Take Care of Yourself to Keep Your Small Business Strong
By: Nicole Akers
Tags: Business, Travel, Advice, Self Improvement, Parenting

Take Care of Yourself to Keep Your Small Business Strong

Your body is as important as your work

Work from home in comfort: Photo by Ken Tomita from Pexels

Life has been turned upside down. Likely so, too, has your small business and your relationship changed. Everything about the way we do business has changed. If you’re like most people, you’re devoting more working hours than ever to your business. While the unemployment rate continues to rise, those who continue to be employed work more hours, according to Trading Economics.

You have to take care of yourself. It’s more than putting boundaries in place, taking breaks, and guarding your emotions. If you’re an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or femalepreneur, you’ve probably long ago dismissed the timeclock in an effort to keep your business alive and thriving. You’re working more hours than ever because you do whatever is required for your business to remain afloat.

In short, your business has become a new addiction. Forbes says it’s the addiction everybody is doing, but nobody is talking about. Let’s be honest, shall we? You slip away from the family to check one thing and get sucked into a slew of little things you can take care of quickly. You work early mornings, late nights, and on weekends. You’ve become as addicted to work as social media. That’s a lot of hours, no matter how you slice them. I’m not going to suggest for a second that you should have healthier boundaries because you already know about limits. What you know and what you do are often different things. We can talk about work-life balance, but the truth is that it’s hard to maintain equity. The scales are often out of balance in this regard.

If you’re like most people, you don’t acknowledge the number of hours you put in, but you’re at your desk and on your computer more than ever before. Reuters says even large companies are reducing their real estate footprint. Working from home is the wave of the future. Many companies can mitigate office expenses while having no impact on their number of employees. If you weren’t working at home before, it’s crucial now more than ever to get good tools.

Get Comfortable for Long Hours

Being comfortable starts with your desk. Your makeshift desk or card table is wreaking havoc on your body. It’s time, perhaps past time, to get a desk that you can be comfortable at while working long hours. I love my standing desk. You can spend as much money on a desk as you want, but I’m a huge fan of searching for low to mid-cost options that work equally as well, without a hefty price tag. Just ask my kids; I love a good bargain and making my money work to its potential. I already have a standing desk that I purchased at Costco. The model has been updated with a small scoop out where a person stands or sits and has a cordless phone charging station. We can be honest about loving our electronic gadgets and keeping them close, can’t we? I’m already familiar with the desk, so I have no hesitation purchasing another one.

My husband also works from home now and has been using a foldout table as his desk. Can you relate? It’s not worth contorting your body into an uncomfortable space if you can improve the situation. Not a fan of the new option; he wants the older version. A trade is in order. We swap desks, and we’re both happy.

Find a Comfy Place to Sit

Your bum can offer a little cushion, but it’s unlikely you’ll be comfy for long periods of time. Find a chair that allows you to work comfortably. Ergo chairs and stools are in high demand. An office chair can be pricey, several hundred or thousands of dollars, if your budget allows for the expense. My budget doesn’t allow for this kind of high-end expense. Plus, I love the hunt for a good bargain. I don’t care what name is on the item as much as I care about how it functions. My buns rest just fine in a low-priced gamer chair.

Do the research, and you’ll find a low priced gamer chair with multiple adjustment options. Gamers can make a full-time income gaming. To do so, they spend many hours at a time sitting. A chair that can accommodate a gamer’s needs is comparable to meet office needs as well. Look around a little, and you can find one at a modest price, without colorful stitching — no need to look like a gamer in your office video calls, unless you want to.

Find Creative Solutions

Would your life be easier if you had an additional monitor? Many are increasing in price, are unavailable, or have a long wait time for delivery. If your company is offering a stipend for work-related at home office equipment, feel free to take full advantage of the benefit, but you don’t have to be in a hurry.

In the meantime, you can use an old television or repurpose one as a monitor. If you have an extra TV or can borrow one from the kids, an HDMI cable is possibly all you’ll need. Pick up a cable for minimum cost and enjoy the extra screen to make your work easier. Got an Amazon box lying around? It’s probably just what you need to raise your monitor to the right height.

Be Forward-Thinking

What can you do to improve your workspace? Look around and be creative. You don’t need the top-of-the-line equipment if you research low-to-mid-cost options. A little innovation will have your workspace adequately able to be a pleasant space and comfortable for all those hours you’re going to be working anyway — no need to incur repetitive stress injuries or other bodily injuries. If your body gets hurt, your business also gets hurt. Taking care of your body allows you to keep servicing your business. Service yourself first, so you can keep servicing your customers.