The post Achieving Work-Life Integration for a Happier, Healthier You appeared first on .

Let me start by saying yes, you need more self-care in your life. Whether you are new to working from home or have been doing so for years, I’m sure you’ll agree that sometimes it’s hard to be productive. Part of the reason is because the line that divides your home life and your business is invisible. That’s mostly because you’re always in the same location. That’s why self-care is more important than ever before. 

And if you find yourself working a crazy amount of hours all the time, that is having a negative impact on your health on multiple levels. You may be finding it hard to focus, you may feel sluggish, and tired all of the time. Why? It’s because you’re always connected either on your laptop, tablet or phone. So what can you do to reverse these adverse effects of being “ON ” all the time?

The short answer is you need to set up some boundaries and you need to stick to them. But that’s not what I’m going to be talking about today. I know that probably surprised you since I talk about boundaries all the time. Now if you want some help setting and sticking to your boundaries, I have some blog posts that can help you with that. I talk about setting and communication boundaries with your clients in the blog post Business Boundaries You Need to Protect What’s Important to You and how to do the same with your family in this blog post, Summer Survival Tips for Working Moms.

I know you’re scratching your head wondering what I am going to talk about today. It’s nothing new, but it’s something that is often overlooked. And it’s an easy way to practice self-care every single day. You simply need to take breaks AND you need to enjoy some downtime. We’re going to talk about the difference between the two and why you need both of them in your life. That’s right, I said you need both of them and they are different which I will talk about later. Let’s talk about taking breaks first. 

You Need to Take Breaks

Not taking breaks throughout the day is actually decreasing your productivity. Not to mention it’s a surefire way to end up overwhelmed and burnt out. Breaks give your brain a chance to rest and re-set. Plus your eyes need a break from the bluelight that is limited from the computer screens. With more people working from home and being on Zoom more than ever over the past two years, more and more people are having to wear glasses. And others are experiencing headaches and dry eyes. It’s all from too much screen time. Taking breaks can help with that.

So what you need to do is cultivate the habit of taking breaks. When you come back from a break, you will feel refreshed and ready to tackle the next priority for the day or to resume work where you left off. This starts by you actually planning out your week. 

I time block my schedule every week. So I break down my time blocks into 2 hour increments. Every 1.5-2 hours I take a 10-15 minute break. Then every 4 hours I take a 30 minute break except I take an hour for lunch. But this doesn’t mean I sit in my chair for two hours. I try to make it a habit to get up every hour and just move around for a minute or two. My Apple watch helps me remember to do that which I love! If you want to know my step by step process for time blocking my schedule, check out this blog post.

No matter how you plan your week make sure you arrange your day so that you can enjoy regular breaks to eat, go to the bathroom and just to get out of the chair, away from the screen and to move around. My recommendation is that you take at least 10 minutes. Why not 5 minutes? Because 5 minutes or less really isn’t enough time for your brain to reset itself. But also be careful not to make your break too long. If your break is too long, you start to relax and then it’s hard to get your brain to re-engage. Then your break cost you more time and productivity than it actually helped with.

So this is an area you have to play with to see what works for you. Just be sure to write it into your schedule so you physically see it. And if there is a certain time of the day that you find your energy level starts to drop, then try to plan a break around that time. I know this happens for me around 2:30 or so. So I usually fix myself an afternoon coffee or get a light snack around this time which amounts to a 10 minute break. Do what works for you!

Now what you may have to do to create the habit is set alarms on your phone. I know that’s what I had to do for a while to create the habit. I had an alarm set to take lunch at the same time every day. Now my body is trained and I have an internal alarm that let’s me know when it’s time to eat. 

Now let’s talk about the importance of enjoying downtime. 

You Need to Schedule Downtime 

What exactly is downtime? Simply put, it is time when you can relax without guilt. The great thing about downtime is it can be an hour, two hours, half a day, a week or a month. Basically, it’s however much time you decide to take to do something that refreshes you and allows you to enjoy the moment and add to your joy. You should feel refreshed when it ends.

Here’s an example. Fridays for me are designated for podcast tasks only. When I first started having guests on the podcast, my calendar was open for guest chats every Friday. After some time, this really left me drained. I would have 1-2 chats scheduled every Friday in addition to the other tasks I needed to complete. This was not sustainable but I didn’t know how to shift my schedule and still get things done. 

