Here’s how to create self-care for the self employed. Because, if you aren’t performing at a high level, your business won’t either.

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Let’s talk about the most overlooked part of taking care of a business when you are the chief employee (or even the only employee): taking care of yourself.

It’s far too easy to bury yourself in the work of keeping your business afloat while juggling the many other rigors and stressors of life from kids to marriage to the inbox.

Suddenly, you’ve been grinding so hard that it’s easy to get lost in bad habits that harm your health.

As a fitness and nutrition coach, I’m going to prioritize the importance of hitting your workouts and nailing your diet. But, as a stay-at-home and work-from-home dad, I totally feel the struggle of juggling kids and work life while trying to find some semblance of balance.

It’s easy to let the workouts fall to the side and it’s even easier to slack on the diet and just order delivery or pick up once again. But, make no mistake about it:

Your business will run better, your production will increase, and your creativity will improve if you take more time to care for yourself and make sure your own engine is running optimally.

Unfortunately there’s this false narrative that you’ve got to spend hours each and every day in self care and “me” time in order to reap the benefits of personal preservation.

This is not true.

You’re going to get a few of my simple life hacks of self-care for the self employed (or any busy owner) that you can apply right now in order to make sure you are at the top of your game, so you can get back to making sure your business is playing at an all-star level.

Let’s get into it.

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Self-Care for the Self Employed starts with fitness and nutrition

I’m not just making up some fancy marketing words because I’m a health and fitness coach.

There are countless benefits to making this a priority in your day to day life. It can actually improve your ability to run and manage and operate your business, too.

Relieves stress

“Man, I really regret that workout I just did. Now I feel terrible.” That’s not something you’ll ever hear. Why? Because working out boosts the positive mood receptors in our brain.

In other words, it makes us feel good.

When stress levels are through the roof because the inbox is about to explode or a client is going ballistic, a good workout session can help level off some of that stress and anxiety to help you think more clearly.

Improved stamina

When your body is running optimally through proper nutrition and a consistent fitness routine, you’ll be primed for battle on those days when burning the midnight oil turns into complete all-nighters without bonking out.

Being in shape in life translates to better shape in business.

Better sleep

Running your own business and dealing with the craziness of parenting can have your sleep all kinds of messed up.

But, with a solid base of health and fitness, you can boost the quality of your rest every night. A good night’s sleep is linked to better creativity and performance in the workplace.

This study shows that working out can improve cognitive ability and creativity.

The right kind of fitness self-care for the self-employed

The old days of hour long cardio sessions and hitting the weights five or six days per week are over.

You can be much quicker and more efficient in your training regime. The key is to maximize the little time that you do have, crank up the intensity and stay consistent with this approach.

As a busy entrepreneur, your time is limited and likely regimented. In many cases, you might even have your day scheduled out in advance to stay on top of your tasks.

But going forward, I want you to make fitness a priority by scheduling 30 minutes into your day for movement of some kind (more on that in a minute).

Create it as an unbreakable calendar appointment, like a meeting with a client, and stick to that commitment.

Do not skip your meeting for anything outside of an emergency.

How to get started with your own self-care plan

Too often the game plan for kicking off a healthy regime means diving head first into a total 180 degree lifestyle change.

Restriction of calories.

Cutting of all carbs.

Lacing up the shoes and pounding the pavement for a daily jog.

Cranking out sweaty sessions of workout classes and avoiding any and all temptation to fall off of the wagon.

Yet this all or nothing approach is unsustainable.

By making these choices so quickly and with such a high level of difficulty, it’s impossible to maintain, so you’ve likely quit and returned to the old (unhealthy) habits.

The solution is to start as small as possible and embrace this new lifestyle as a life-long process and journey. The only way to do that is to understand that it takes daily commitment and hard work.

But, it also takes a smart approach to implement these new practices slowly.

Instead of taking this on with a “Go big or go home” mindset, start with something so small and easy to do, that you are embarrassed to miss it.

Simple lifestyle tweaks make a huge difference to get you started:

• Add one portion of protein at every meal
• Aim to walk 20-30 minutes before and after meals (or whenever is convenient to your schedule)
• Replace one starchy carb source per day with a helping of vegetables or fruit
• Perform a small dose of strength training a few times per week (or even every day if it fits your lifestyle)

Let’s dive into that last point about small doses of strength training. It’s not what you think.

