How I’m saying yes to my desires and needs right now

Rest, books, and a little travel too ✈️

Photo credit: Unsplash

“You can’t create something you love out of doing something you hate”

I recently heard Michelle Rohr say this on a podcast episode and I scribbled it down straight away as I couldn’t agree more.

Being a small business owner is A LOT. We wear lots of hats and carry lots of responsibility on our shoulders and it can really take a toll on our energy and nervous systems if we’re not also prioritising taking damn good care of ourselves along the way.

And more than just taking damn good care of myself, I also want to find delight and joy in this one wild and precious life of mine too.

As I’ve shared recently about taking a mental health week in my business, my health has kicked my ass a lot so far this year and my biggest priority in my work and life right now is choosing as much joy and delight for myself as I can.

Over and over again I’m reminded that, like Michelle said, I can only do my best work when I’m finding joy in the journey along the way. And more than anything I want to live a bloody lovely life alongside my business too because that’s what I built it all for in the first place.

So here’s how I’m saying yes to my desires and needs right now in my work and my life:

I’m carving out a 2 hour window in my work day for a nap/rest 🛌

I work 3 part time days a week in my business and I’m so grateful to have a whole lot of spaciousness and flexibility in my workweek alongside my health and parenthood too. And as I’ve been moving through a little burnout from navigating the challenges of living in a chronically ill body recently I’ve been even more intentional with how I structure my workdays and keeping a couple of hours clear each day for a nap or lie down if I want and need it that day.

I booked a trip to Paris 🇫🇷

I am SO excited for this. Paris is one of my favourite places in the world - my husband and I got married there 7 years ago now and we decided to book a very last minute trip for the three of us (us and our 3 year old son) to go spend a few days together in the city next month for our wedding anniversary. We haven’t been back to Paris since pre-pandemic and having our son and I can’t wait to show him around our favourite city and see it fresh through his eyes too.

And most of all I’m really proud of myself to saying yes to what I wanted and just booking the damn trip instead of overthinking it too much.

I’m reading lots of books 📚

Books are my happy place and I’m currently reading my 33rd book of the year and it feels so good to be making time most days for this thing that brings me so much joy.

My favourite reads from June are Sandwich by Catherine Newman and I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue.

I’ve scheduled time off for the rest of the year 🗓

I didn’t do a very good job of this in the first half of this year - I used to plan out my time off for the entire year ahead at the start of every year but because I have so much more flexibility and spaciousness in my business now than I did a few years ago I didn’t feel like it was as important to put time off in the calendar in advance and ended up only taking 2 weeks off from my business in the first half of this year.

Oh how I was wrong though and I really felt the absence of that built in space in my schedule for the first half of 2024 so I’ve got more organised for the second half of the year and scheduled 6 weeks off in my calendar for the rest of the year - with the option to add in more if I want to, too. It feels so good to know that I have that time off booked into my schedule and can plan intentionally around it too.

I’m giving myself permission to be more flexible with my content schedule in this season 💻

For close to a decade now I have sent a newsletter every single week to my email list, a weekly letter with encouragement and ideas and behind the scenes of running my own simple and spacious business too. And I love writing those letters and they’ve gently and consistently supported my business to thrive but I found myself recently feeling a little claustrophobic in that weekly schedule and wishing for some more flexibility in my content creation routine.

So for the summer I’m experimenting with being more flexible with my content schedule - I’m aiming to send a newsletter every other week instead of weekly, I’m taking a break from my solo podcast until I feel inspired again to record, Sara and I are recording for LFAHC whenever it feels good for our energy and schedules to do so, for Substack I just show up here whenever I feel inspired and in flow to do so, and I’m pretty ambivilant when it comes to IG and only show up there if I feel the energy and desire to do so.

It feels so good to have more space in my content schedule, to not just stick to a publishing schedule just because I believe the lie that my business is doomed if I don’t, and to have space to recharge my creative tank too.

And I’m writing ‘how do I want to spend my life minutes today’ lists each day ✍🏻

If I’m feeling a little in a funk or unsure of what will bring me joy and delight that day I ask myself “how do I want to spend my life minutes today?” and it always grounds me into the moments I want to prioritise that day.

For example, on my list today is: read my book in the bath, stretch, cook a roast dinner, hang out with Augie once he’s back from spending time at my parents, go for a walk with my husband whilst we have some child-free time together, and give our bedroom a little tidy too.

How do you want to say yes to your desires and needs in this season? 🌿

Until next time,

Jen