Then I was a part of the Purpose Driven Mom summit. One of the speakers suggested we schedule unplanned time blocks in our schedule. So I changed my schedule and I only do guest chats every other Friday. The other two Fridays I work until 12 and the afternoon is open for me to do what I want. Sometimes I put my feet up and binge watch one of my favorite shows. Other days I get in a workout because I missed one during the week. Then I have days that I just let myself lose track of time while scrolling on social media. My point, I schedule unscheduled down time regularly. This includes weekends, holidays and vacations. 

How is this different from a break? Well both are forms of self-care and both are the maintenance habits you need so that you don’t burnout. But a break is just a quick pause that doesn’t cause a big interruption in your productivity. Downtime on the other hand means you are deliberately not working. That way you can be in the best shape spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically and therefore are more productive. It’s how you are able to operate at your optimum capacity. 

Think about this, we live in the tech age where tons of machines and computers are used to do a lot of things. But they can’t run without maintenance. So to make sure they are operating at it’s best. Companies schedule downtime when it’s a holiday, weekend or after hours so that productivity isn’t reduced. This is when they perform routine maintenance, install upgrades, and remove/replace any parts or equipment that aren’t working.

Now both breaks and downtime are important because our bodies need rest. But we tend to avoid downtime because we’re programmed into thinking that we’re wasting time. We may set out to just relax and binge watch something, but then that mean girl inside says you should be doing something else. And even if you ignore her, you feel guilty after the fact and think of all the things you could have gotten so much done, right? 

So what you have to do to combat this self-sabotaging thinking is create your plan for the week, include some unscheduled down time and then plan what you are going to do during that time. But I don’t want it to be anything related to your business. I want you to look around the house and pick something that you have wanted to clean up for a long time. But you can’t spend more than 30 minutes on that task. Notice I didn’t say you need to complete that task. What you do is set a timer, work for 30 minutes and you stop. Then I want you to have a positive chat with yourself and acknowledge that you have made progress on that task. Now you can use the rest of your time to do whatever your heart desires.

The point is, you need to be adding breaks and downtime into your schedule every day and it doesn’t have to be a special occasion. The goal of you scheduling these rest periods is to create that boundary between work time and personal time. The lines don’t need to be blurred between work and home just because you’re working from home. You simply need to disconnect from one to be present in the other and that’s why you need to set and commit to your boundaries. 

Being intentional about how you use your time will help you have the time and energy you need to reconnect to what matters most to you and that changes.  But if you don’t develop the habit of unplugging, you’re going to burn out and I don’t want that to happen. 

So starting tomorrow I want you to identify a time every day that you can just pause for 5 minutes without any technology. Try that for a week and slowly increase your time. Then you will look forward to those breaks which will prepare you to schedule and enjoy more downtime.  

Now I want to know that you did this. So DM me on Instagram @the_shannonbaker and let me know what you did on your break. I can’t wait to see what you do. And if you need some ideas, I can help you with that too! I look forward to hearing from you!

The post A Forgotten Form of Self-care You Need to Be More Productive appeared first on .

I decided to take a break from social media in September. I’m still active but not be obligated to a schedule. I didn’t determine how long the break would be in advance.  Find out more about it in this blog post.

I’m currently four months in and let me tell you, I am loving it!  So I’m going to share what I’ve learned during my social media sabbatical. Warning, everything I learned isn’t positive but the positive things I’ve learned are worth it.

Benefit #1 of A Social Media Break

The biggest benefit I’ve experienced over the past four months is being able to really focus. I’ve been able to focus on enjoying life with my family. To focus on creating a healthier lifestyle. To focus on what I really want my business. I’ve also been able to focus on what I want for the podcast. 

The funny thing is, I thought I was focused before I started this social media break. But now I can see I’m not as focused as I thought I was. It’s amazing how much of our brain capacity is filled by social media content which slows it down. That means we lose the capacity to operate and think through things. Now that is my personal opinion. But I’ve heard the same things from enough people to say I take ownership of what I said.  

But now my brain is fully functioning and I can focus on what I need to focus on. And I’ve been able to enjoy life and my business without feeling pressure to post every moment online! We enjoyed our vacation at the beach. I took tons of photos but didn’t post that many. Personally I don’t post when we’re out of town for security reasons. But even when we returned home, I only used my morning coffee shots. 

