095: 3 Steps for Ultimate Self-Care for Nonprofits

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Self-care is vital! But how do we do it? I’d love to hear your ways, so if you have some great ideas, please send me an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com! 1)Plan your week in advance Self-care isn’t just doing nothing, but it is being intentional with your time. If you live in a big rush of overwhelm every week having huge projects that never end, then it is time to start creating your time. Believe me, if you do not sit down once a week and plan out all of your strategic blocks of time to get those projects done, they won’t get done. They will be on your to-do list for waaaay longer than you want. And by being on your to-do list for so long (with little to no forward movement), then they become big looming monsters that grow in size. Just the thought of them starts to stress you out and overwhelm you. Instead, give that goal an end date and then work backward week-by-week writing down one step toward that goal you can accomplish and schedule it in your planner. If you goal has a hard deadline then it makes it easier as you know exactly where to work backward from! Don’t overthink this step. Just sit down for an hour once a week and schedule out your entire week. Even your schedule for the gym, picking up the kids, buffer time in checking your email and even downtime. 2) Say no more than yes You have your week scheduled so you know what your bandwidth is. But I also know that life happens and sometimes you stray off your best-intentioned schedule. There’s a party you didn’t know about, your kid gets sick, you have a migraine one day, there’s a storm, etc. That’s why it is important to factor in buffer time and move forward in at least one step on each project per week rather than waiting for the last week to do it all! (Yes, guilty at doing that at times). But as Robin Arzon says, “No is a complete sentence.” She’s right. It is easier to say no when you are in the habit of planning your time! The thing is if it isn’t a complete, “Heck, yeah!” it should be a no. That is a good indicator. If you aren’t truly excited about it, then you are going to dread doing it and nobody wants that energy. But even before the “heck, yeah” comes out of your mouth, what you should say is, “let me check my planner and get back to you.” Because you need to see what your bandwidth allows. I even schedule my volunteer work in my planner because it is a part of my load. Now when people ask me to volunteer for additional items, I know that my volunteer time is already filled up. I don’t even tell them I will check my calendar, my answer is, “my plate is already full.” 3) Listen to your body Sometimes you do need that day off! I know that I like to hustle hard. I love to fill my schedule and accomplish big audacious goals. But sometimes, I need a day off when it isn’t planned. My body’s way of telling me to slow down and take an unintentional day off is giving me a migraine. Yes, I believe that our bodies are smarter than our minds with survival. And my body is like, here is a migraine to make you go lie down and take a nap. Of course, I can’t always do that, but most often I don’t have a choice. I know it’s going to be a day that I will get a massage and an early night to sleep and that if I push through my work won’t be that productive anyway. But the next morning, after a massage and an early to bed night I am 110% slaying my projects. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or watch on YouTube! To share your thoughts: Send Holly an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com To help out the show: Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help, and I read all of them! Subscribe on iTunes or on YouTube. Looking for more? Follow us on Instagram @grantwriting_funding