Daily Routines: The Key To Work-Life Balance For Online Entrepreneurs
What does a normal day in your entrepreneurial life look like? Do you shower before you work or are you working in your PJs for the first half of the day? Do you work in bed sometimes? Do you eat at your desk? Or do you have a designated space in your home that’s your office?
Let’s admit it. As an online entrepreneur, the danger is in the freedom you have. The freedom to work whenever and wherever you want. You could be working literally all the time if you don’t set your boundaries or create structure around your day.
You wear so many different hats in your business and there’s always something that needs to get done.
Yes, business can be messy. Don’t let your life get messy too.
Today, I’m going to give you some quick practical tips so you can support your brain and your body by creating the right daily routines to feel more mental peace, improve your focus, and get healthy in simple ways, even on your busiest days.
Daily routines are the KEY to work-life balance for online entrepreneurs. Here are some quick tips that I teach in my online community Healthy High Achievers:
How does a Morning Routine affect your brain?
Let me give it to you straight: you save up loads of precious mental energy that you could be using for more impactful tasks in your business.
For example, let’s say your morning routine looks like this:
In the morning, your brain knows the drill without even having to think about it: you get up, open the blinds, go to the toilet, grab a glass of water, make your bed, grab the outfit you laid out the night before, you take a shower with your favorite music, and then you go to the kitchen, prepare your breakfast, you eat while you’re looking out of the window, giving your brain the time to wake up, and before you open your computer or even turn on your WiFi, you decide to go for a 10-minute walk to start your working day with a fresh mind.
Total duration of this routine? Only 30 minutes.
When you have a morning routine, which basically means that you’re stacking certain habits in the morning, you are not only getting ready for the day, but you are also:
Giving your brain the time to wake up slowly and go from your sleep state (Delta brain waves) into full Alert State (Beta or even Gamma brain waves).
Saving up mental energy by eliminating decisions (What do I do next to get ready? What clothes will I put on? And where are my slippers??) because you programmed your brain to do everything in a certain order, and all your things have a fixed spot, so your brain doesn’t have to think or plan or analyze anymore.
Priming your brain for a good day by focusing on the positive, for example by turning on your favorite music while you’re in the shower (I even know online entrepreneurs who wake up to motivational videos to feel more driven and focused on their goals)
Increasing your focus because what you are NOT doing is turning on your WiFi right away after waking up, aka scattering your brain’s attention over 30 different messages, emails and notifications, which again, primes your brain for a scattered day.
You know that story about successful entrepreneurs who wear the same black suit every day? They created this habit just so that their mind has to make one decision less, which frees up mental energy that can be used for more important decisions in their business. It sounds far-fetched, but they really understood how the brain works.
Your Mini Self-Care Routines
Yes, a morning routine is the most impactful routine on your brain health and your well-being, but even if you wake up late and you’re rushing to catch your early Zoom meeting, there are other mini-routines you can implement into your busy day to feel more calm and clear-headed.
Take 5-Minute Breaks
You only need 5 minutes to recharge your mental batteries and improve your focus. Taking 5-minute breaks is about quality over quantity. It’s only 5 minutes, but it’s what you DO with those 5 minutes that will make your mini-break worth it. If you’re scrolling on social media or answering some emails … You are only using up even more mental energy, instead of recharging.
Focus on output instead of input. Choose an activity that really helps you disconnect and lets your mind rest, like:
Listening to (relaxing) music (and sing along, or dance along)
Doing a 5-minute meditation or breathing exercise (like the audio series I created called “Give Your Brain A Break”)
Going for a walk (without your phone) to empty your head
Having some tea while staring out the window (Daydreaming can be a great way to give your brain a break)
Jumping around (Seriously, I had a client who would run in front of her desk for 30 seconds, genius!)
Tidying up: a clutter-free home = a clutter-free mind
Making a list of good things that happened or things you’ve achieved to give yourself a motivational boost
I like to use the Pomodoro Technique so that I can make sure I’m taking my 5-minute breaks, even when I feel like I don’t need it yet. You need to take a break BEFORE you feel you need it. When your eyes get heavy, or you’re starting to make mistakes, it’s already too late.
