Taking Care of You (or Me)

At Open Road Accounting and Payroll Solutions we work with many small business owners who work well beyond the standard 8 hours per day. It is part of the being a business owner, but sometimes we like to remind those owners (and ourselves) "if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of the business and the business won't take care of you."

Does this mean we think you work too much? Of course! Don't we all? But does this mean you can't take care of yourself as well? Of course not. Sometimes its the small things that make the biggest differences.

Often the first thing to give way when I am running short of time is taking care of my physical body. Who has time to hit the gym when I haven't done my invoicing yet for the week? Not me, that's for sure. But I can walk to work instead of driving. The extra 20 minutes isn't gong to make or break my work day, but it sure helps my body feel better when I sit back down at the computer. Then at the end of my day, whenever that might be, I can take that walk back home again and maybe add an extra few minutes of stretching when I get there. It feels less like "wasting time" when I am just travelling to and from work, plus my dogs are much happier with the walk as well.

And food, don't get me started! Its so easy to miss a meal, or even worse, desperately make a grab for the phone and Skip the Dishes because I just realized I am starving and still have 2 hours of work to do! How do I deal with this one? Again it's the small things. I work in an office with a kitchen, so rather than "packing a lunch", which I hate; I walk to the small grocery store down the street on Mondays and pick up a few groceries to keep at work for my lunches (and sometimes dinners) for the week. I am much less likely to order pizza for the fifth time in a row if I can grab some apple slices and peanut butter in the kitchen.

And for me, there is always making time for my grandchildren. Taking them to the park or the pool is another opportunity for me to add some much needed movement to my day.

None of these things fixes the problem entirely, but they add up, and I know that the more I take care of myself, the more capable I am of taking care of my business.