In this episode...

Laura Hargrave: Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com, and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it.
Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.

Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.

There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you!

Sophia Noreen: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of The Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, and I'm going to be your host for today. And today, we are talking about your health. And the reason we are speaking about your health is because, if you don't take care of yourself, you will not be able to create and run your business. And you will not be able to serve your customers and your clients and take care of your family. So we talk about self-care in a very general context. But today, I want to go a little bit deeper and give you some tips on how I manage my self-care. A few strategies that I ensure that I complete daily, and a few things that I've switched up and changed up because I realized I was messing up my body.

If you're an entrepreneur or you are doing a side hustle, or if you even work a nine to five job or career, these are vital for all of it. And even if you're a mompreneur, or you are a working parent or you're a parent at home, it doesn't matter because the tips I'm giving you today are applicable to everyone. And you should try to put these tips into action every day. Okay. I do feel very strongly about this because the more you commit to these health strategies, the more habitual it will become for you. And then you won't even be thinking about it. It will be a natural habit that has been formed. And it will allow you more energy throughout the day. It will ensure that you're not burning out. And it will also give you the ability to say, yes, I am practicing self-care daily. And it doesn't necessarily need to be, I'm going to a retreat or I'm going to a class because these tips that I'm going to provide you today are the type of tips that should be very easily incorporated into your day even if you feel that you don't have the time. Okay, so let's get right into it.

If you are sitting at a desk, as I am right now, I feel like I should stand up for this entire episode to make my point. But if you're sitting at a desk for more than an hour at a time, this first tip I'm going to provide you have changed everything for me. I was sitting in a lot of meetings recently because I have taken on another position at my nine to five, at the moment, to help our team transition to new leadership. And I was sitting a lot, way more than I had anticipated. And I was getting some back pain. So I decided to purchase a standing desk. Now, what I did was I didn't purchase a whole desk. I actually bought a piece that sits on top of the desk, which is a lot more financially feasible because you're not buying a full desk. And it is amazing. I love it. I can adjust the desk and stand up or sit down. And I find that I stand up much more than I thought I would work, and I'm much more comfortable. So if you find that you're having any type of difficulty with standing throughout the day, or you're not even at that point yet but you plan to be seated a lot to finish more work, more project work, for your nine to five or more project work for you as an entrepreneur, then I highly, highly suggest to look into a standing desk. Something that you can either put on top of an existing desk that can easily go up and down or right out a standing desk if you are looking for a desk currently.

The next tip is having a standing break. Now, I may have spoken about this in past episodes. But I do want to bring it up again because it is such a smart tip. If you are seated for more than an hour, turn on an alarm and ensure you stand up. Because you should not be seated for more than 60 minutes at a time. At 55 minutes, you should stand up and take a quick stretch. And I know you may be in a meeting, but you can turn your camera off, for example. If you're in a virtual meeting and your camera's on, just turn it off and just stand up for a second. Trust me, no one's going to know the difference, and if they do then you can just say, sorry, I'm just taking a quick standing break. I've been seated too long. Most of the time, I would say meetings are only about an hour 45 minutes. And you could probably stand up and walk around your house in between meetings if you are the type of person who has back-to-back commitments. But really ensure you do stand up. Sitting is so bad for your health and it will lead to chronic pain. So stand up and make sure that you are taking that needed break at the 55-minute mark. And if you need to set up before that, please do so. Why are you putting yourself through it? There's no point in suffering. We're trying to enjoy the journey of creating our own business and basically living the best life that we can live. So let's not put ourselves through pain.

The next tip, tip number three, is to stay hydrated. And I know you're probably rolling your eyes because you're thinking, well, everyone says that. But I'm going to say this again because I would say most individuals are dehydrated before they even realize that they have not drank enough water throughout the day. So there are a ton of strategies out there. But if you are working at your desk or you have a project or you have a defined schedule throughout the day, it's very easy to tag in a few things like water breaks if you need that constant reminder to take a sip of water. What I've done is I have a water bottle that is usually seated quite close to me throughout the day. I also drink warm water. I find that helps. It's like 56 degrees, and it's perfect.

