There are times we reap and times we sow. When we're in the process of sowing our seeds for success it can be hard to pop our heads up and provide a little self-care.
Especially when the grind has time and money tied up. Sometimes I'll come across a piece of life advice that's out of my price range or too time consuming to be possible. Like taking a weekend vacation when the work grind is too heavy or indulging in a day at the spa to release tension or investing in the services of a life coach. The way my savings account is set up, I'm not making any major withdrawals until the balance stops giving me anxiety.
But, just because you're in survival mode doesn't mean you don't also need to relax. In fact, taking some time to reboot can very often be the thing you need to push through. The conflict I often ran into was how to simplify this process so it doesn't take too much time - or money. After a few years of perfecting my own little survival guide, I've figured out how to sprinkle in much needed self-care without losing step.
Change Your Nightly Narrative
I don't know how many times I've woken up literally on my laptop. Studies have shown that not having a night time routine - even as an adult - can lead to heart failure and even memory loss. Instead of going to sleep by default, install a 30 minute nighttime routineand a bedtime. Take a shower, use lavender oil to relax, put your phone on do-not-disturb and listen to something soothing until sleep finds you. Removing one small element of chaos (i.e. a sporadic bedtime) will reshape your entire mental state the very next morning.
Wear Less Black
It's a go-to color for most of us busy ladies - it's hard to stain, it's slimming and it relays professionalism effortlessly. It's also an energy absorber. Every reiki practitioner or energy healer will tell you that the colors you wear (and even the fabrics) can have an impact on how you feel. Black attracts and absorbs the energy around you and can emotionally weigh you down. Opt out of this color as much as possible and instead wear lighter colors like white, beige and yellow to ...
Schedule Your Social Media Time
Sure you could check your social media threads whenever you have idle hands but did you really even miss anything? Probably not. Instead, allow yourself a social media check in at specific times. Like every 3 hours or 5 times per day. It might take a little while to get used to but in the end you'll notice you check in with social media less often and therefore are less exposed to all those millions of triggers that can add to an already stressful day.
Treat Yourself (On A Budget)
Even when time and money are limited, you can still do the smallest things to give you that pat on the back that you need. When you take on an extra job or an extra client or an extra class, you know in advance that you're about to be drowning in extra work. Be mindful of how stressed you'll be an section out a little time and a little money to treat yourself along the way. 30 minutes for a manicure every Friday, one girl's night out after reaching your first milestone goal. Rewarding yourself is the oldest advice in the book but it is key to remind yourself why you're grinding so hard in the first place.
Surround Yourself With Fellow Grinders
Who you spend time with can have a huge impact on how you feel. When you do take time to relax or enjoy life, do so with people who are in the same place as you. It's one thing to be genuinely happy for that friend who just got back from an excursion in Costa Rica but it still can make you come down hard on yourself. Instead, hit up someone you know can use a break too and invite them to take a moment to breathe with you, even if its just a pow-wow over the phone to unload the woes of work life.
Say "No" To Them And "Yes" To You
Even when I'm swamped, I tend to still find time to be there for other people. Whether it's a long phone call to serve tea or attending someone's birthday party - I would find a way to squeeze it in, tired or not. I learned a little trick though. Instead of saying yes to them, I just say no. If I don't have the energy to attend, with everything going on then that is exactly what I say. But, the trick is to take those three or four hours I would have spent at that event on myself - relaxing, vegging out in front of Netflix, reading a book, listening to a lecture, or just plain napping. If I can squeeze in time for others, I can certainly squeeze in time for myself when I need it most.
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak