Sometimes we need a nudge to take time for ourselves. We’re often tired by the end of the week. If we have a full slate of lunch visits each day, and especially if there’s a vacation sit in there too (3 – 4 visits a day), we’re generally half asleep before we hit the pillow.
We found we relied on those couple of hours here and there between the rush hours to grab a nap some days. But then as the boarding portion of the business built, we recognized another problem has cropped up…insufficient sleep.
We take only one to three dogs per night, and we’re careful about who we choose…but you don’t really know a dog until he spends the night. If he’s nervous and paces or whines or keeps nosing you…you won’t sleep. If he keeps asking to be let out…you won’t sleep. If you let him sleep in the bedroom…and he snores…you won’t sleep.
It doesn’t take long for exhaustion to kick in.
When increasing your business means using more of your time, and especially if that time is vitally important, such as your sleeping hours, you have to consider sleep as a bonus and leave additional time during the day open for sleep if you need it.
I’m writing this post at midnight. I went to bed at 10:30 but one of the three dogs here (two are sisters) is restless this evening. She’s been here before and she’s a semi-regular client. She’s also a rescue, and who knows what plays on on a rescue’s mind sometimes. The wind is high tonight and she’s come into the bedroom twice looking worried, but won’t sleep there by her sister. So I’m sitting up in the living room until she’s well asleep and then I’ll crawl back into bed…leaving a lamp as well as the nightlight on for her. With a little luck, that window of time we have open in the morning will allow me to catch up on a couple more hours sleep.
Packed schedules and lack of sleep happen to us all now and then, but if we don’t take time for ourselves often enough, we’ll be more than weary, we’ll get sick or be a danger to ourselves and others on the roads.
So until next time, be good to yourself!
