Every business has a busy season. For many, it’s the holidays. In addition to a crush of sales, you have to deal with your own increased personal to do list as well. 

It’s important to remember that your business can’t run if you’ve run your physical self into the ground. Now is not the time to get sick or have a little stress related breakdown. So, make sure that during this busy season, you take care of you.

4 Self Care Tips for Small Business Owners

1. Set a Bedtime Setting a bedtime may seem silly or like something you’d do for a toddler. However, there are many nights that having a bedtime has given me a deadline to work around. Know what time you need to be in bed by and you’ll spend last time procrastinating on Facebook. It’s a simple thing that can reduce stress and improve time management.
2. Stop Adding to Your List Do you really need to get quotes on that project right now? Is the tissue paper you bought for your gift bags really not going to work? If the answers to these questions is yes, by all means fix the problem. But if there is something – anything – that can wait until things have died down a bit, then let it wait. Everything cannot be a priority. Make sure you know what absolutely must be done and go from there.
3. Outsource Tasks You Hate Are you terrible at wrapping presents? I am. So I asked my babysitter to wrap presents after the kids went to bed. These served two purposes – it got something off my to do list which is always positive. But it also removed the stress of having something I dread doing hanging over me. The thought of wrapping presents kills my mood. Every time I’m merrily checking off things on my to do list and remember I need to wrap gifts, I visibly deflate. I’m sure you have tasks like this too. You may want to outsource social media or inventory or mopping the floors. Whatever it is, outsource it! Get the task done, done right and let it stop killing your mood.
4. Treat Yo Self Whether it’s a cookie, a long run or a bubble bath, it’s important to reward yourself occasionally for all your hard work. Getting things off your plate is amazing and helps to make sure you can take care of your customers. But more than that, you need to feel your hard work is worth something. That means it’s well worth it to find a way to indulge your own needs sometimes. Otherwise, why are you working so hard?

You are the backbone of your business. As a result, you are important to take care of. You are a valuable asset. Get some sleep and stop letting your to do list make you crazy.