Short bursts of physical movement

Time is money.

And both can be limited resources for the busy entrepreneur. So it’s easy to let fitness take the back seat when you’re worried about when your client is finally going to pay off that invoice. 

Let’s work smarter, not harder to make this happen. Rather than block off large chunks of time for training, you can take movement breaks throughout your day.

This is when you can really make some gains in your health approach, too. Utilize a 10-15 minute hourly break to prioritize movement.

Performing a quick micro workout is an excellent way to get your regular physical activity.

It doesn’t have to be dedicated to one full 30-60 minute session in the gym. Chopping up that workout and performing the movements throughout the day still counts.

Adding micro workouts throughout your day will look like the following:

• Knocking out a set of kettlebell swings in between conference calls
• Dropping down and performing 20-30 pushups every hour on the hour during daylight
• Performing max reps of pull-ups every time you pass under your bar in the doorway

If you have the time for a more dedicated workout session, awesome. Have at it.

But for the really busy entrepreneur that is cramming in emails and calls in between shuttling kids to practices and activities, this might be the best way to break that barrier of entry into exercise.

And it will do the trick to get the blood flowing and muscles moving.

But then you need to start making your diet work better for you, too.

Fitting proper nutrition into your day

Plan your meals. Look, eating on the go can be the easy solution to cure all of your busy body ills.

But having a haphazard system of constantly picking new foods to eat throughout your busy day can lead to decision fatigue and then trickle down into poor choices that develop into poor eating habits.

You’ve got too many things going on throughout your day––whether that be kids or work or kids and work––to add more layers of decision-making to your grind.

The solution: plan your meals in advance, and during working hours, stick to a similar rotation of familiar foods.

Eliminate the decision fatigue and anxiety over constantly thinking of what to cook or buy for lunch every single day.

Instead, come up with a handy rotation of foods, if you enjoy variety. Or just stick with one staple go-to lunch option for the week. Make sure you’ve got enough to power you through whatever your work week looks like and never think twice about scrambling to figure out lunch.

Structure promotes freedom

So when you structure your day with rock solid systems, it frees you up for more time to focus on the business or pleasure of your day.

Your lunches do not have to be boring. But, you should try to stick with a solid template of whole, nutritious foods that pack some protein, a little bit of carbs, fats and plenty of fiber.

Protein is the most important macronutrient (versus its cousins, carbs and fats) because it preserves lean muscle tissue. It also requires the most energy to digest.

So as you are sitting there munching on grilled chicken, know that your body is using calories to burn and digest that lean meat. That’s a fat loss win-win.

Here’s how to make it happen:

Aim for a portion of protein that is about the size of the palm of your hand, that will come out to about 20-30 grams of protein. A perfect amount to help curb cravings throughout the day.

Toss in a small helping of carbs which will fill you up in the moment. We aren’t looking for six slices of bread and an entire bowl of pasta here. A portion size that will fit in the cup of your hand will do the trick.

Look for more nutrient-dense carb sources over the high processed variety. So think sweet potato over white rice.

Fiber from fruits and vegetables keeps you full, too. It doesn’t have to be a huge plate of leafy greens. Just aim to cover half of your plate with some kind of veggie.

Fats are typically included in many of the meats, fatty fish and/or roasted vegetables. If that’s the case for your meal, you’ve likely got enough covered.

If you’re enjoying salmon or red meat, you probably don’t need to worry about adding any fats to this meal. However, if you’ve got the lean varieties of meat (chicken, egg whites, turkey, etc.), you might want to toss in a thumb-sized portion of fats.

Go easy on this and stick to the portion of a thumb, any more and you risk blowing up the calories here. Anything from olive oil to a sliver of avocado can do the trick.

From now on, this should be your template for your meals. You can get creative and mix and match the proteins, carbs and fat options, but if you stick with this plate template, you’ll be more than fine.

But being in good shape and eating well is just part of the holistic health puzzle.

Time is still of the essence for busy parents trying to operate a business, so look to these easy to implement lifestyle hacks to incorporate a more mindful practice into your day.

Make room for mindfulness

If you’ve got the time to pop up every morning and hit the meditation room for 20 minutes of deep breathing and mantras, that is fantastic. Keep up the good work and know how much that mindful practice assists in creativity and stress relief throughout your day.

