Self-employment and self-care: Learning to make the most out of client cancellations

Establishing a balance between the turbulent life in business and time to recharge can prove to be a very difficult task for many entrepreneurs and business leaders.

This struggle is heightened even further when it comes to self-employment, given that the individual is essentially the most important figure of the business.

Sales and Leadership Trainer and Coach Alex Falzon, who has been self-employed for more than three years, touched on these difficulties on Sunday, sharing an experience he had last Friday.

“On Friday I had a full day of sales training booked which was postponed by the client, and I decided to block off the day completely,” he said.

“Being self-employed, it’s not always that easy for me to take leave unless I go on holiday,” he explained.

As a result, Mr Falzon opted to use his day off to ride his mountain bike around his neighbourhood, taking in “loads of fresh air” to enable him to “recharge”.

He concluded by asking: “Do you find it easy to block off time for self-care? And if yes, what do you do to recharge?”

Commenting on Mr Falzon’s post, Stefano Borg, Founder and Managing Director at fitness company Sweat, remarked that it is “not always easy to find time for yourself when running your own show, even more when you do all this by yourself”.

Mr Borg said that he tends to opt for a workout or to read an inspiring book to refresh his mind.

“In my opinion, it is hard not only finding the free time, but also switching your mind off business thoughts, as it is much harder to distract yourself from the business environment,” he explained.

Despite the increased integration between life and work that comes with self-employment, there are ways through which business leaders can build healthy boundaries that will help their mental health and help them recharge more. These include learning to say no, and to also set limits when it comes to availability.