I was also able to enjoy six days of Bible based training over Zoom with my husband. It’s a special training we enjoy every five years because we’re full-time preachers. So not having to worry about posting and having to respond to comments during that week was a necessity. 

We also celebrated our anniversary last week and I didn’t even feel any pressure to post in Instagram stories. I just took in every moment and we enjoyed the time together. Great food and time to sit with our feet up and just reflect and laugh with each other. I loved it! 

And I started my weight loss journey some time ago but I struggled for a while. I’ve been able to make the most progress over the past four months because I have been using my time wisely! I feel great, I’ve lost 8 lbs and I’m looking forward to seeing that number continue to go down. Increasing my physical activity has really helped boost how I feel physically and mentally. And I need both of those to invest in myself emotionally and spiritually. To hear more about my weight loss journey, check out this blog post.

And let me tell you, having room in my brain to be more focused has truly helped me work out some things in my business that you will see in 2022 that I couldn’t get worked out mentally. Not to mention, I’m working on some amazing things for one of my clients for next year as well. My brain is firing on all pistons and generating some amazing ideas and I love it! So make sure you follow me on Instagram for sneak peaks behind the scenes in stories, especially if you plan to launch a podcast! 

Benefit #2 of A Social Media Break

Let me start this one off by telling you I am a huge fan of a morning and an evening routine. I talk about both in this blog post. I share some self-care hacks you may want to know. Both routines are critical to me showing up as my best self every day. But I noticed that over time, I was spending more time on my phone too close to bedtime. So it got harder and harder for me to go to sleep at night and I had to start taking melatonin again.

The blue light from our phones, tablets and computer stimulates our brains and makes it difficult for us to relax when it’s time to go to sleep. For a while I was putting my phone down by 9:30 but that time moved closer to 10:00, then 10:30. We try to go to bed by 11:00 so this was a problem! But I’m proud to say that I’ve got this under control now and I’m falling asleep with no  help and with no problem. 

Benefit #3 of A Social Media Break

My family has strong faith and our life is built around that. But there is always room for improvement but that requires study and meditation. The best time for me to do this is in the morning. While I spend time reading a Bible passage every morning with my coffee, I knew I could do more if I spent less time on social media in the morning. Now I am happy to say that not only am I reading more of my Bible, but I spend time doing research and focusing on the parts of my personality that I need to change to be a better Christian. This brings me so much satisfaction and helps me be more patient and forgiving as well. 

Benefit #4 of A Social Media Break

Social media can make you think that the people and things you have in your life aren’t enough. It can even make you feel like the actions you’re taking and the things you’re doing every day aren’t enough. The truth is, I get to decide what people are in my life and what I will and will not do in my life and in my business. I get to do business my way and live my life with intent and I don’t need anyone else’s permission to do that. Neither do you!

Social media can steal that level of confidence from you and make you feel like you don’t have enough and you aren’t doing enough. But you are MORE THAN ENOUGH! Cutting back the time I spend looking at what everyone else is doing on social media has helped me see how full my life is every day. And I’m thankful for all that I have!

Benefit #5 of A Social Media Break

I’ve enjoyed having more time to reconnect with friends and family through Zoom, on the phone, via text or in person. I really have missed updates from friends and family. Social media is a great tool to help us stay in touch with our loved ones. But it’s not the only way to stay in touch! While I can see what my friends and family are doing wherever they live, and I do love feeling connected to them, there are other ways to keep in touch. And traditional ways of keeping in touch are more intimate than just watching their stories and seeing their posts. 

So these are the five amazing benefits I’ve experienced while taking a break from social media. But there are trade-offs to everything. Have I generated a ton of leads or booked any new clients? No, I haven’t. But I’m ok with that! Here’s the thing, my business is designed to support my lifestyle and I don’t have the capacity to take on any clients right now. The biggest reason is because as I mentioned earlier, I am working through the details for some amazing new services and digital products for women who want to launch a podcast and even for women who already have a podcast but feel overwhelmed by all the things it requires. 

I’m putting the finishing touches on the first one now which is designed to accompany the presentation for my first virtual summit of 2022 in February! I’ve gotten great feedback on it and I can’t wait to share it with everyone because it is a much needed system that is going to save podcasters a ton of time. So truth is, taking a break from social media doesn’t mean my business isn’t growing…it’s just growing slower. And I’m ok with that too! 

