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The Art of Making Time for Yourself

Liz McKeon says, take a break!

Starting and running your own salon is all-consuming. Everything falls back on you, and, you are doing it for yourself – so there is no temptation to do too much.

An average working week for a salon owner is between 70 – 80 hours. As well as handling all aspects of the business, you must also know how to handle your time and how to maintain your entrepreneurial drive.

You, the entrepreneur, are the most important success factor in the business. It is vital that this success factor is maintained. An entrepreneur needs to know when to peak, when to rest and when to take it easy. It is impossible to go at full throttle all the time.

The truth is, making time for yourself is an art, and like every art, it requires practice. You may be worried that making time for yourself will affect your performance within the business. However, the reverse is true: when we take care of ourselves, we actually become much happier and more productive, so planning frequent breaks and regular downtime will actually bring more business to your door!

As the business owner you can choose your hours. Choose them to make the most of yourself.

Liz’s tips for time management

• Make a daily ‘to do’ list.
• Learn to say ‘NO’.
• Protect yourself by taking time off regularly.
• A healthy mind is a healthy body.
• Never handle documents more than once (no paper shuffling, deal with it and get it off the desk).
• Keep things simple.
• Do the things you hate first.
• Manage your stress levels.
• Delegate.
• To handle paperwork – TRAF: Toss, Refer, Act or File – only do one and only once!

Time for yourself

In order to make time for yourself consider the following. Write the answers down in your diary or workbook, so you can refer back to them:

• How would it be a gift to others to make time for yourself?
• What would it take to make time for yourself a priority?
• What activities make you feel happy and nurtured?
• What is keeping you from doing the things that energise and inspire you?
• How can you bring more of these simple treats into your day?
• Now take action. Commit to doing one activity from the list you created each day for the next month.

Smell the flowers

However pressurised your business, you need to take some out to unwind – to ‘smell the flowers’. Without it you will burn out: Put in plain terms, if you don’t take time to rest and rejuvenate, eventually you won’t have a salon to worry about! Add time to your diary – every day, every week, and every month – for yourself. Cut yourself free from the salon and the other demands on your life. Allow your batteries to recharge – and you will come back to your business better able to make it succeed.