Copyright Rolling Stone
Self-care can feel like a luxury for busy leaders who pride themselves on hard work and consistent productivity. Personal needs like exercising and getting enough sleep may fall to the bottom of your priority list when you have an ever-growing list of important work tasks to tackle. However, taking care of yourself is an essential part of being an effective leader. If you’re struggling to give yourself self-care time, the members of Rolling Stone Culture Council have some strategies for forcing that line item onto your agenda. Follow their recommendations to help you preserve your energy and overall health. Get Up Earlier to Give Yourself Time Before The Workday Starts As I have gotten older, I have become the early riser that I used to make fun of my dad for being. I spend the first hour of my day learning and growing. Hour two is exercise and reflection. Hour three is getting my kids ready and out the door. Four through infinity are whatever gets thrown at me next. I’ve chosen to grow, focus on my health and my family before the workday starts. Bring it! – Bo Howard, Shapiro Schedule It Like a Meeting and Treat It as Nonnegotiable I schedule self-care just as I schedule client meetings. If it’s blocked on the calendar, it becomes non-negotiable. For me, that could mean a workout, a walk or quiet time with my son. Protecting that space matters because it recharges me, prevents burnout and ultimately makes me more productive in the long run. – Kristin Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC Put a Paid-For Self-Care Service on Your Calendar Put time directly in your calendar for self-care so you have time blocked for taking care of yourself. If you have trouble sticking to that time block, make it something that you have to pay for (e.g., a massage). Money is a huge motivator. It’s important to make time for self-care because before we can help others, we must help ourselves. – Skye Chilton, Nammex: Organic Mushroom Extracts The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify? Editor’s picks Take Time Off and Don’t Answer Emails Self-care is one of the most important strategies for being an effective leader. It is hard to captain your company’s ship if you are a mess and completely stressed out. Forcing yourself to take time off, take a vacation and not answer emails is vital to maintaining a healthy work culture. Do yourself a favor and make time to take time, and see the benefits it yields for you and your employees. – Nathan Green, New Level Radio Use the Forced Disconnection During Travel as Strategic ‘Uptime’ My strategy is scheduling long-haul travel like flights, trains or buses. For 10-plus hours, I am in a state of enforced disconnection — no emails, no AI assistants. I don’t use this as downtime; I use it as deep, strategic uptime. This forced quiet allows me to step back from daily noise, think for myself and gain the clarity needed to solve the big problems. – Jason Barnard, Kalicube Trending Stories Understand How Specific Choices Impact Your Well-Being Do you understand your own internal economy? That is, do you understand how much specific choices impact you? Some people can skip lunch; some can’t. Some can get by on five hours of sleep; some can’t. A stable and experienced leader knows what levers they can pull without concern and which ones will really cost them. Do you know which is which for you? – Jed Brewer, Good Loud Media Take ‘Little Pauses’ and Savor Everyday Moments