So I can’t say enough of the benefits of taking a break from social media but that is all I’m going to share today. Now you may be wondering when will I be fully back on social media? Honestly, I don’t know the exact date. But it will be some time next month so that I can properly promote the summit in February. 

When I come back, I will show up on my terms and I’m going to have to come back with really hard and fast boundaries. So that’s my update. The past four months into this social media break has been very good for me. 

And if you feel you need to do this for a little bit of time, do it. The choice is yours and you deserve time unplugged!

The post My Top 5 Benefits of Taking a Social Media Break appeared first on .

If you aren’t dating yourself and showing yourself enough love, you probably don’t realize that you are already more than enough. So it’s time for you to spend some time nurturing a better relationship with yourself. This sounds selfish but it isn’t. Because when you do this on a regular basis, you will be equipped to take care of everyone and everything else as well. 

The word self-love has become a huge buzz word over the past few years or so. How much time do you REALLY spend showing yourself love? And I’m not talking about  booking yourself a mani/pedi, a massage or a spa day. I’m not even talking about pouring yourself a glass of wine, lighting some candles and taking a hot bath.

I find there is a very simple way that each and every one of us can show ourselves more love. It’s by setting and sticking to boundaries. I know you’re always taking care of your family, work, and friends. Boundaries is one simple but most forgotten way you can show yourself more love. That’s what this post is all about! So make sure you pay close attention and start this simple practice in 2022!

One of the most important relationships we often forget to nurture is the one we have with ourselves. If you put too much on your plate you end up doing more harm to yourself than good. So how do you know what you need to say no to?

I shared three steps you can take to set boundaries with your clients, communicate them to your clients, and how to stick to them in this blog post. But I want you to focus on everything in your life, that means your business and your personal life. One impacts the other. Right now things should be slowing down a little. That means you have time to plan your focus for the beginning of 2022. 

I want you to pick what you want to focus on for 90 days. Then you’re going to break that down into three months, and create an action plan one month at a time. And then you can determine what your boundaries need to be. But you have to make sure your boundaries are clearly identified because if you say yes to something outside of your boundaries, then you’re saying no to something that your boundaries are supposed to protect.

Here’s an example. If you want to be more present when spending time with your family, you need to put some boundaries in place to protect your time from social media and from email. So say the first month you want to decrease how much time you spend on social media. You want to limit it to 30 minutes a day. So break that into three 10 minute increments. You then check your accounts in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. That’s it for the day! That will eliminate you scrolling through your feed when you should be focused on your family after work. It will also help keep you from being on your phone too close to bedtime which stimulates your brain and is keeping you up at height.

So after you practice that boundary for the first 30 days, you can focus on emails. So instead of having to be chained to your inbox answering emails all times of the day and on the weekend, you create a schedule where you have designated times of the day that you check and respond to emails. And most importantly you don’t send emails after hours and on the weekends. I walk you through how you can do this and stay up on your emails in this post.

I hope you see the pattern I’m setting and you can see that it’s easy to show yourself more love. This is very important because the relationship you need to continually build with yourself requires commitment, time, and effort. And you shouldn’t  neglect your relationship with yourself because it affects everything else in your life. 

Right now is a great time for you to focus on showing yourself more love because life has slowed down. Showing yourself more love is also the best way to combat the urge to compare yourself to other people. Instead, you are more aware of all of the little and big blessings you have in your life every day. More importantly you become aware of all of the things that make you the wonderful and amazing person that you are. 

I started this journey myself last year by writing down something I was grateful for every morning with my cup of coffee. Then I expanded my focus to improving my health. It has been a journey for sure but I love the progress that I have made and I’m not ashamed at how much love I show myself. I talk about my journey in this blog post. 

No matter what you decide to focus on, do not forget that little steps matter. Your relationship with yourself is no different than any other relationship in your life. It takes time, attention and effort to show yourself morl love. So give yourself time to build authentic self love, step by step.

You don’t need to do anything more or be anything more than you are right now. You are more than enough just the way you are! I want to know how you feel about this post. Feel free to DM me @the_shannonbaker on Instagram and let me know. I would love to hear from you!

Other Articles Mentioned In This Post

Is your inbox overwhelming? Here’s a simple solution that is better than inbox zero! 

Business Boundaries You Need to Protect What’s Important to You 

Lessons I’ve Learned on My Weight Loss Journey

Connect With Me Online 

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker 

Make new connections in The More Than Capable Mompreneur Community on Facebook

Follow the Facebook Page: The More Than Capable Mompreneur Podcast

The post An Easy Way to Show Yourself More Love Every Day appeared first on .