When I work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break (that’s what the Pomodoro Technique is about), I use these 5 minutes to turn on one of my favorite songs and tidy up my space. I don’t like tidying up at all, but when I do it in 5-minute segments, I feel way better: more calm, and more focused.
Use Buffer Zones
A buffer zone is a 30-minute window that you use to do all kinds of mini-tasks like answering an email, making an appointment, downloading an invoice, etc. You can plan one or two a day. The idea is that you’ll be able to batch all these tiny distracting tasks into one buffer zone so that you can focus better on the work you need to get done.
I always start my morning in a state of full focus, doing the most important and the most creative task. When I have a tiny distracting task that pops up in my head, I will write it down quickly in my Buffer Zone List so that I don’t have to think about it anymore, I know it will get done later, and I can bring my focus back to the task at hand.
Go Outside
As busy as you can be as an online entrepreneur (there is ALWAYS something that needs to be done), do make sure you create a routine that includes going outside. Your body needs sunlight in order to be healthy, and your mind needs sunlight in order to feel more awake and focus better.
On very busy days, this could be just a walk around the block, but make sure you take a minute to feel the sun on your skin. Even when it’s a cloudy or rainy day, the UV rays can still pass through the clouds and you can still benefit from some sun.
Here’s a list of the best moments to go for a walk. Pick one and make it a habit:
During your morning routine when you haven’t turned on your WiFi yet, your mind is clear, and you can get some fresh air and sunlight to let your body know it’s action time. (By the way, getting sunlight in the morning actually helps you sleep better at night!)
After having lunch, go for a quick walk before you get back to work. (Yes, even if you eat at your desk.) Walking and moving aids digestion, so you’ll be less likely to feel a drop in energy levels after lunch if you take a small walk.
After dinner or before going to sleep: you can make walking part of your evening routine. Personally, I like going for a walk when I decide my working day is over. As an online entrepreneur working from home, it helps me to mark the end of my working day and focus on pure fun and relaxation when I get back from that walk.
Prime Your Brain For Great Quality Sleep
This could be a whole other blog post, but I do want to touch quickly on your evening routine and why it can help you sleep better.
Most creative entrepreneurs have their best creative moments in the evening, and that is ok. I won’t tell you you can’t work after dinner, because we are all different and you might be that person who functions better in the evening.
What I do recommend, whether you’re a morning person or a night owl, is that one hour before going to bed, you start priming your brain for good quality sleep.
If you’re being active at night, the stress hormone ‘cortisol’ will go up and you won’t have enough sleep hormone ‘melatonin’ to have good sleep quality. That’s because cortisol and melatonin can block each other out. When cortisol is high, melatonin is low. When melatonin is high, cortisol is low. So if you want to really recharge your batteries at night, prepare your body and your brain by relaxing and winding down so that you have enough melatonin for great quality sleep.
I created a FREE 4-step Night Routine for Better Sleep that you can download right here. It’s a short sequence of relaxing activities + I included 5 extra tips to prepare your body and your mind for great quality sleep.
Take ACTION After Reading This!
Alright, we’ve covered many practical tips and tricks to implement daily routines so you can create more work-life balance as an online entrepreneur.
Your homework for today is:
If you were to make 1 small change based on this article, what would it be? What can you start with? And how can you make it enjoyable for yourself?
Becoming a Healthy online entrepreneur (and a Healthy High Achiever) is a journey. You learn from your mistakes, you learn from your stressful days, and you make a conscious decision to take better care of yourself so that you can build your business from a place of inspiration, drive, and optimism.
If you’d like to get more free downloads and worksheets to create work-life balance for online entrepreneurs, you’re very welcome to visit my website: www.mayalombarts.com
Maya Lombarts is a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach and the founder of the Healthy High Achievers platform. Maya is from Belgium but moved to Cusco (Peru) 6 years ago. Apart from managing her own online business, she works as a Virtual Assistant and as a professional singer. Join her platform for Weekly Planning & Intention Setting For Go-Getters right here or connect with her on Instagram