But, if you’ve been dodging the idea of meditation because you simply don’t have the time, I totally get it.

Instead, you can make a few simple tweaks. Set aside a few minutes every day just to take 10-20 deep belly breaths.

Is it a full on meditative session? No. Does it still help clear the mind and prepare yourself for the battle of the daily grind? Yes.

Something is always better than nothing. And taking just a minute or two for these deep belly breaths will go a long way toward helping center yourself.

Other quick tips include just taking time to really be mindful in the moment. Instead of trying to multitask and constantly thinking ahead to the next item on the to-do list, really focus in on some of the more mindless practices of the day.

For example:

• Really be mindful while eating (the inbox will be there when you’re done)
• Take a walk and spend a few moments taking in the sights and sounds as if you’ve never seen them before; if possible, try to unplug altogether during these walks (that includes social media and the news)
• Focus on when you’re doing something small like cleaning the dishes and think about the effort and experience, even if washing dishes is kinda lame

Sure, it sounds fleeting and almost hippy in nature, but it makes a difference in the long run to break the chains of being constantly amped up and plugged into the day to day.

Set regular breaks

It’s easy to get into the grind of the daily hustle of your own business.

You start building momentum and you’re feeling mighty productive and you just want to bury your head in your work because being your own business owner is truly one of the most rewarding things you can do (right next to that parenting thing).

But, this hustle culture of #NoDaysOff and #Grinding does not make for a healthy and happy entrepreneur, hence this entire lengthy article about building a lifestyle that promotes self-care for the self employed, stressed out individuals like you.

Schedule a few breaks into your regular routine. Set a timer for 45-50 minutes and work as distraction-free as possible. Really get into the groove and crush your to do list.

If you need help doing that, look to an app like the Pomodoro Timer to do the work for you.

And to be clear, these work blocks mean putting away the phone and turning off the TV or using a distraction-free setting on your desktop to prevent you from sneaking peeks at the latest cat video on YouTube.

I’m talking about an all-out assault on that work-related task with 100-percent focus for a solid chunk of time.

No more eating at your desk while you work.

Stop sneaking a peek at your phone to check in on Facebook.

The selfies for the Gram with the hashtag “grinding” can wait for another time (or, perhaps just stop doing that silly shit altogether, yeah?)

I find that the Venn Diagram of people claiming to be “grinding” away while working and those people now actually working is almost a perfect circle.

But then here’s the catch: when the timer goes off, step away from the inbox and spreadsheets and computer or desk completely. Physically get up if you can and step away. Retrain your eyes on something other than that computer screen.

In fact, to help prevent long-term damage to your vision from a life of constant screen monitoring, many optometrists suggest The 20-20-20 Rule:

Every 20 minutes, refocus your eyes on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It’s a great habit to implement to help give your eyeballs a little rest.

Even professional athletes take regular breaks away from the action to recharge and refresh. That’s what you’re doing here.

Don’t worry, your work and inbox and major projects aren’t going anywhere, they’ll still be there when you return.

But when you step away to take a short breather, you might actually find yourself more engaged, creative and ready to tackle that work assignment.

You might even find yourself becoming more efficient and even more productive as a result.

Get outside

Don’t be a vampire. It’s important to unplug from the computer and step outside to breathe in the not-so-fresh smog from time to time.

Kidding aside, getting outdoors is a great way to recenter yourself and recollect your thoughts. Take a mindful walk in a park or around the block to clear your mind and refocus and recharge. It’s a fantastic way to boost creativity and work through some problems.

Not to mention, increasing your daily step count is one of the best ways to burn calories without increasing your appetite. And increasing daily movement amounts to almost 20-percent of your metabolism.

Aim for something small and work your way up. It doesn’t have to be a 45-minute walk. Just start with 10-15 minutes as a nice break from the work/life action.

Take your mandatory meetings outside and use the time to walk around while you talk.

Go play

This is one of the most overlooked aspects of the self-care for the self employed system. As mentioned earlier, movement does not have to always be the one dedicated sweat sesh in the gym.

Especially when you are short on time.

Instead of lacing up the shoes and pounding the pavement on that cardio workout you’re dreading (and likely don’t have time for anyway), you can absolutely mix it up and get creative.