Have you ever embarked on a weight loss journey? It’s hard right? I’ve been on one for almost two years so I know you have to be patient with the process. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to make some mindset changes, make adjustments in my life and put in some hard work. But it has been worth it!

The truth is, I know this struggle is not going to go away. I’m almost 50 years old and my metabolism is NOT working with me. Personally I feel like it’s a conspiracy! But there doesn’t seem to be too much I can do about it except put in the work to get results. 

And let me tell you, I remember when this struggle wasn’t this hard. Just six years ago I was the healthiest I had ever been (153 lbs, 28.6% body fat, 29.5” waist). I look back at pictures and wonder what happened to that body. Then I remember all the things that happened in life that diverted my attention from caring for myself. 

Well, life happened and over time my workout routine became a distant memory. Now I weigh over 200 lbs. And let’s just say I’m happy the other stats are going down, but they aren’t moving fast enough. So when I was ready to make a change, I knew I had to start by developing healthier habits. But even before that, I had to do some mindset work.

So when I slowed down and took a good look at all the things and all the moving pieces, I realized that I was putting myself last. That was hurting my business, hurting my family and more importantly it was holding me back from the things within my reach because I didn’t have the energy I needed to get things done. But over the past few years I’ve been focusing more and more on taking care of myself because after all, I can’t take care of anyone else if I break down.

So I decided that I was going to do something every day to invest in myself. To create this habit I chose two simple things I could do. I started with 15 minutes of morning time just for me and drinking more water. These two simple self-care practices help me prepare mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the day ahead. I was determined that nothing was going to get in the way of my little slice of me time. So I started getting up at least 30 minutes before my husband in the morning. That way the house would be quiet. 

Now at first I struggled to just sit and enjoy the quiet. I felt like I should be doing something else. I felt guilty because I wasn’t. After just sitting and enjoying my cup of coffee without my phone or anything else, I realized I was more centered. I was also more at peace and more aware of what I needed to be happy. 

So after I ignored the mean girl in my head enough, she stopped talking. And that’s when I was able to really create a better morning routine. And the best part is it’s flexible! Some days I only have 15 minutes and others I have an hour. No matter how much time I have, it fills my cup up for the day. If you want to know how I created my morning routine, check out this blog post.

Weight Loss Journey Lesson #1

I must invest in myself on a daily basis and it DOES NOT have to be big and elaborate things. Sticking to my morning routine has enabled me to regularly read my Bible and meditate on what I read . I’m also able to get in professional development in small increments which has been tremendously helpful. So small things matter! 

And as for drinking more water, I had to take baby steps. It meant cutting back on my coffee consumption. If you’re new to the podcast then I confess, I am obsessed with coffee and can drink it all day long. So I invested in a 64 ounce bottle in my favorite color and for a while I was doing great. I even moved up a gallon sized bottle but then I crashed and burned because it was too much water. 

I was chatting with Lisa Klein about it. She recommended I keep a bottle of water by my bed and start drinking before I have my coffee. So when I first heard this, I frowned my face up of course because nothing used to touch my lips before water, other than my toothbrush. But I decided to just give it a try to see if it would help, and it did! Now I have 24 ounces before I have my coffee in the morning. And by the end of the day I drink 74 ounces total and that does not include sparkling water. So changing my mindset and my routine worked and I have another healthy habit! 

Weight Loss Journey Lesson #2

I have to be willing to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. It has been key to me making progress with weight loss and developing healthy habits. 

The next hurdle for me was figuring out how to get in more movement. I was conditioned to think that exercise had to be 30 minutes or more. And I’m an all or nothing type of girl. So if I couldn’t get that in, I would skip my workouts which just held me back. But then I met Jennifer Nagel who is absolutely amazing!

She helped me understand that if I couldn’t get in 30 minutes of exercise at one time that I needed to break it up into smaller increments.  So again, I took baby steps. The first move I made July 2020 was to get an Apple Watch. I set a goal to get in at least 4,000 steps a day. To help me get in some strength training, I would do 1 minute sets on my stepper holding 4 lb weights in my hands. 

