As a dietitian and in our industry of dietetics, it's so easy to put others' needs first. And I want to remind you that it's important to prioritize your own needs can also be called self care and that can help you prevent burnout. So feeling overly stressed out or anxious. And in doing so you have a better chance of maintaining a work-life balance.
And in today's episode, we're going to be discussing three self-care tips for dietitians. Like you who want to start a business or grow a business without the burnout. So first tip is to schedule me time into your day. And I know this can feel really easy to pass up. If you are juggling multiple things.
Maybe you're working a clinical job, and you're also building your practice on the side, or maybe you're taking insurance and you're also trying to build up your cash pay practice. But if you're not scheduling a little bit of me time in your day, at least a little bit, that's a really fast way for you to lead to burnout. So has it been busy dietitian in business? It's important to take a break from work and prioritize self care activities. And that means focusing on joy and relaxation.
Now one way to do that would be going for a walk, maybe walking your dog, practicing yoga. You can even do that at home reading a book. So having specific times, when you do read a book, We're setting aside time to help you reduce stress and increase productivity. So I have there are apps I've joined Headspace and there are also free meditation tutorials on YouTube that you can check out. Our coach. Heather is really big on being a healer and she does a lot of those meditation practices here at dietitian boss.
So those are ways, even if they're quick, two minute meditations breathing exercises that can help you take a moment in your day for you, especially if you're feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. Another way to prioritize yourself would be blocking off time for an eating break, like for lunch or an afternoon break. Even if you're not eating a snack or you not exactly enjoying a meal at that particular time is going to give your brain a moment to rest.
Music can be really easy to get so caught up in doing tasks and keeping your momentum. But if you are feeling really exhausted from your day, it's going to be hard to maintain that focus. The second tip includes setting boundaries and sticking to them. So that means as a dietitian in business, it's so easy to blur the lines between work and personal life is especially if you're working from home, however, setting clear boundaries and sticking to them can help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. This may include setting specific working hours, limiting your availability outside of those hours and delegating tasks to others when possible.
So delegating tasks can mean that if you work with an assistant or an intern, you're able to pass off tasks to them, which I've talked about and given tactical tips and other episodes. Or even if you're not yet passing off tasks and you haven't hired other people, you're being really careful about your time management. So that might mean only checking emails and social media at certain times of the day.
And limiting his time on screens. It can also mean that you're being really clear with how much, how often you're checking and responding to clients so that you are being mindful of their contract and you're giving standardized care because oftentimes we're so invested in our client success. That we put their success before our success, right? So you might be checking in with clients more frequently than your contract, but really if you stick with your contract, meaning if it is every 48 hours or something, then you're going to be more mindful of your own needs on your other clients versus letting the clients who are, you know
Asking for responses faster. You don't want to have them. Take priority because then that wouldn't be standardizing your care. So that's, those are a few examples of how you can set boundaries and stick to them. I know it can be tricky is if you have a client violating your contract and then you have to reinforce the boundaries of a contract and remind them about what they signed up for, what they purchased and what those deliverables are, so that they can respect you and your business. And those situations can get a little tricky.
And if you're interested, I can do a whole nother episode to talk specifically about that. But now that you're aware that the boundaries we set such as how fast we respond, How we honor our own time. All of those aspects of our day can add up and they can cause burnout. If we let them, or they can also help us preserve our energy, which is ideal. So being aware is the first step that might mean you don't take client calls.
For an entire morning on Wednesdays or you're blocking off her schedules on Fridays. For us here at dietitian, Boston means taking Fridays off. We've been experimenting a four-day workweek. So those are all examples of how you set boundaries in your life. Now the third and last tip. Would be. To surround yourself with a supportive network. Now I talk about this as one of our values all the time.
This is something that is so important. That's why I believe that growing alongside your peers, I mean, it's fellow dietitians. In your business with your efforts to grow your business is really important because it can feel lonely, especially in a virtual world where you're doing something so innovative to not have other dietitian friends who were on that same journey. So if you surround yourself with a supportive network, that means people who are.
Cheering you on. As a dietitian in business, you are going to feel so much more inspired. So that means that you find a group of colleagues or friends or family members who understand and support your goals and they can serve as a sounding board. And if you don't have that right now, because sometimes it takes a while to build up those human resources. You can start journaling and meditating and practicing some of the boundaries that I just spoke about earlier.
So that as you do find your tribe, You are going to be really grateful and ready for it. But in the meantime, you have other tactics and tools in your toolbox that you can practice. Now a simple way to find people that are supportive would be to do in a community like ours and our membership academy, which you can find other dietitians who are also growing their private practice and growing their business. And that can be really fun and rewarding for you.
So I want to leave today with asking what is one self care idea that you want to implement today? Find us at dietitian boss on Instagram. And send us a direct message and let us know. And when you're interested in and starting and finding that community of supportive network, I want you to go to Dietitianboss.com and check out the academy.
And take a look at joining. We have a library of my signature roadmap, which can help you start and grow your business as well as new content released every month. Live teaching and Q and A's and lots of opportunities to meet peers along your way. As you are growing your business.