• Crank up the music and just pop up and dance to some of your favorite songs with your kids
• Grab a ball and some family members and head out the backyard for a game of catch
• Run across the block to the local playground and instead of watching the kids climb the apparatuses, get involved with them

Not only are you still burning calories and raising your heart rate and reaping the benefits of cardiovascular activity, but now you’re leading by example for your kids and getting the family involved with real and meaningful quality time.

Putting it all together: Simple strategies of self care for the self-employed

Alright, let’s take everything we’ve learned here and turn it into some real actionable steps that you can apply to your lifestyle right now.

It all starts with practicing the minimum effective dose that will provide the best bang for your limited buck.

Tim Ferriss popularized this concept in the 4 Hour Workweek, we’ll be utilizing this sort of philosophy in training and nutrition.

On the nutrition side, follow these simple steps daily to see the maximum results with minimum effort:

1) Add one serving of protein to each meal

The portion of protein should be about the size of your palm or fist (or like a deck of cards)

Options include:

• Chicken breast
• Egg and/or egg whites
• Greek yogurt
• Salmon, tuna
• Tofu, seitan

2) Swap out one serving of starchy carbs for 2-3 handfuls of leafy vegetables

It’s not about lowering carb intake here, but by making this simple swap, you’ve just drastically reduced calories and added in a ton of handy nutrient-dense foods to help keep you alert, energetic and well-fueled for your day of work

3) Reduce snacking to a portion size that can fit in the palm of your hand and it must always include a protein source

If you plan to enjoy an alcoholic beverage later that day or evening, then replace the snack with that drink

On the fitness side, it’s time to adopt the mantra that all movement counts.

Rethink how you envision your “workouts” so you can fit in activity throughout your working hours in pockets.

Set a timer for 50 minutes, when it goes off, get up and pace your office, home, living room for 10 minutes

Adding in this movement will go a long way towards increasing your Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (or NEAT) calorie burn which makes up as much as 20-percent of your metabolism.

When you have the time to workout, toss in the minimal equipment workouts that I’ve provided in my free fat loss guide.

All of them are fast-paced and take no more than 10-15 minutes of your time.

I’m a stay at home, work at home, self-employed dad and all of my workouts are contained within my tiny Brooklyn apartment. No gym for me.

In other words, you can do this, too.

There’s almost no excuse to miss a workout. And when you make something so easy to perform in this nature, it creates a clearer path to becoming a long-term and sustainable habit.

You could perform one workout per day for three days, then take a day off for active rest. And continue to cycle in that three-on, one-off pattern to get the most results.

Active rest, by the way, means not sitting on your bum. It means going for a walk, performing some light stretching or yoga. Movement should be a part of your day, every single day. It just doesn’t have to be a marathon or a HIIT class or a bootcamp every day.

Remember your new mantra, all movement counts.

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Adopting new habits and making your health a priority is not something you’ll be perfect overnight. In fact, I don’t even want you to ever strive for perfection.

Many self-employed entrepreneurs are perfectionists by nature. But, when you push yourself too hard, particularly in health and fitness, it can lead to unsustainable and contradictory methods that just set you back.

Understand this: You will mess up on this stuff from time to time.

You will skip workouts. Life will be really tough and business will be crazy and as a result, you will fall off on your nutrition every once in a while.

And that’s okay. The goal is not to be perfect 100-percent of the time.

Instead, we’re looking for overall consistency. Just like in your business, if you are mostly consistent in managing the day to day projects and putting out the random fire drills, you will build over time.

The same can be said for your health and fitness. Stop looking for a perfect stretch of 90 Days to Six Pack Abs and start viewing this as an investment in the most important part of your life and your business: Y-O-U.

Once you adopt that mindset, it’ll free you up to explore what works best for you so you can feel better and be healthier.

And I can guarantee that your business will reap the benefits of that newfound mindset, too.

Let me help you find the right strategies to promote better self-care for the self employed …

You’re still here? Awesome. 

I’m here to help you finally bust through the rut and break the chains of chronic dieting. And figuring out the ins and outs of this calorie thing and tracking what you eat can be really confusing.

If you have any questions, reach out. Shoot me a message with the subject line “Self-Care for the Self Employed” to pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … I answer all of my emails and will get back to you within 72 hours.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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