And let me tell you about this Apple Watch in case you don’t have one. It was hard to get up every hour like my watch reminded me and to close all three rings which are calories burned, minutes of exercise and the number of times you stand. But every day I focused on beating myself. Once I got used to 4,000 steps, I increased my goal to 5,000 steps and kept moving it up. Now I get in 8,000 steps or more just about every day.

If you haven’t seen the pattern yet, the key is to take baby steps and to focus on habit stacking. As I got comfortable with one goal, I set another goal. I love seeing the number of steps I’ve taken at the end of the day. It motivates me to do the same or even better the next day. Little steps turn into bigger action. 

Weight Loss Journey Lesson #3

I don’t have to do this alone. I’m glad I was able to find a community and a fitness expert that could help me reach my goals. And they are based on my lifestyle without crazy diets and a crazy amount of exercise.

I know your health and fitness is really important to you and your success. Otherwise you wouldn’t be listening to this episode. There is a lot of information out there about how to get and stay in shape. A lot of it doesn’t work because it doesn’t make sense for us at this stage in our lives. We need solutions that make sense for our crazy schedules. Right?!

I can’t imagine having the life that I have now without the elements of self care I’ve shared and more. And I don’t do diets or take bubble baths. I’m talking about taking care of my health in a very intentional way with movement. Eating in a way that honors my health. The best part, I get to eat all of the things I want (within reason) and I didn’t have to give up wine. I’ve just learned how to balance it all out to still get results. 

That’s why I continue to recommend my friend Jennifer Nagel’s free masterclass called Maximize Fat Loss Even with a Busy Schedule*. In this masterclass you’re going to learn: ⁠⁠

The big mistakes that you’re making (that you probably don’t even realize)⁠

How to eat MORE food without gaining weight

How to turn your body into a calorie burning machine⁠

A simple system to stop dieting and hit your fitness and fat loss goals for good

And I absolutely love the long-term health model that she shared because it aligns with the mindset of long-term self care. Jennifer really knows her stuff. She has nearly a decade of experience coaching women and has been featured in POPSUGAR Fitness, MyFitnessPal, Vital Proteins and is a featured fitness expert for Well + Good. You can watch it ANYTIME! So you can watch it during your morning “me” time or after everyone else in your house is asleep. Or you can create a “meeting” on your calendar and watch it then. Click here to check out the masterclass. If you want to read or listen to my chat with Jennifer, click here.

And my friend Lisa Klein has also been on the podcast and shared some tips that will help you create even more healthy habits AND she shares tips that will simplify meal planning for you. Click here to check that out.

So let me recap the three lessons that I’ve learned on my weight loss journey.

Lesson #1 –  I must invest in myself on a daily basis and it DOES NOT have to be big and elaborate things

Lesson #2 – Be willing to get out of your comfort zone and try new things. It can mean the difference between your success or failure.

Lesson #3 – You don’t have to take this journey alone. Partner with someone that can help you reach your goals based on your lifestyle.

if you would like to connect with me to ask me questions or just for support, feel free to DM me on Instagram or we can connect inside of my Facebook group. I love the women in my community and they help me stay focused in life and in my business. Click here to join.

*This post contains an affiliate link. There is no extra cost to you and if you decide to join this program I may earn a commission. 

If you would like to hear the audio version of this post, feel free to listen to episode 89 on your favorite platform below.

The post 3 Lessons I’ve Learned on My Weight Loss Journey appeared first on .

Have you ever thought about scaling back on social media because it’s taking up too much of your time? I have been feeling the same way! That’s why I’m scaling back on social media.

I decided to do this because I know I’m not the only one who feels like social media is sucking the life out of them. And guess what? I have a strategy so it’s not about that. It’s really about the fact that social media is a long term game and takes a lot of your time if you want results. 

So let me start by sharing how I started feeling despite sticking to my routines and taking care of myself by eating pretty healthy, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep. I found myself picking up the phone more than usual to see what was going on in everyone else’s life. I didn’t realize that I was spending way too much time commenting and liking everyone else’s posts that I wasn’t sticking to my schedule so I was failing to execute my plan properly.

That being said, I could feel the anxiety building and I started posting less and less because I didn’t feel like my content was good enough or that I was doing enough. As I sat down one morning and really reflected on how I was feeling and identified where those feelings were coming from, I decided that I needed to scale back immediately to re-center myself. 

Once I made that decision, I was so relieved! 

