When you find yourself living the busy 9 to 5 routine, self-care should be a crucial part of your lifestyle. Here’s why.

When you choose self-care, it means well-deserved me-time. You already may feel on a tightrope sometimes. Juggling between your high standards of keeping up with everything at work, making sure your family has all your love, and planning that sought-after perfect lifestyle. 

But even when you’ve had a good or bad day, you’ll find inner balance through self-care.

You can kill it at work and kill it at home, but the secret to inner balance is prioritizing yourself guilt-free.

All of these ways to build your work-life balance stem from one basic principle: value your own time. You have to back yourself. A burned-out working woman doesn’t add value, she’s a liability, and in most cases, your employer will only value you as much as you value yourself. 

So how do you build a work-life balance through self-care? 

Set your work hours in stone.

This applies whether you’re self-employed or a high-powered businesswoman. Set your hours, and don’t ever ignore them.

No emails after you’re done with work for the day. No last-minute calls, no urgent messages. You have a family, you have a life, and you are enjoying it.

That doesn’t mean that you’ll never work long hours. They can be as long as you need. But once they’re over, they’re over.

Set an “away from work” auto-response message on slack, emails, anywhere people might try to contact you. You’ll get back to them as soon as work hours resume, every time. You’re consistent, a hard worker, and dependable. But you’re not available 24/7. No one should be.

Set these time boundaries so that you can finally relax and enjoy your time with yourself and your family without worrying about checking your email or forgetting a deadline. You’ll notice the difference immediately. How long has it been since you were genuinely calm? 

Valuing your own time is the truest way to practice self-care. Sink into a nap, indulge in your favorite show, laugh on the porch with your friends and family. Whichever your self-care method of choice, you’ll finally be free to glean every benefit. 

Want time to always finish a task? Track it! 

Time tracking software lets you know precisely how long it takes you to do something. Clockify is great, and it’s free!

Use it well, and track how long it takes you to do every type of task. You might think it only takes you 5 minutes to craft an email, but after monitoring your time, you realize that it’s 20.

When you know how long it takes you to do something, not just how long you wish it took you, you can always be confident in your estimates and promises. Never overpromise and underdeliver again!

It’ll also help you manage your own time. Does tomorrow’s task always take all day? Tracking tasks is a great way to become aware of your productivity and master it.

You’ll reduce the anxiety that accompanies ambiguity, kicking stress out the door and making you happier. Plus, you’ll be an even better employee, with no actual extra work. That’s the dream.

Use that extra time to do something you love

Working women have hobbies, too. We have families, relationships, sports, and activities—even guilty pleasure TV shows. 

Being a professional doesn’t mean you can’t be an avid birdwatcher. Do what you love with the extra time you’ve gifted yourself with your hard-limit work hours and time-tracking technology.

Immerse yourself in that activity. Get back to the roots of what makes you feel like you, and experience the joys of being multifaceted.

So you don’t have the time to spend on a long hike every day. But there are still ways to infuse what you love into every 24 hours. Something as simple as reading your child their favorite book before bed, cooking up something a little extra special, or vegging out for two whole episodes or chapters of your favorite story.

It’s up to you, and it’s all yours. 

Relax and renew with pampering rituals

We’ve said before, and we’ll repeat it, self-care means me-time.

You need to wake up refreshed every new day to tackle your goals and deadlines like a champ. So, your nighttime routine is essential. 

We wrote a bit about how to sleep better last month. Make sure to turn off your screens - that means email, too - before bed. Get rid of that blue light. 

Exercise! Working all day can strain your body and cause sore muscles and a stiff neck. Even thirty minutes of aerobics per day helps. 

Lastly, use your daily skincare ritual to relax your mind and soothe any lingering work thoughts. L’Beauxtique’s Evening Body Serum pampers your skin, easing the effects of furrowing your brow and staring into your screen all day, as well as sinking you into blissful peace.

Shop our Evening Body Serum. 

Your skin will thank you for keeping it soft, supple, and well-rested, ready for a new day of crushing deadlines.

Self-care for the working woman means knowing your worth.

You deserve to have time off. When you’re happy, well-rested, and focused, you do better work - not spread thin and stressed out.

These steps to self-care will impact your work-life balance immediately. Stick to your guns, pursue what you love, and step up your standards. You’ll do better in every aspect of life while enjoying it all more.

You can be a queen who has it all. Just build your confidence in the best version of yourself. Take the plunge, and practice working hard and relaxing hard. You know you’re worth it.

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