In today’s episode, I’m going to give you three things to do when you’re feeling tired, sick, a little worn out, or feeling over this business game and want to make sure that it doesn’t turn into a long-term disconnection.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, tired, done with it all, or sick, then this is going to be a super helpful episode for you.
Here for the links referenced in the show notes?
Jo Bendle’s Mighty 90: jobendle.com
Let’s dive on in!
Here are my three juicy tips for when you’re feeling tired or sick…
1. Rest
It might seem really obvious, but the first thing that I want you to do when you’re feeling tired, sick, unwell or burnt out is to rest.
We can get so caught up in thinking that the rest will be available to us later. Often, we try to fit all these things in BEFORE we allow ourselves to rest.
We need to get better at listening to our bodies and doing what it needs.
If your body is feeling like it’s tired or sick, or if your brain is overloaded, learn to be a good CEO.
Be a good boss to yourself. Give yourself the time and space that you need to rest and recover.
Sometimes, for me, the most powerful rest I can take is to go for a bike ride. This is because I’m mentally exhausted, not physically exhausted.
Sometimes I need to lie on the couch and watch funny TikToks. Other times, I need to actually go to bed.
The more that I practice listening to what my body needs, the better I get at understanding exactly what it is that it’s looking for from me, and then meeting those needs.
2. Bare minimums
Get really clear on what your bare minimums in your business are, and as much as possible, take care of those in advance.
At the start of every single day, I know what the three things are that I need to get done as a bare minimum.
I also know whether they need to be done exactly that day, or if they could be moved if I’m not up to it.
My goal is to get those things done as quickly in my day as possible.
This means that if something goes awry at the end of the day, or if my energy starts to fade or I feel like going off and doing something fun, I feel confident and comfortable that my minimums are taken care of.
Something that I do which I got from the amazing Jo Bendle (you can find her here: jobendle.com) is the Mighty 90.
When I was part of Jo’s amazing membership, we had this thing that we did each day called the Mighty 90.
The Mighty 90 is 90 minutes of focused time working on my business.
I do a Mighty 90 as much as possible in the morning.
In that Mighty 90, I know exactly what needs to be done for the day to keep myself focused and strategic so that if I am feeling a bit off in the afternoon, or I have a heavy lunch and decide to go on a bike ride, I can do that without guilt, without freaking out, and without worrying that I haven’t got my minimums done for the day.
Understanding your minimums for the day comes from practice.
You will not magically know what they are, and you will get them wrong a lot of the time. But you won’t know what’s wrong until you try it.
You won’t know why that was not part of your minimums until you actually make some commitments.
Have a think about what your minimums are each day in your business. Make a note of them.
I used to have a laminated piece of paper on my desk with my minimums on it. I would use a whiteboard marker to tick them off every day because I couldn’t hold that in my brain.
When I didn’t do that, I would forget or I would dismiss something as unimportant.
Whenever I find myself in a space where I’m not hitting my minimums – I’m not getting those basics done each day – I can bring the laminated piece of paper out again and just give myself the structure I need to be able to nail it.
Particularly for myself after having my surgery last year and really struggling with my recovery, and also having Covid a few months ago, it was really helpful for me to have that habit of knowing exactly what my minimums are each day so that I can tick those off and rest without guilt and without worrying that something is going to fall off.
If there was something that was on my minimums that I needed to move because I couldn’t get it done that day, I just shifted it in my calendar a few days ahead so that I didn’t have to keep carrying it around in my brain.
Find ways to make sure that you’ve got those tools and resources behind you so that you’re not carrying so much in your head each day.
That has made a significant difference for me in how confident and comfortable I feel with resting when I’m tired or sick.
3. Boundary your time
It’s important to boundary your time when you’re tired or sick.
I love setting alarms. I even have a little productivity cube that I use these days for whenever I want to set a little timer for something.
When it comes to sending out my newsletter each week, I set a 15-minute timer.
If I’m putting more than 15 minutes into sending that newsletter out, it means I haven’t done the prep work to make sending that email easy for myself.
If I’m spending more than 30 minutes answering questions in my paid group program Facebook groups, then chances are that I have either let it go for too many days, or I am not being clear on something so people are all asking similar questions or getting caught in the same space.
For me, it actually helps me to really zoom my workday right down into focus time simply by setting that boundary around my time.
When I first boundaried my time for my newsletter, it was an hour. I’d give myself an hour a week to create and send my newsletter.
As I stuck to that, it helped me to see what I needed to prepare in advance so that I could do that faster.
The shorter I made the time, the more likely I was to hit that timeframe.
I love the Pareto principle and Parkinson’s Law used together.
Pareto Principle says 20% of the effort gets you 80% of the way there.
I’d rather just put 20% in, get it 80% of the way there and get it out than spend hours and hours finessing those last little percentages.
Then Parkinson’s Law says a project will expand to take up the time that you allocate to it.
If you allocate four hours a week to putting your newsletters together, it will take you four hours.
If you allocate no deadline to getting your newsletter out each week, you’re just going to keep doing it until it’s done.
It will keep expanding and expanding.
By boundary-ing up your time, you will actually increase the likelihood that you will stick to that time limit. You will be far more efficient and it will focus you in on the 20% of effort that gets you 80% of the way there.
Use those two principles to really keep things tight.
You will prove to yourself that your business can be hyper-efficient, and you can get so much more done in less time.
I want to come full circle though…
When you start getting those minimums and boundaries sorted, you will have more time available to you.
I don’t want you to fill that with more projects, more tasks and more things on your to-do list.
I want you to use that time to really rest.
Connect with your body, get out and stretch your legs, or even get out and roll in the grass.
I don’t care what it is, but your body and brain need time and space for you to optimise your effectiveness.
The more time and space I give my brain, the better I am at making great decisions and creatively solving problems.
The more time and space I give to my body, the more sustained energy I have, and the more my body supports me in focusing that time on my business.
Don’t fill that time with more busy work. Use that time to really give your body and brain what they need in order to be optimised.
Those are my three tips for when you’re feeling tired or sick:
1. Rest
2. Know your minimums
3. Boundary up your time
In the interest of efficiency, I’m not going to give you any homework from this!
If you have any insights or follow-up questions, just come and find me on Instagram or Facebook, send me a DM and I will personally answer your questions.
Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the Heart-Centred Business Podcast.
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.
