggers.

I think this is because its too easy to continue working on the blog. All you have to do is open your laptop and start tweaking or typing.

That means that even when you opened your laptop, intending to Netflix and chill, you end up doing some pinning or proof reading that post.

Now these might not sound like arduous tasks and they’re not. I mean one of the main reasons I got into blogging was because it allowed my work to be pinning! How freaking great is that, and I’m sure plenty of other bloggers agree. But when your on your 79th pin of the day and you’ve already written a blog post, brainstormed another five, updated all 6 of your social media accounts and replied to emails and comments. Well it’s no wonder your struggling to stay sane when working from home running your own business.

But not to worry because I have some brilliant tips to help. Plus I know they work.

Due to suffering from a number of chronic health conditions I get burnt out way too easily. And burn out is not something I can afford.

There is no way I can run my fledgling blogging business if I’m completely destroyed. So I’ve had to learn fast how to keep myself well and sane whilst running Well and Wealthy.

PLUS YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY!

If that still hasn’t convinced you that you need to take care of your health when running your own business from home. Then consider these tips on how to maintain productivity instead. Because one thing’s for sure, if you’re tired, under the weather and your brain is frazzled, then there’s no way you are producing quality for your customers.

Nope instead you will slowly be producing drivel that no one will bother to look at, let alone pay for.

TIP ONE:

CREATE A WORKING ROUTINE.

There are reasons why we have laws ensuring people take appropriate breaks at work. It’s because it’s well known that health, productivity and quality are greatly reduced when people become tired and overworked.

Therefore you need a working routine, or perhaps it should be called a break routine. But it doesn’t need to be a traditional working day routine, unless that suits you of course.

I personally work best as soon as I wake up in the morning and then afternoon and late evening.

So my daily work routine looks something like this:

8.00 am Wake up and get up.

8.30 am Work on the blog, normally writing posts.

11.00 am Go workout, then shower.

12.30 pm Have a long lunch and tidy up the house, maybe do some laundry.

2.00 pm Work on blog

7.00 pm Dinner and chill for the evening

10.00 pm Bed time

Note how I have created a work routine that not only works for me but includes plenty of breaks to recharge. That what you need to do!

TIP TWO:

GET ENOUGH SLEEP.

An oldie but a goodie. See how above in my work routine I have allowed myself 10 hours of sleep. Now I am a sleepy person but most nights I do not sleep that long. However by scheduling more time that necessary I have made sure that whatever happens I should still get at least 7 to 8 hours worth of sleep.

Which you need. I get that if you have kids then sometimes you can’t avoid a sleepless night. But everyone else you have no excuse, you need to make sleep a priority. There is no doubt about it, enough sleep is the ultimate productivity hack.

TIP THREE:

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO HAVE A BAD DAY AND PLAN IT IN.

When you work for someone else it can be easier to take it easy one day if you know your not feeling great, or if life just isn’t going well for you. Now I’m not condoning it but it’s true it happens. And realistically when you’re working within a company there will be someone else having a brilliant day who can pick up the slack.

But when you work for yourself its only you who can get things done. And that responsibility will remain with you even if your having an awful day or not feeling so good.

Therefore you need to give yourself permission to have a bad day. It’s okay and it happens to the best of us. You are human after all.

Plus, because you’re human and a bad day is inevitable you need to plan it in. That means always working a few days or more ahead of schedule. So if you have one of those days when you can’t get anything done. It’s okay nothing is desperate and you can go and chill.

Personally I like to write my posts a week or two before they are needed. And I ensure I have something scheduled for my social media accounts for at least a week if not longer. (The plan is for longer but I’m a beginner so I’m cutting myself a little slack).

(Also in case you were wondering I use the free plan from Buffer to schedule my Facebook, the free plan from Later to schedule my Instagram and the Plus plan from Tailwind to schedule my Pinterest.)

TIP FOUR:

DO SOME FORM OF EXERCISE EVERYDAY.

I don’t care what you do you just need to get your ass out from under your desk and get moving. Do some stretches, hit the gym, vacuum the house, go for a walk in nature. You just need to move.

I mean ideally we would all have standing desks, or treadmill desks or even bike desks. But most of us don’t. So sorry guys but you’re gonna have to tear yourself away from the screen and get moving. Honestly you will feel so much better for it.

TIP FIVE:

DON’T EAT RUBBISH.

Particularly don’t eat sugar when you need to create something good. You will have 20 minute of hyper energy and then the tiredness and brain fog will set in.

Bad idea.

Instead you want to aim for plenty of fats and proteins and complex carbs.

For example a great breakie is scrambled eggs with some ham, cheese and tomatoes or some natural yoghurt with fresh fruit and nuts.

At lunch I like some fish, salad and good quality noodles. Or perhaps a chicken sandwich, with plenty of leaves and some granary bread. (I try and choose a bread with plenty of seeds to up my fat intake and make the carbs digest slower so I don’t get that sugar/carb rush after eating.)

While dinner could be sausages, broccoli and quinoa. Or spaghetti bolognese using whole wheat pasta.

Snack wise berries are great, as are a handful of nuts, a bowl of natural yoghurt or even some cold meats.

Obviously you can find some amazing health recipes on Pinterest that are a bit more jazzy than my suggestions above. But if you follow the rule of protein, fat and some complex carbs you should be all good!

TIP SIX:

REWARD YOURSELF EVERYDAY.

Running your own business is hard and to keep up that motivation you need to reward yourself every single day. Just something small. Like once I finish this post I will allow myself to watch an episode of my favourite series from Netflix. Or how about a lovely bath. Some time out for meditation or yoga. Even a cup of your favourite tea.

Just make sure you pick something you will genuinely enjoy and that will make your day that tiny bit better!

So what do you think? Will these tips help you avoid burn out and stay sane while working from home running your own business? My favourite tip is definitely number one, creating a working routine. That way I always know I will have enough time to complete everything that needs doing and have time to chill. Perfect!