Self-care in your nonprofit is always important. Without it, you cannot keep going. And in the end, you’ll destroy yourself and your beautiful organisation.
Boundaries are part of self-care
We spoke about setting healthy boundaries before. They are an important part of self-care.
Self-care is more than saying no
It’s not just about saying no. Or delegating and making it possible for others to take over tasks if and as needed.
Self-care is saying YES
It’s about saying yes to yourself and the things and people that are important for you, in life and in work. In your nonprofit and outside of it. It’s about creating space to do things you love doing also when it’s not work.
Tricky
This is where it gets tricky for many of us. Because we don’t always know very well what things we like or even love doing, as we focus on what needs to be done. So we’ll need to create some quiet space for ourselves to allow ourselves to feel what it is we value and love, outside our important nonprofit work.
Schedule it in!
If you’re not clear on what these things are, then schedule an empty morning, afternoon or evening in your calendar now to figure this out. This is an important task and also one you should not postpone!
Schedule it in – some more!
Whenever you plan work tasks, make sure you’ve scheduled your personal priorities before. So that it’s clear there are limited time slots available for work tasks. Here’s where your boundaries are key! Be sure that your personal priorities are non-negotiable.
Recuperation
Planning self-care includes planning for risks. What if something happens that throws you off course? What are activities, people or things that are healing for you? Make a list and keep that somewhere nearby. Maybe in an app like Google Keep Notes or similar.
Crisis
Because self-care is even more crucial in times of crisis. Precisely when it is easy to forget or to feel that it’s a luxury that needs to wait. It isn’t a luxury and it can definitely not wait.
It doesn’t matter what type of crisis it is. An external crisis where you need to mitigate the impact on your work and team, like a war or flood for instance. Or an internal crisis due to a funding gap or a conflict. You’ll need to take care of yourself. And you’ll need to encourage and facilitate others to do the same.
That’s when you need to be able to rely on your personal priorities. And when you need to have your list of things to do to calm down, relax and heal at hand. This is something that may feel hard to do. But you can do it and you can learn to be better at this, too.
How I can help
Creating a good workspace is a puzzle, as you can see. If you are looking for a complete step by step system to set up and implement compliant and caring personnel policies and contracting for your nonprofit in line with best practices in the sector – without a law degree – join my Course Practical Labour Law & HR for nonprofits here: https://bit.ly/courseHRfornonprofits
Want to take about dilemmas you face as a manager, join the Nonprofit Management Confidence Club.
Watch my video Leadership in self care in nonprofits own oxygen mask first
You can also check out my YouTube channel here, and find a collection of videos on HR issues, fundraising, annual reporting, donations and other nonprofit operations topics. I made a special YouTube playlist everything HR.
Want to know more and ask questions?
If you want to discuss this more – jump into my nonprofit support community and get input from a wide range of peers and from myself!
Here is how you can join my free nonprofit support community
You can join my free nonprofit support community on the Heartbeat platform here. This group is a safe space for open exchange and discussion on potentially sensitive topics like boards, nonprofit management, fundraising, etc. You can visit the community via a browser or via an app. Here is the link to download the Heartbeat chat app in the Google Play store.
Want to support me with a cup of coffee?
The seaside always inspires me and helps me think of articles, videos, workshops and courses I can create for you. If you want to support me without getting a paid workshop, course or review – you can donate me a coffee and speed up my thinking process! You can support me here: https://ko-fi.com/suzannebakker