I literally have a cup that tells me the temperature of the water and it sits at 56 degrees Celsius. I know it's a little bit bougie or fancy, but this cup that is fantastic for keeping the drink warm allows me to sip on water all day. And I feel like I'm drinking a warm beverage like tea or coffee. And that really helps trick me into drinking more water. So if you need something to encourage you to drink more water like having a warm water drink beside you, be it water or having a nice water bottle that has the markings on the bottle that ensures that you've drank enough water throughout the day. Or if you're the type of person that hates the taste of water and you need to add a little bit of lemon or infused water with fruits then do something that will really encourage your hydration.
And remember, if you're an avid coffee or tea drinker, the caffeine in those drinks will actually act as a diuretic. And what that means is it promotes your body to let the liquid leave your body. And it doesn't allow the body to absorb it. Now, this occurs short-term. But if you're consuming a lot of coffee consistently throughout the day, it may have a cumulative effect. So just to make sure that you are drinking your coffee and then taking an additional cup of water with it is the best strategy. So I do ensure that I have an additional cup of warm water when I have finished my coffee or tea. Again, I can't stress it enough because if you're hydrated, your entire metabolism works a bit better and you may sleep better and you'll have more energy. And trust me, your insides will thank you as well because, not to get too much into it, but if you are dehydrated, you might be constipated. And that leads to a whole other set of problems which we won't get into today. Again, I'm putting on my health practitioner hat as I talked to you. So apologies if I'm going too deep towards a conversation that you didn't expect to have right now.

Okay, enough about the hydration. Let's talk about tip number four, and that is taking a walking meeting. What that means is that you will schedule a meeting with the intention of walking during it. So if you're so busy and you're like, I cannot fit in a walk during my day, then ensure that whoever you're having a phone conversation with, whoever that meeting is with, if it's not on video, tell them that I'm going to be fitting you in during my walking break. And you can definitely catch up and speak to them at that point. I got this idea from Cathie Wood who owns Ark. It's an ETF which is a big company if you want to look into it. And she was extremely busy, and I guess she wasn't taking her walking breaks. And so her team decided to have her meet with people during the walking break. So if she needed to take a break and walk and somebody needs to meet with her, that meeting would have been completed while she did her walking.
Now, that might seem too much for some people. They may be like, that's too much to juggle. I'm finding that extremely overwhelming. It's not going to work for me. But I encourage you to give it a try. I've generally will do my walking meetings with people with who I speak consistently. And it's more like a catch-up. So, for example, I speak with our online business manager quite regularly and I will perhaps take a walking break during that time. As I record this, we are in the middle of the ice and snow in winter up here in Canada so walking outside is not always the best. But what I'll do it, I'll just walk around my house even just to get moving a bit. I do encourage anybody and everyone to go outside even if it's cold because the fresh air can act as endorphin and help release stress. It also breaks you away from the internal environment and helps you connect back with nature which can help with mindfulness. So I do encourage you to try to get outside even when it might not be the best weather and it's a little bit nippy outside. I think it's still worth it.

Okay, guys, let's go from the top. These are the four tips that I use daily to ensure that I have a little bit more self-care built into my routine. So one, I had purchased a standing desk to give me the flexibility of standing up while I work at my desk, the best investment to date. The next tip was to ensure you're standing up every hour. And strategies that you can use are putting an alarm on your phone or ensuring that you have something that will trigger you to remember to stand up every hour. And you can even stand up during a meeting. No one's going to say anything to you. Turn off your camera if you're on video. Do a quick stretch and then you may sit back down if you do wish to.

Then next is to drink water. Stay hydrated. And if you are drinking coffee or tea, ensure you take an additional glass of water to replace the water that you could be losing because caffeine is a diuretic. That means that it will promote you to urinate your water out. And we won't get too much more into the health side of things. But if you are concerned about dehydration and you want to learn about what to look for if you're becoming dehydrated, you can always ask your physician or your nurse practitioner, and they can definitely help you out with that information.

And then finally, think about taking a walking meeting. This is a great strategy for people who are having difficulties with finding the time to get away from their desks and walk just for the sake of walking. You can always ask somebody to schedule a walking meeting with you and disclose that you will be walking during the time they're having a conversation.

Okay, guys, that is it. This may have been a little bit of a shorter episode. But I want you to really try to commit to one of these health tips. I want you to build in the self-care routine daily. So that way, it is consistent and becomes a habit. Remember, you need to take care of yourself so you can take care of others and your business. And of course, provide the best experience for your customers and your clients. So don't neglect yourself. Try to take care of your body, try to take care of your mind, and you would be surprised on how much you can accomplish. Okay, and remember, if you're loving these episodes or if you find these tips amazing, please do share this podcast with your friends or maybe fellow business owners or people who are even working a nine to five.

Many of the tips I provide are transferable because let's face it, I'm still working a nine to five. So I do have a lot of tips that are not just for entrepreneurs. And if you have not checked us out on iTunes, feel free to do so and subscribe, follow and give us a five-star review. We're on all of the platforms. So you can follow us on any of the platforms so you never miss an episode. We will be dropping an episode every week. I cannot even believe that we are heading towards 80 episodes. It blows my mind, but I have enjoyed every minute of this journey of being a podcaster. And we will see you guys next week, again, same time, same place. And remember, make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all. Talk to you guys later. Bye.

So my fellow Bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now, it's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story, and tag us at Boss It Club. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers so don't miss out. Now, remember Bosses, make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes, you can have it all.