How to Stay Healthy as a Creative Business Babe

Exercise

by Becca Burzlaff via Pinterest

The one thing that, above all, has small business owners crying into their double-shot lattes is 'I'd love to exercise but I just don't have the time!' There's a meme going around at the moment which states 'You have as many hours in the day as Beyonce' and while my retort to that is, 'but I don't have nearly the amount of staff', the sentiment is true; if you put your mind to it, you can get that to-do list finished and some. Your tasks in a day take as long as you allot for them, so if you allot an hour for exercise each day and stick to it, you'll soon find your routine falls into place around it. For me, this means:

• Booking myself into classes at the gym. My membership type means that if I don't show up, I get charged an extra fee every time, and if there's one thing that'll get me to a spin class quicker than impending heart disease, it's the thought of giving the council more money than I need to. I book a week in advance and while I keep a routine where possible, I take a look at my diary and shift the classes around to suit. I aim for 5, one hour long sessions as a minimum, and sometimes do classes back to back to save even more time.
• Scheduling these classes at the end of the day means I have a definite leaving point from the office and allows me to wind down of an evening, too. Nothing gets me to sleep quicker than a Combat+Attack double, trust me.
• Remembering how good it makes me feel! Ok, if you're a total exercise virgin you'll have those first few months where it hurts like hell and you're always aching and where the frick are those endorphines everyone bangs on about? But regular exercise ups energy levels and productivity, helps you sleep, and keeps your head happy, too. Whenever I'm fighting my conscience that I should really reply to that email, or do some bookkeeping, I remind myself that my business will suffer if I don't look after myself, too.

So there you have it. Essentially, for me, staying healthy as a creative business owner means taking care of myself by watching my diet, getting enough rest and down time, keeping active wherever possible and not allowing myself to be consumed with negative energy in the form of guilt, comparison or self-sabotage. Simple, when you know how! This is the final part of a 4 part series on How to Keep Healthy as a Small Business Owner - why not check what else you missed here