As military spouse entrepreneurs, we are no strangers to the hustle. We work through PCSes, school vacations, weekends, snow days, and pandemics. We pride ourselves on working harder than most people we know. But at what cost?
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Hustlers often put their wellness at risk when it comes to sleep. Researchers who studied vacations and employee health and wellness found that vacationers who got eight hours of sleep on vacation in a comfortable environment showed increased well-being during and after vacation.
Eight hours. Wellness is important to me, so I make sure to stay within the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep, usually coming in right at the seven mark. But, when the coronavirus, or COVID-19, canceled my daughter’s solo spring break trip, I started experimenting with my sleep. In honor of our unexpected spring break staycation that I needed to work through, I decided not to set an alarm. I slept a glorious nine-plus hours every night. The next week I set an alarm since theoretically spring break was over even though my daughter was still home from school. I felt miserable after only seven hours of sleep. It was harder to get up in the morning and I felt like I needed a nap by midday.
What might happen if we regularly got eight or more hours of sleep? We would have to give up our hustler titles if word got out, but I’m willing to risk it.
CREATIVITY
Whether or not you consider yourself a creative, as an entrepreneur, you need a certain amount of creativity for the development and growth of your business. If you hustle so hard that you burn out, you will no longer have access to your special brand of creativity, which feeds your business. Author Scott Berkun said it perfectly. “Burnout means you’ve pushed your creative energy beyond the point of recovery. Like a well of water, creative energy replenishes itself slowly over time. A person who has pushed their creative well too hard for too long will, like its watery counterpart, one day find it empty.”
If you want to stay on a steady, productive course, you need to learn how to take breaks to replenish your creative well. For me, that looks like taking at least one full day off on the weekend. As the leader of a wellness organization, this is also important to me because I don’t want my team to feel pressured to work all weekend just because I am. I take time daily to meditate, move my body, and prepare healthy food. If I have a vacation coming up, I work ahead, which is admittedly often a really intense process, so I can fully disconnect, recharge, and be present while on vacation.
You may choose to tend to your wellness and take your breaks in completely different ways, but I encourage you to take some time off from the hustle so you can recharge and continue on your trajectory of greatness.
How will you take a break this week? Share with us below or tag a friend.
ABOUT KIMBERLY Kimberly Bacso is an MBA who exchanged an office with a view for a life of adventure when she became a military spouse in 2001. She is the co-founder and operations director of InDependent, a non-profit on a mission to make wellness accessible to all military spouses. She is the managing editor of Legacy Magazine, a print publication celebrating service member families and the communities that support them. Kimberly is an experienced registered yoga teacher and a lifelong vegetarian who can often be found traveling off the beaten path with her husband and teenage daughter.
