Integrate Well-Being into Your Busy Schedule

What if self-care was a non-negotiable part of your daily schedule, just like your work commitments? Join me in this episode of "Power Your Research" as I reveal three actionable tips for achieving work-life balance that have transformed my own life. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And so when you talk about self-care, I want you to add it into your schedule as if it's a work item. So if you have a to-do list, your form of self-care should be on that to-do list. So scheduling my massage every month is on my to-do list as something that is just as important as doing the work. I don't want my work to be stuck behind an academic paywall. I want to leave a legacy, I want to reach my potential and I want to change lives. This podcast, power your Research, is my attempt to help the smartest people in the world do that very thing. My hope is that you use the lessons I share to make more money than what your higher ed job can ever pay you. I've done it, my clients have done it, and so can you. My hope is that you'll apply what you learn here and one day join the Power your Research program where you can work with me one-on-one. The topic for today is three tips to help you with work-life balance, and the reason for this is because over the last couple of weeks, I've heard from at least two clients who have a lot of things going on in their life and they're getting stressed, they're getting worn out, they're getting burned out. Just have a lot of just life. You know, life gets in the way, and so work-life balance is important, but it's important for it to be consistent. It's important for you not to think about work-life balance when a crisis evolves, but for you to implement a balanced strategy every day, and so I want to give you three tips for work-life balance that I actually use. That work for me. I know a lot of you see me all over the place doing a lot of things. I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Instagram, I'm doing speaking engagements, I'm a full-time faculty person, I have a five-year-old. I'm doing a lot of things, but I have I think I have really good work-life balance. Now, some of the work I do I actually love to do. It doesn't feel like a job. Let's jump into these three tips for work-life balance. The first is make self-care just a part of your routine, and what I mean by that is don't think about self-care after you're already stressed or sick or feel worn out, or your body's just telling you to stop. So, for me, I make sure that I get a massage once every month, and even when I had zero dollars in all of my bank accounts five years ago, I still got that massage once every month, because that is important. It is something that I can't cut out, because it's something for me to look forward to every month. That isn't about work or anything else. It's about me. It makes me feel good and it's healthy. And so when you talk about self-care, I want you to add it into your schedule as if it's a work item. So if you have a to-do list, your form of self-care should be on that to-do list. So scheduling my massage every month is on my to-do list as something that is just as important as doing the work. So it doesn't have to be a massage every month. It could be whatever makes you feel good.

Speaker 1: 3:24

The other thing that is non-negotiable for me is taking walks. So before I came in here and set up my desk to do these videos, I've already taken a 45 minute to an hour walk every day. That helps me clear my mind. I can breathe in and breathe out while I walk. It feels good and I look forward to that. And on my walk I drink my latte and those things. I look forward to that. And on my walk I drink, you know, my latte and those things. I look forward to that, Like the night before, I'm looking forward to my walk the next morning. These are non-negotiable. It's things I do weekend and week out. Now, if you're thinking that getting a massage for 150 or $200 every month sounds like a lot, you know, over the course of the year, what is that? $1,200 to $2,000, maybe. I think that taking care of myself is worth $1,500 to $2,000 a year. Hey, everyone, real quick. I don't run any ads on this podcast, so I have to rely on word of mouth. If this podcast has helped you in any way, please share it with a friend and follow me, dr Sheena Howard, on LinkedIn, where I give more free content on building your brand as an academic. If you tell me you came to my LinkedIn from the podcast, I'll make sure I accept your request.

Speaker 1: 4:38

The second tip for work-life balance is to set boundaries. Okay, this is super important. I run Power, your Research. I offer six coaching calls to all of my clients that are in the program so that I can help them reach their dream vision life and build their academic brand. But I can't just be offering coaching calls to people any time of the week. It has to be around my schedule, otherwise I wouldn't be able to run a business.

Speaker 1: 5:07

This is not an emotional decision. So some of you are making emotional decisions about your time when you really should be making objective decisions. So you might feel bad that you don't have time to do something that someone asked you to do. You might feel bad about saying no. But make saying no an objective decision versus an emotional one. Is it a part of your life, mission, vision and purpose? Are you going to have to set something else important aside to do the job that this person is asking you to do that you don't actually have to do? Set boundaries and make those boundaries objective to meet your goals versus emotional, because you feel bad about saying no.

Speaker 1: 5:49

The third tip is just clarity. So this ties into the last thing that I just talked about. I need you to get clear on where you're going. So the first phase of power, your research, is clarity. Get your brand statement, which is your North Star, so you know where you're going. Get clear about your vision for amplifying your platform, so you know where you're going.

Speaker 1: 6:07

Media coverage doesn't mean you need to be everywhere. It means you need to be on these select outlets that meet your objective and goals and the vision of your life that you want to set. So sit down, write it out and get clear. A lot of you have these goals, plans and dreams in your head, but you're not writing them down to get clarity. So on the road to reaching those goals, you're doing so many things that are actually distractions and taking away from your end result, your end goal, your mission, vision and purpose.

Speaker 1: 6:32

If you need help with creating that brand statement, I go over this on my YouTube channel and in previous videos. But again, if you want to jump onto a call and talk to me about your area of interest and research and how to build your brand, the call is free. Or you can jump into the five-day academic challenge and you will come out with your brand assets, brand statement, clarity, vision, purpose statement and all of that good stuff. I hope this helps take care of yourself. Work-life balance is not something that you should think about after it is already too late. You should be thinking about it right now. You.