Self-care in business sounds lovely in theory, doesn’t it?

How many times have you heard about flexible working, boundaries, time off, slower mornings or space to breathe from fellow business owners? And yet somehow, we still end up overwhelmed, overcommitted and wondering how our diary filled up again.

I’m putting my hands up here… I’m great at offering advice, but not always amazing at taking it. 🦄 Now, don’t get me wrong, self-care is something I always prioritise. I’ve intentionally built my business around it, and I’ve created the flexibility I needed to protect ME time where I can. But recently? I slipped into a familiar pattern – overcommitting.

Back in mid-April, I made a conscious decision that I was ready to take on one or two new retainer clients, and it really felt like the right next step. But when I looked at my diary? If I took an extra client on, I wouldn’t be able to onboard them until the first week in June, because my diary was full. Even though I wasn’t at full client capacity! How the feck could this happen?! It wasn’t one big thing taking my time, it was a series of small, well-intentioned ones that slowly filled every gap in my calendar until there was no space left to think, breathe or take on anything new. 🤨

How I overcommitted and hadn’t even realised

When I really looked at it, there were two main reasons my diary had become so full:

🦄 I was preparing to take two weeks off for my birthday, which meant pulling forward client work so nobody missed out, and everything was taken care of.

🦄 Every time I had space, I filled it with networking, upskilling myself with training and hosting my own workshops.

Individually, none of these decisions was wrong. In fact, they were all aligned with my planned growth and vision for 2026, as I was showing up, building connections and working towards my goals. But collectively, they created pressure, removed flexibility, and left me feeling overwhelmed. 😟

The reality of “being productive”

This is the part we don’t talk about enough in business: being busy doesn’t always mean being effective. And yes, filling your diary can feel like progress, and it can feel like you’re doing all the right things (aka showing up, saying yes, building momentum), BU|T…if there is no space left for new opportunities, for creativity or rest, it becomes counterproductive.

Imagine you have a new enquiry come in, one that you need from a financial perspective, and one that you really want to work with as they are an ideal client, but you have no availability…what then? Or you get a new enquiry from a yummy potential client, however you are feeling too overwhelmed to show up at your best. When does your version of “growth” start to feel heavy instead of exciting? I think that’s your sign to slow down and take care of yourself. 🥰

In my case, by mid-April, I could feel it: that underlying pressure, that sense of being “on” all the time, and that quiet awareness that something wasn’t quite right. And I knew I had two choices – keep pushing through and risk burnout before my annual leave, or pause, reassess what was most important to me, and make a change. I chose the second one, obviously! 😅

What prioritising self-care actually looks like

Self-care isn’t always candles, baths and early nights. Sometimes, it looks like making decisions that feel uncomfortable in the moment, but protecting your energy long-term. For me, that meant:

🌸 Cancelling my two upcoming group workshops.
🌸 Blocking out remaining space in my diary so nothing else could be booked in.
🌸 Giving myself permission to adapt and change my plans.

That last one was the most important and where the magic really lay, because so many business owners struggle with this idea that once something is planned, it has to happen. That changing your mind somehow means you’ve failed. I’m here to call bullshiz on that because it absolutely does not! Cancelling those workshops didn’t mean I’d failed, or that I’d done something wrong. It meant I’d recognised that I had overcommitted and instead of ignoring it, I chose to do something about it. Because giving my best to my clients is mega important to me and I can’t do that if I’m running on empty. 🦄

How to prioritise self-care in your business

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Yep… this sounds familiar,” you’re not alone. Overcommitting happens easily, especially when you care deeply about your work and your clients. But prioritising self-care doesn’t require a complete overhaul. Here’s what it can look like:

🦄 Creating space in your diary before you need it.
🦄 Not filling every gap just because it’s there.
🦄 Building flexibility into your schedule.
🦄 Checking in with yourself and listening to your body.
🦄 Remembering that rest is productive too.

These aren’t groundbreaking strategies, but they are powerful when practised consistently. I think we need to remember that the whole reason many of us start our own businesses is for more freedom, more flexibility and more alignment, they were certainly massive drivers for me. But without boundaries, it’s very easy to recreate the same pressure we were trying to escape from in the corporate world.

So my lovely human, please remember that prioritising self-care means designing your business in a way that supports YOU, not just your clients. It’s recognising when something isn’t working and giving yourself permission to adjust and understanding that sustainable success isn’t built on constant output, but on balance. 😍

And yep… that sometimes means saying NO, cancelling things, and slowing the f**k down!

A gentle reminder (from me to you) 

This is your reminder to create space for yourself:

🌸 Not when everything is done.
🌸 Not when things “calm down.”
🌸 Not when you’ve earned it.

But creating that space NOW, because in the long term, you and your clients will benefit. 

Your energy and wellbeing matters, and the version of you that shows up rested, clear and grounded, that’s the version that builds the most impactful, magical and aligned business. 🦄

If your business currently feels full, overwhelming or a little out of control, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. Sometimes having the right support, whether that’s with your content, your marketing or your boundaries, can help you create that space without everything grinding to a halt. And that’s exactly what I help with, feel free to reach out to me. 🌸 🦄

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