The Refresh Button: Fitting Self-Care into a Full Schedule

Send us a text

Ever felt like the constant grind leaves you drained and ready to crash? That's what hit me after wrapping up my latest project, and it led to a revelation about the power of stepping away. In this heart-to-heart episode, I peel back the layers of my own life to reveal how crucial time off is for our mental well-being and overall productivity. From repainting my studio to dealing with the chaos of life's little surprises, I'll share how breaks not only refresh our minds but also bring into focus the neglected corners of our personal lives. 

Join me as we explore ways to weave self-care into the busiest of schedules, proving that even the most packed calendar has room for a breather. Listen as I uncover techniques to make room for what truly matters, without succumbing to the pressure of life's demands. And as always, I'm eager to hear how you're incorporating these strategies into your life. So, let's embark on this journey of transformation together and remember, a well-timed pause might just be the secret to your next big leap forward.

🎧 Like what you hear? Follow the show and leave a review it helps others to find this podcast.

📥 Grab your free Content Clarity Planner
📸 Connect on Instagram
🌐 Explore free resources + programs
💬 Ready to grow your business with clarity and less stress? Apply to work with me

Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Boost your Visibility
.
Thanks so much for being here.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe importance of stepping away
, giving yourself some breathingroom and some space between
projects or between seasons sothat you can take care of
yourself, take care of yourhouse, your family, your
business, and then go backbetter and stronger than ever.

(00:20):
This comes from a place ofbeing someone that works in a
very seasonal business and it'skind of built in for, like a
photographer.
Social person, when you have towork so hard in a condensed

(00:47):
amount of time, needs a littlebit of a break from people just
to kind of take a breather andremember what is important to
you, because it's so easy to getcaught up in the expectations
and the day-to-day.
So an example for me has beenwhen I complete a contract with
a social media coaching client.

(01:09):
For me I'm not meant to be withany business for a long length
of time.
I'm really only meant to comein, teach as much as I possibly
can and empower that socialmedia assistant or social media
marketing person within abusiness with all the tools and
knowledge possible and then forabout three months I'm just

(01:30):
basically support.
If they have a question, I dropto a much lower level of
consulting.
But I'm there so that they'renot just thrown in and totally
on their own and then I kind offade away, but I'm always here
if there's questions, when Icomplete a contract or complete
my cycle with a customer.
I've found myself taking a goodmonth of just a mental break to

(01:53):
kind of clear my head and beready for either the next
project or to focus on my ownbusiness or things that are
important to me.
Because if you don't run yourlife, your life will run you and
specifically, not on purpose,but other people will run your
life.
And if you don't take the timejust to stop and really think

(02:17):
through the wins, the losses,the lessons and what you want to
leave behind and never thinkabout again and what you want to
take with you as gifts andlessons and learning, you're
really just a cog in a wheel,you're really just a technician
and we're all so much more thanthat.
So I wanted to honor that foryou.
If you're feeling eitheroverwhelmed or just disorganized

(02:41):
or just can't quite get it alltogether, I know it's easy to
say, take some time off, but ifthere's some way that you can
scale back or give yourself aweekend to yourself completely,
just to not think, not be takenall so seriously.
I highly recommend it.
It truly is a form of self careFor me.

(03:04):
The time that I've taken off younoticed the podcast I took a
little bit of a reprieve.
I repainted my photographystudio.
I'm doing some projects hereand those will be ongoing, but
now I have a plan for the yearof how I'm going to approach it.
This space is more than 15years old.
It looks amazing, but it's timefor an update and it was just

(03:25):
much needed and you know what.
It was so good for my soul justto paint the space myself.
I didn't hire it out.
I didn't hire any bit of it out.
I did it myself and I don'tlove that.
My knees were killing me by thetime I was done, going up and
down the ladder 50 times, but Iwas able to think and breathe
and kind of organize my thoughts.
I have to believe that there'ssomething neurological about

(03:48):
that that when you're away fromwork or from sets of people that
you've worked with for a longtime and you just take a break
to kind of organize your ownthoughts and remember your own
priorities, it's so good foryour mental health.
There are certain things thatI've just needed to take care of
over time that I just haven'ttaken care of myself.

