Honoring Time and Energy as a Soul Biz

If we’re a soulpreneur - with or without a support team - we are our soul business; our soul biz. That means, we’re equally as responsible for our business as we are for ourselves.

Sometimes, it may even seem as though the two - soul biz and self - are one.

Since we’re responsible for our business, we ideally honor its (our) energy and time so it (we) work optimally. There are many ways to do that.

First, there’s the obvious:

What are our working hours and days?

As solo entrepreneurs, we have a lot of leeway in determining those time frames, because we can tailor them to our needs and, if applicable, the needs of our clients.

When we start noticing patterns with client bookings, for example, we need only adjust our baseline schedule to adapt.

At the same time, awareness of our own needs is critical. Our personal life figures into the schedule we create for ourselves, too.

Currently, my baseline schedule falls Tuesday through Saturday, which accommodates my clients’ needs as well as my own. I really need two days off in a row to recharge, so my “weekend” is Sunday and Monday.

Then there’s the somewhat less obvious:

What are our boundaries for non-working time?

This gem comes up with some consistency for me. The more I uphold my boundaries, the easier it becomes to uphold them.

Even though I don’t work Sundays and Mondays, I may still receive client contacts. They may come through my website, email, Instagram, voicemail, text, etc.

It’s fine for them to reach out during non-working time. What isn’t fine is for me to respond during that time. It sets a precedent that could undermine the rest that I need to do my work well.

There’s a trap we may all-too-easily fall into in which our ego tells us, “If you don’t respond now, they might not buy/come back/like you.”

If that’s true, they aren’t for us, plain and simple.

Because if a client is messaging us in some way at a time that is off-schedule, demanding our immediate attention, that isn’t for us or on us.

And it only becomes a problem if we fail our boundaries (and ourselves) and respond to that demand outside of our schedule. It’s on us to prevent the problem.

Also, there’s this:

How are we honoring our need for breaks?

Breaks might include…

• a healthy buffer zone between clients for stretching, peeing, hydrating, etc.;

• time for breakfast, lunch, dinner - depending on our schedule, of course;

• regular vacations;

• taking ourselves off social media when it gets to be too much for us

…and whatever else we consider taking a break.

For myself, I have a healthy buffer of time between clients, I take a lunch break, I recently instituted quarterly staycation time, and I’ve been more off Instagram than on.

While those things by themselves might seem simplistic, their impact is anything but. Those breaks keep me present and healthy. They support me to show up fully for my clients, my business and myself.

What systems are supporting us?

By systems, I mean automated systems - apps and software that help us run our soul biz.

My scheduling is fully automated. While set-up was a bit involved and maintenance is sometimes necessary, the system runs itself, including payments, confirmations and reminders. It’s brilliant for my clients and for me, as it’s available to them 24/7. And it’s so much more efficient for all of us.

Letters to my email list and blog posts on my site, plus podcast episodes, are automated in the sense that I draft them as time allows and then schedule them to send or publish or go live at the time I designate.

Oftentimes, the send/publish/live times fall either outside normal work hours or when I’m in the middle of client sessions. Knowing that they’ll do what they need to without me hovering over them is wonderfully freeing.

Having these sorts of systems in place allows us to be present where we need to be, when we need to be. Having them in place helps us prevent overwhelm and, worse, burnout.

It’s worth the set-up time and the learning curves that inevitably come with using new-to-us software and applications.

Do we really want to be in service?

If we do, then the bottom line is this: We need to put into practice those working hours, boundaries, breaks and systems that make it possible and even easeful.

Blessed be.