So many of us feel this…
I’m talking about: BURN OUT.
I talked about this recently with my hairstylist.
During quarantine she started a mobile, at-home service for her older clientele.
And now, most of them still prefer that over the salon.
Like many other small business owners, she had to pivot their biz in the last year… and create new ways to stay afloat.
That means having a full time gig AND a side hustle.
So instead of taking a few days off a week… She's totally overbooked herself with her mobile clients.
But here’s what’s interesting…
She told me that yes, even though her body’s tired, she feels most tired at a SOUL level.
So, that’s what we’re gonna talk about today.
4 hacks that are good for the soul and speed up the burnout recovery process.
Hack #1 - Invest in Help
For once, I’m not talking about help in your biz.
I’m talking about help for your life.
Like cleaning.
… Or grocery shopping.
… Or making meals.
If the thought of paying someone else to do that is a total 🚫 block, I wanna offer you another way to think about this.
What is your time worth?
If you work with clients or customers, you probably have an idea.
If you don’t know, assign yourself an hourly rate – something realistic.
Let’s take the case of my stylist I was telling you about.
She was telling me how stressed she is about her messy house, but she’s constantly on the go.
And on the ONE day off she gives herself, the last thing she wants to do is clean.
Then with how sore she’s been feeling, she pretty much CAN’T do the whole house in one day.
So I asked her how many hours it takes her to clean her house in one day.
She told me 6.
Then I asked her how much money she could make in a 6-hour day at work.
She told me the numbers.
Then I said: You can bring in help to clean one day a month for way less than that!
It literally blew her mind.
She never thought of it in those terms.
So then we talked about whether the price for a once-a-month housekeeper would be worth it to:
- Reduce her stress about not being able to do ALL. THE. THINGS with her current schedule.
- Feel better about her house being clean.
She said yes, absolutely it’s worth it.
Now, I know I often talk about automating and outsourcing services like these, but there are a few other hacks you could try out if you find yourself on the edge of burnout...
And stressing because you feel like you can’t handle the simple tasks anymore.
For grocery shopping…
Maybe you don’t wanna pay the delivery fees of an Instacart or something like that, but have you thought about curbside pickup?
Most grocery stores these days have this service – even Whole Foods has this with the Amazon app.
So you can shop online then roll up and have it brought right to your car.
Which saves you time not having to go inside the store to go up and down the aisles.
And if you have young kids… this hack is an absolute lifesaver.
You actually save money, time, and the hassle.
Sounds like a dream to me!
And one more thing…
If you’re someone who orders takeout or goes out to eat because you don’t wanna cook…
A personal chef may be a good idea for you. No, I’m not kidding.
Some people think this is way out of budget, but it’s actually pretty affordable.
For example, we get 4 entrees a week, plus 2 sides, which is at least 4 servings of each.
It costs us between $15-18 per meal. Weekly it’s $260-$300 including the groceries.
And these are HEALTHY meals.
Which may be a tad but more expensive than cooking it yourself, but again, what’s your time worth?
Especially if you don’t like cooking? Or don’t have the time or energy?
There are loads of modern day options you can look into to take the stress off those life to-dos that don’t seem to get done when you’re in the burnout zone.
And when you look at it from the “what’s my time worth” angle… your hesitancy to invest in help may actually change.
Hack #2 - Conscious movement.
You may already have this one covered.
Conscious movement can be things like yoga, a meditative walk, or just making time to be out in nature.
But, there’s a special movement I wanna tell you about.
It’s called Qigong.
It’s actually a meditative movement practice.
There’s a really amazing teacher on YouTube named Lee Holden.
The video I wanna tell you about is “7 Minutes of Magic”.
He calls this video a “body, mind, and spirit workout”.
It’s soothing, uplifting, and whenever I do it I feel so refreshed!
It’s very gentle movements, but it strengthens and stretches the body.
The practice encourages fluid movement and literally brings your awareness into your whole body.
I recommend taking your laptop into your backyard or patio and doing it outdoors.
Because nature is very restorative too. At a soul deep level.
Hack #3 - Take (OR FAKE) a Vacation.
I asked my hairstylist when the last time she took a vacay was.
She couldn’t remember. 🥴
And she knew where I was going with this question…
Instantly the look in her eyes said, “NO WAY.”
I knew she was thinking dollar signs.
How could she vacation when she was still working toward financial stability?
I mean, that’s why she was working so hard, right?
She was trying to fill her bank account back up, but at the expense of her own health.
So I said… well, what if you take a fake vacation?
In other words… a STAYcation.
Just time off to recoup.
I asked her what her ideal relaxation day would look like.
Here’s what she said:
- Going on a hike and then to lunch with a friend.
- Reading a book outside with an ice tea in my hand.
- Then sitting on my couch doing nothing.
- Maybe watching that ‘Mare of Easttown’ show everyone has been talking about for the last month.
All small things.
Seemingly doable things.
But again, she had a block.
She felt guilty.
So I encouraged her to just play hookey for one day.
Don’t book any clients… don’t tell anyone you’re taking the day off.
Do all those things you said you wanted to do on a relaxation day.
Do you and take the rest day that you need and deserve.
The point I wanna make here is: we all deserve rest.
If your soul is calling for a day of peace, quiet, and doing nothing...
That’s what the soul needs.
So many of us have trained ourselves to be doing, doing, doing.
Especially when we’re used to working paycheck to paycheck.
But honestly, there’s no reason you have to wait for a sick day to TAKE a sick day.
Even if you plan it in advance!
Your biz will still be there tomorrow.
The more you live in scarcity mode, the harder it’s gonna be to get out.
A bonus day off is probably not gonna kill your biz.
Not taking a rest will kill your chances of staying motivated.
Hack #4 - Invest in a Scalable Business Plan.
So with my hairstylist friend I was telling you about… her business isn’t scalable.
If she wants to make more money, she has to put in more hours.
That’s a recipe for burnout.
She’s known me for a while, so she asked me how she could make her biz more scalable.
But, doesn’t consider herself to be a “business person.”
She sees herself as a creative.
Someone who really loves doing hair.
So we dug into that a bit.
Long story short, she told me the reason she loves being a hairstylist is she loves making people feel confident and beautiful.
And that hair is a HUGE part of our identity.
When you have a bad haircut, it’s hard to feel confident.
So she sees herself as a confidence-maker.
That’s how she feels pleasure when someone gets up out of her chair and she’s made them feel good about themselves.
Ok now that is scalable.
She can’t fit thousands of people into her chair every day, but she CAN show them how to feel beautiful and confident in their appearance every day.
We came up with three ideas of how she could take this expertise and put it online.
Bringing her biz online means she can...
- Reach more people.
- Help them feel beautiful and confident… without them having to physically be in her chair.
Then we came up with an actionable plan.
I literally saw stress slough off of her imagining it.
Her soul was able to breathe a bit more even imagining the possibilities.
And actually, she’s going to be attending the upcoming Masterclass I’m teaching on this topic.
And you’re invited too!
So if you’ve resonated with this feeling of “I feel stuck” or “I’m totally in scarcity mode right now” and it’s leading to burnout…
Even if you don’t have your own biz right now.
I’d love to see you there.
It’s happening on Tuesday, June 15th at 10am Mountain.
➡️ And because I really want you to come… your ticket is on me. As long as you come live (which you’ll want to because you won’t want to miss what I’m giving away.)
Maybe plan for about two hours. It depends how many questions I get… but yes, you can ask me questions LIVE about this.
Or watch the encore within 48 hours. But again, the LIVE will be Woah. 🙌
XO,
Hayley