(04:11):
Part of it is my health likegetting out and walking every
day.
It's always oh, I just don'thave time.
Well, you know what?
I didn't make the time.
My job is really super physicalin the warmer months, but in
the winter months not so much.
So I've really been working onmy nutrition and my sleep and
trying to build it into my lifebefore I get busy so that when I

(04:34):
get busier, I have everythingin place that I need in order to
maintain that and keep it going.
And I am by no means an example.
I am not perfect, but, justlike you, I'm always learning,
and I wanted to give you thesame permission that I gave
myself that it's okay to nottake things so seriously for a

(04:55):
couple weeks or a month and justget the work done that you
absolutely have to get done.
Don't take on any new projects.
Just breathe and take care ofwhat you need to take care of.
I've been having car trouble fora while.
I have a car that's an 09.
I'm looking at it right now outthe window and talk about God's

(05:16):
plan.
Last summer, my car died onEast Washington in Madison,
which is known to be not supersafe.
It is sketchy and it is not aplace that you want your car to
write down, thank goodness.
And also how horrible that Iwas with one of my marketing
consulting someone that I'mcoaching.

(05:36):
We were going out andphotographing some homes for a
building and remodeling business.
So at least I wasn't alone.
But then at the same time, itfeels so bad that still that she
and I were like stranded at agas station in a yucky
neighborhood waiting for myhusband to come because my car
died.
And you know what.
We got the car fixed and I knewthat it was a bit of a bandaid

(05:58):
effect, but I didn't have timeto go car shopping or find a
replacement for it.
You know what, this last monththat I'm like I'm taking care of
myself, my own business, I'mnot worried about anybody's
anything except for what myself,my family and my business need
in order to have a really greatrest of the year.
And finally we got things takencare of with my car and I feel

(06:20):
such a sense of relief.
I researched for so long thatlike I feel like I should still
be researching what to you know,what kind of car to buy or what
to get.
But as I was driving last nightand I have some driving
anxieties and fears with likeinterstate driving just to share
that with you a vulnerablemoment.
I know many people can relateto that the safety features in

(06:42):
this car that I have and I am byno means bragging, because I
drove a dinosaur for a good 12years what self-care it is.
I was thinking that as I wasdriving home, I can see at night
and not feel like there's a fogin the windshield.
Well, it's because my car wasso flipping, old.
It seems logical, but I wasjust so busy and so in the day

(07:04):
to day, and I was so busy beingeverybody's everything that I
couldn't take care of somethingthat is critical to everybody's
everything, to me being able tocome through for everybody else
in a responsible, professionalwhole way where I can be my best
self and just feel like I'vetaken care of what I need to
take care of.

(07:24):
I hope this is hitting home foryou and making some sense and
you know, if you can't afford totake time off, I know right now
especially, it's really hard tosay no to any extra work.
That's okay too.
Maybe take like a Sundayafternoon to just make a list of
what's important to you, whatyou haven't gotten to, and start

(07:45):
to work your way through, justcrossing one thing off at a time
, and it can be anything fromliteral self-care Do you want to
start a skincare routine, andthat would just make you feel
good in your everyday?
Or working on your flower bedand it's been neglected for
three years because your summersare so busy?
Or reorganizing your closet, ifthat makes you feel like a

(08:09):
sense of calm, put all thosethings on a list and just slowly
work your way through it,because there is no one that can
do self-care for you but you,and I'm not here to lecture you.
I'm here to just give youpermission to take that time and
really just let your thoughtsget organized by taking a mental

(08:29):
break from everybody'severything when you can.
I take things like veryseriously and I have high
expectations of myself andpeople around me, so I tend to
overthink and really try to dothe best job all the time and
overachiever, I guess, and I'vefound that I need to care just a

(08:51):
little bit less and take thingsa little less seriously and
that's what I've learned in thislast month, because everybody
else isn't taking it thatseriously.
Why am I thinking that all ofthese things need to get done at
once, or I need to bring in allthese new clients and keep
things going, and that's all ego, and the ego isn't going to get

(09:12):
me to a happy 85 years old.
What's going to get me to ahappy 85 years old is doing
things that help me to feel safe, secure, calm, happy and like
I'm actually bringing somethingto the table.
So let me know your thoughts.
I would love to hear whereyou're at on like.
Are you feeling like you'retaking enough time for yourself,

(09:34):
or have you kind of let somethings go for a long time that
you haven't been able to get to?
I'm sure that we all on somelevel feel that way, and I just
really hope that this helps youto take a few minutes even if
you're taking a drive or goingfor a walk and listening to this
, that you give yourself somepermission to carve out some

(09:56):
time to make a list of thingsthat you'd really just like to
get done for yourself or foryour family and see how you can
fit that into the little gapshere and there, without
overwhelming yourself, but maybejust taking on a little bit
less or taking things just atidge bit less seriously for the
next month so that you can takecare of your home base.

(10:16):
All right, that's it fortoday's episode.
I hope you enjoyed it.
I would love some feedback.
I'd love to hear from you and Ilook forward to seeing you on
the next episode of Boost yourVis.