So here’s how I’ve decided to manage my social media presence to stay active but not obsessed. I’m not posting to my Instagram profile right now and I don’t know how long I’m going to keep it this way. I plan to stay active in IG Stories for the most part but I don’t feel obligated to post multiple times a day every day.

I am actually spending more time on my personal Instagram account to keep up with my friends and family but I do find myself talking on the phone and texting them more these days. My Facebook pages for the business and the podcast will remain active with 1-2 posts a week. And I am thinking of ways to be more strategic with my LinkedIn account because of plans I have for the near future. 

Now one thing that has been neglected is my Facebook group. So I definitely plan to be more strategic and more active with that in upcoming days because I feel I will get a better return on the investment of my time. After all, who has time to waste, I know I don’t! 

Social media is supposed to be fun and it is a great way to find inspiration, connect friends and your community, cultivate relationships that lead to business opportunities and more. However, I need to spend my time on more strategic tasks that align with my long-term goals. 

So in addition to limiting my time on social media even more, I will also be doing the following:

Adding “Social Time” to my calendar

These will be designated time blocks for me to connect with friends and family and be social either in person with a select few of course for safety reasons or even connecting on Zoom or on the phone. I’m even compiling a list to start sending out good old fashioned cards!

Taking walking tech breaks

This one has a dual purpose for me. My daily goal is 6,000 or more steps every day right now. So I schedule two 15 minute walking tech breaks every day. I pop in my Airpods, turn on my playlist, set the timer on my Apple watch for 15 minutes and just walk outside in the fresh air when the weather permits. The bonus of doing this is my eyes get a break from me working on the computer all day, I get outside and soak up some vitamin D and I come back refreshed and rejuvenated which increases my productivity. 

Live in the moment

I purposely keep my phone somewhere away from me when spending time with friends and family. I don’t worry about posting pictures and videos online for everyone in the world to see what I’m doing. Instead, we capture the moment with a few photos and we put the phones away and just enjoy ourselves. This reminds me of life before social media and I love it! This is also a great time for you to just put your phone on the charger and just live in the moment and make priceless memories. 

So in a nutshell, I am scaling back on social media to care for more important things including myself! Am I worried that my business will suffer because of this. No I am not! I’ve actually noticed that I have more conversations in the DMs and am making better connections for my business even though I’m not posting to my IG feed. 

And the best part, I’m using all of my extra time to practice more self care and do things that bring me lasting joy in life in addition to working with my current clients. So I have no regrets!

Feel free to join me, even if you just scale back the time you spend on social media by 10 minutes. You will be amazed at the difference that will make. So if you decide to try this, DM me on Instagram stories and let me know! I would love to hear what changes you plan to make. 

Connect With Me Online: 

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker

Follow My Facebook Page

Follow the Podcast Facebook Page

Join the More Than Capable Mompreneur FB Community: Connect with me and other mompreneurs and fempreneurs that can support you and help you deal with real life as a busy woman in business. We collaborate with each other, learn from each other and cheer each other on in life and in our business! 

The post Why I’m Scaling Back on Social Media and Why It’s OK for You To Do the Same appeared first on .

Simple self-care habits are easy to cultivate. But you’re probably thinking, I don’t have time for it!

The truth is, all you need is five minutes! Self-care can mean something different to each of us. And no matter what you do, it needs to refill your cup so you can continue to take care of everyone else. 

So exactly how can you cultivate better self-care habits when you have a demanding schedule? That’s what my chat with Rachel Letham was all about.

Rachel shared tips that will help you cultivate some simple self-care habits based on the season your life is in. She works with women who are already on a personal development journey but they help to boost their momentum to achieve their goals.

“Everything that I do has kind of what I like to call a sprinkling of self-care or the backdrop of well being alongside it.“

– Rachel Letham

How can you make time for self care even when you’re busy?

We all have the same amount of time. It’s what we do with it, that counts. So instead of scrolling through social media and binge watching on Netflix, you could be doing something else even if just for five minutes.

Start to build in some really positive powerful habits. It’s actually about deciding what you want to do with your time and how you can nourish yourself in that time.

As a new mom, Rachel mentioned she knows that she needs to do certain things in order to be able to be that best new mom for her baby boy.

So it’s about setting priorities as well. Understanding how you can best build some self care habits that you want to do, not that you think you should be doing. This allows you to leverage your time even if you’ve just got the smallest amount of time.

“Self-care is giving the world the best of you instead of what’s left of you.” – Katie Reed

What small self-care habits can you cultivate?

