Great questions coming across my feed today!
One: “Business owners, what do you do for self-care?” Answers included taking a specific day off each week nonnegotiable; not taking calls/emails after hours; scheduling set breaks during each day. Morning time for spirituality/meditation/grounding is a popular one as well.
And “I’m overbooked and tired but feel bad turning away clients who need these services; how do you deal with that?”
My takes:
One: I keep my overhead super low so I can financially afford to turn down work, in favor of plenty of free time for spirituality, family, friends, activism, taking care of my health (both physical and mental). Self-care is client care & planet care too!
Two: And, to avoid turning away clients in need, I refer them to young up & coming businesses in my same fields who are wanting more clients. Win-win-win!!
(Also, re 2, I offer pro bono guidance/oversight to the young practitioners in my community who I refer jobs to (if they want my guidance). Not only a service to them and the community; it’s also in MY self-interest to grow a healthy local business ecosystem! The ecosystem part is true not only figuratively but literally as well, when it comes to the permaculture/eco landscaping aspect of my sustainability education services!)
P.S. (Added later, when I remembered):
1) In any discussion of “cutting overhead,” I always need to emphasize that cutting overhead is NOT always an option for people.
Capitalist/colonizer culture in many cases causes people’s overhead to be needlessly high. Single Moms come to mind, as do people saddled with medical debt, student loans, and so on.
My personal practice of minimizing my overhead for personal & planetary benefit does not absolve me of the ongoing work of dismantling the flawed, toxic systems that keep people, especially historically marginalized peoples, stuck on the high-overhead treadmill.
Also
2) By “minimizing overhead” I’m not saying people should feel bad or guilty for wanting treats beyond life’s bare minimum necessities. I myself have MANY treats beyond life’s basic necessities; I’m just really selective so it goes a long way.