Why Looking After Yourself Is Good Business

How We Got Used to Always Being “On”

A few years ago, this isn’t an article I would have written.

Like many business owners, I thought being committed meant always being available – early starts, late finishes and replying to emails at all hours. I would push through tiredness because there was always something that needed doing. At the time, it felt productive, but looking back, I’m not sure it always was.

Working Hard vs Working Well

The reality is, while I was working hard, I wasn’t always giving myself the best conditions to think clearly or make good decisions. And that’s something I suspect many business owners can relate to.

We’re often very good at encouraging everyone else to take care of themselves – we tell our teams not to burn out and we remind friends and family to take breaks. Yet when it comes to ourselves, it’s easy to believe we can just keep pushing for a little longer, until eventually that becomes normal.

Your Business Depends on You Performing Well

The challenge is that your business depends on your ability to think clearly, make good decisions and lead effectively. And all of that is directly influenced by how well you’re looking after yourself.

The “Oxygen Mask” Principle

One of the simplest ways to think about this is the “oxygen mask” principle. We’ve all heard it on a plane – put your own mask on before helping others.

The same applies in business. As business owners, we spend our time looking after clients, employees, suppliers and family, but somewhere along the way our own wellbeing slips down the list. We tell ourselves we’ll catch up later, but in reality, later rarely comes.

Sleep Isn’t a Luxury — It’s a Business Asset

Sleep is a good example of something we often underestimate. It’s typically seen as a personal issue rather than a business one, but lack of sleep affects focus, reaction times and overall cognitive performance.

It also impacts judgement, decision-making and emotional control. Leadership, at its core, is a series of decisions, so if sleep affects how we think, it inevitably affects how we lead – and, in turn, the performance of the business.

Energy, Not Just Time, Drives Performance

However, it’s not just about sleep.

Exercise, proper breaks, healthy routines and simply having space to think all play a part. What we eat, how often we move and how well we recover influence our energy levels, focus and resilience. You wouldn’t feed a racehorse doughnuts – and yet many of us don’t fuel ourselves in a way that supports how we’re expected to perform.

When You Don’t Recharge, Everything Gets Harder

When those things are missing, decision fatigue starts to build. Simple choices take longer, patience becomes shorter and small problems can begin to feel much bigger than they actually are.

More often than not, it isn’t a lack of knowledge or experience – it’s a lack of recovery.

The Reality of Modern Business

Modern business doesn’t make this easy. The constant flow of emails, messages, calls, meetings and notifications leaves very little space to switch off.

Even after leaving the office, many business owners remain mentally connected to work. Over time, that level of cognitive overload starts to take its toll: strategic thinking narrows, creativity drops and decision-making becomes more reactive than considered.

Why Rest Actually Improves Productivity

One of the biggest misconceptions is that rest is the opposite of productivity.

In reality, it’s often what makes productivity possible. It’s where perspective returns, where ideas form and where clarity comes back. Some of the best decisions I’ve made haven’t come from sitting at a desk trying to force an answer – they’ve come during a walk, while exercising or after simply stepping away for a short period of time.

Giving your brain the opportunity to reset isn’t wasted time; it’s often where the best thinking happens.

The Case for Taking Proper Breaks

Holidays are often the part that gets pushed back the most. There’s always a reason not to take one – deadlines, clients, workload, timing. It can feel easier to delay it “until things quieten down”, even though they rarely do.

But stepping away properly, even for a short period, creates a level of reset that’s very difficult to achieve day to day. It gives you the chance to fully switch off, step back from the detail and come back with a clearer perspective.

Often, solutions to problems feel more obvious after a break, and decisions that felt heavy become much simpler. Just as importantly, it gives you the energy to come back and show up properly again.

Without that reset, it’s easy to drift into a constant state of low-level fatigue where you’re always working, but not always working at your best.

Good Leadership Requires Stepping Back

Good leaders don’t just keep going endlessly — they recognise when they need to step back and recharge so they can keep performing over the long term.

Looking After Yourself Is Part of Running a Good Business

Ultimately, looking after yourself isn’t separate from running a successful business; in many ways, it is part of it.

The quality of your decisions, leadership and communication all depend on the condition you’re operating in. It’s not about being perfect, but about recognising that sustainable businesses are usually built by people who have found sustainable ways of working.

A Final Thought

At James Todd & Co, we work closely with business owners to create clarity, reduce uncertainty and build confidence in decision-making.

If you feel like you’ve been running flat out for too long and haven’t had the time or space to step back, we’re always happy to have a chat over a coffee and help you find a way to create it.