It doesn’t have to be about taking a bubble bath and locking the door and being in there for an hour. It can be small things that don’t necessarily take too much time or too much money.

Focus on doing the things that you want to do. So it might be that in a certain week, you want to do more of one activity. And then when you’ve done with that for a bit of time, think about more of the stuff that you really love doing. And what do you want to do less of so that you have more time available.

So sometimes we have to say no to things. We have to take things off our list in order to have more time for self care. One thing you can also do is think about things you enjoyed doing as a child. That gives you that almost kind of heart centered nourishment. So it’s about tapping into some of those things.

How can you incorporate self-care habits into your daily routine?

Self-care doesn’t have to be the same thing every single day. It’s flexible so it can provide what you need. There are certain things that you should just be doing almost naturally because that’s you as a person and what you need like starting your day with coffee or reading a book before going to bed.

In Rachel’s ebook, Self-Care for the Seasons, she talks about mixing up your morning drink or taking a break with a warm cup of coffee or tea. If you are open to variety, try mixing it up for a week. This will get your brain used to trying something new instead of heading for the default option.

Also start thinking about “non-negotiables” you need in your life. Think about the things that you need to do daily to feel good and that make you happy. Try things like journaling, going for a walk, call a friend or family member.

There is a weekly wellbeing checklist that comes with Rachel’s ebook to help you stay on track. You can use the checklist to track your non-negotiables to make sure that you’re doing the things that are important to you, so that at the end of that day, you feel that life is working for you.

Non-negotiables are the things that are really important for you to do to feel your best. And by having them on a checklist and checking them off every day, you can see that your habits are building up. You will also start to realize that you haven’t done some things that are important to you and you are not fulfilling your self care habits as you should.

Just remember to give yourself some grace when things don’t go as you would like. Try again the next day, and the next day, and the next day.

How can you make sure you stick to some type of self-care routine?

Use the technology available to you. Set reminders on your phone and when it’s time, go for a walk around the block, get yourself a coffee or sit and read a book or whatever. This may not work for everyone; it could just be that you have an hourly sort of reminder on your phone to sit and breathe, think about your posture, or have a glass of water.

But try and mix things up because quite often the reminder will pop up and you will just look at it and go, okay, and keep doing whatever you’re doing. So you need to have the right motivation to be able to change your behavior.

Every day, ask yourself what you need to do to make you feel and be the best version of yourself? Then track what you do with the weekly well-being checklist. After about a week, if you’re not necessarily feeling great, ask yourself these questions. What am I missing? What hasn’t been happening? Am I not getting enough sleep? Maybe I’m not drinking enough water. I’m not having healthy meals.

It’s about coming back and tapping into what you need to do from your list of non-negotiables. Rachel has her clients stick it up on the wall or stick it on the fridge. Put it where you can see it every day and be reminded that’s what you need to do.

You may go two or three days, and then you drop off with your self-care habits. Be forgiving when you miss a day and get back on track! The well-being checklist will help reinforce your self-care habits and give you a feeling of satisfaction. There’s something really good about checking things off and being able to see the progress.

When you get to the end of a week, you can review your progress. And then the next week you can build on that! Then you can understand what things are really helping you. Sometimes you might not have achieved a certain thing on your list. So you go, you know what, that’s either not important, or I need to think of a different way to do some habit stacking.

So it’s a really good way of keeping a watch on things and helping you stay focused on your self-care habits. Life is busy and we need reminders every so often. You don’t always have the same amount of time. So it’s about having a bit of flexibility when it comes to self-care. But it’s also about not doing things in a certain way because you think you should be.

Think ahead a bit and plan ahead. But also give yourself a bit of grace and space. Sometimes you have to just be happy with one thing instead of trying to do five or six things. You’re just going to end up being more stressed out because you wished you had done something. You just have to have that element of flexibility.

To hear all of my chat with Rachel and get more details on the self-care tips tips in this blog post, tune in to episode 49 of the podcast. Click below and tune in on your favorite platform.

---

---

Connect with Rachel online:

Connect with Rachel on Instagram 

Connect with Rachel on Facebook

Purchase Self-Care for the Seasons

Join Rachel’s Email List

Connect with me online:

Follow Me On Instagram: @the_shannonbaker

Follow my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theshannonbaker

The post Simple Self-Care Habits Busy Women Can Cultivate appeared first on .

]]>