Listen To Your Body
I might be biased here (I have worked in fitness and sports coaching since my teens), but listening to your body as a business owner is an essential skill for running a sustainable business. Especially for those of us with ADHD and a tendency to ignore our needs in lieu of hyperfocus...
When should you be paying attention to your body?
Listening to your body relies on 'interoception', a sense that allows us to pay attention to our internal signals and cues. This includes an enormous range of information travelling towards our brains for processing and interpretation. (If you’d like to learn more about this, you can check out this article on Interoception from the Neurodiversity Education Academy.)
1. Gut feelings about opportunities
We've all taken on that project that we just knew was going to be a pain. You might not have had a clear reason, but your gut was telling you something.
It's easy to ignore the gut feelings in exchange for logic and financial reasoning...but I'm on a 100% track record for regretting taking on those clients when I've chosen not to listen to myself.
Our unconscious mind picks up THOUSANDS of cues that we are unaware of, and translates those cues into 'gut feelings', instincts, and hunches.
By paying attention to your body, you will act on more of your hunches and have an easier life with clients that are a natural and positive fit!
2. Effectively working with your natural rhythms
Noticing how your body feels when you are working allows you to choose to work at the most effective times. It also allows you to NOT work when you know you will feel sluggish, uninspired, and gross.
By feeling your body actively and checking in, you can also ADAPT your schedules when there are changes or disruptions to your usual routines.
3. Meeting your own physiological needs
– "I'm just making lunch."
– "It's 4pm"
– "..."
How often have you been working, working, working, and then BAM! It's 4pm, you have a headache, you are starving, and you realise you haven't moved to eat lunch.
My first sign that I need to eat is that I feel anxious. That anxious feeling usually makes me think that I need to keep working and pushing through. Over time, I learned to connect the dots of what my body was telling me. In this case, I was hungry, so I could interpret that sign as a call to stop, break, and eat.
You may have other, less obvious tells about an unmet need, so pay attention to your body and learn your 'before 4pm, need to eat' cues to better care for your physiology!
4. Avoiding burnout
Burnout is an all too common problem for neurodivergent people, and one of the reasons (my hunch anyway) is that we are used to feeling uncomfortable and prone to downplaying our body signals.
If you are in tune with and trust your body's cues, you will spot the signs of burnout before they happen. You will notice the lingering headaches, the increasing fatigue, and the general sluggish "ugh" that signals you've been pushing unsustainably.
The second you notice any signs of burnout in your body, listen to them and address them – burnout is not worth risking! (If you want to learn more about burnout, FRIED is a great podcast!)
5. You will have your body LONG after you finish the job you are currently working on
In 50 years, you won't remember the report you are writing, but you will feel a crick in your neck that went unaddressed for decades. Your body is the only home you ever truly own for life, and it is ALWAYS more important than a deadline or project.
By paying attention to your body, you set yourself up for a happier, healthier, and more comfortable life, and you'll learn ways to meet your needs AND take care of your clients!
If you want to talk about interoception, please get in touch. I have a whole other business dedicated to keeping people's body's healthy and well for work (and life), and I'd be happy to help you find ways to reach your peak physical wellbeing and reach your work goals!
