Things You Can Do This Week to Have a Cozier and More Relaxed Business
Written by: Jessica Sealey
Why Do We Want to Make Shifts for a Cozier, More Relaxed Business?
There's a lot of entrepreneurs in the online space who really have a hard time making time for themselves. They struggle to fill their cup, make time for hobbies, or be present for the people they love. This happens because they're so focused on growth, how to make more money, get more clients, and do more for their business, that their ability to experience life for the simple pleasure of just living goes away.
Any spare moment gets filled with what more they could be doing. In the online space, this often looks like using free time to create more content, answer clients, come up with new offer ideas, or find new ways of making money. They can't relax and, in many cases, actually lose the ability to relax.
One of the biggest visions I have for my work is helping people learn how to slow down, relax, take time for themselves, and improve their well-being. Especially for those in the entrepreneurial space, high achievers, or success-driven individuals, I want to help them learn how to enjoy life again, experience pleasure, slow down, make time for hobbies, and actually enjoy them.
A big part of how we do this is through simplification and optimization of their actual business. That's a huge component to making time for our wellbeing again and prioritizing it when running a business. There is more to life than constant achievement, growth, and productivity which is very prevalent for entrepreneurs because these are huge motivators. It's fine to be motivated by growth, but we all want to remember there's more to life, right?
Misconceptions About Cozy Business
If I were to ask what you think a cozy business means, many people would describe something that's not even what it really is. A lot of people think a cozy business means physically being cozy laying around your house in sweatpants with blankets on your couch while doing work.
But for me, it goes way deeper than that.
What Is Cozy Business?
Cozy business means creating a business that doesn't interfere with your ability to be present for your actual life. It means having a business that is simple, spacious, profitable, and sustainable… a business that allows you to have balance between it and your life.
This way, you have your business and get to hit your goals, grow it, and provide for your family AND you also get to have hobbies and time for them. You get to be a present mother, wife, sister, friend. You get to have time to relax, take a nap on a Tuesday afternoon, or go out of office on a Wednesday to hit the beach because your business actually gives you that freedom.
Many people say their businesses give them freedom, but don't actually act on it. They end up filling free time with more work because they think doing more will help them achieve more. But that's not always the case.
A cozy business is really a business that is sustainable, profitable, simple, spacious, and actually gives you room both mentally and physically to have balance between it and your life.
Steps You Can Take This Week
If you struggle balancing business and life, prioritizing your well-being, being present, or having hobbies because you're constantly working on your business to make more money or sales and you've deprioritized the things you love, here are three things you can do this week to create more coziness in your business.
1. Client Communication and Boundaries
For many entrepreneurs, this is their biggest struggle. Any free time gets filled with client communication, correspondence, work, or "emergencies." This often stems from fear-based thinking: "If I don't answer my client right now, they won't value me, won't want to pay me, will pull their contract, or get mad at me."
What you need to do:
Write down where you're dishonoring boundaries with clients
Note where you feel drained or frustrated by clients
Write what you wish your client relationships looked like
Outline an ideal day and how clients fit into that day
List what you'd implement with clients to create more balance
Then, you need to do what I call "re-contracting." This isn't sending a new legal contract mid-service, but resetting expectations with your clients. Create a manifesto of what to expect regarding your availability, communications, office hours, and response times.
The way I work with my clients is actually quite flexible due to my life as a stay-at-home mom and business owner. Sometimes I don't communicate until evening, but this is clear in my expectations. My clients know I might only be available once a day, possibly not until 8 PM, but they also know I always have their backs and when I am present, I'm there with strong intention.
2. Your Relationship with Apps, Tools, and Software
We need to examine our relationship with the software and social media apps we use for business: email, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, project management tools and how they might interfere with our ability to be present for our lives.
Often when we're supposed to be living our life or being present with loved ones, we pick up our phone because a notification comes through.. maybe a message from a team member needing help, a content idea that pops into our head, or an email. We drop what we're doing to handle it, and suddenly an hour and a half disappears doing something that wasn't urgent.
Implementing Work On/Work Off Rituals for Work Windows
My recommendation is to set work "on" and work "off" rituals to signal to your brain when you're working and when you're not. At the beginning of each week or day, set up a schedule with all the things you need to accomplish, and understand when you'll be "on" for work and when you'll be "off."
Your "on" ritual might include turning on notifications, turning off email autoresponders, letting clients know you're available, and starting with your own marketing before moving to client work and admin tasks. Cross items off as you complete them.
Your "off" ritual could include turning on autoresponders, letting clients know you're unavailable, putting your phone in your office, turning off the lights, and shutting the door… whatever signals to your brain, "I am done now and it's time to actually live my life."
3. Simplification and Optimization of Business Model and Strategies
Many struggle with creating a cozy business because their strategies and business model are overly complicated.
What you can do this week to simplify & optimize your business
This week, look at all the ways your business feels complicated, confusing, or is taking up more time than necessary.
Examine your offer suite, features, how they support your life, and if they fit the vision you have for being present and caring for your wellbeing. Look at your strategies… are they random, unpredictable, unoptimized? Where are you causing more stress through your business model, client communication, offer packaging, or marketing?
Do an audit and ask what it will take to make things simpler.
The only way to know is by understanding your vision for your life and creating a business model that fits into that. If it doesn't fit, it needs reworking.
Even if you can't make all changes this week, create a roadmap.
Map out five steps you can take this week to start the simplification process so marketing isn't interfering with your ability to be present with family or causing stress about where sales are coming from.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, a cozy business is about dialing up the intentionality of your business tenfold. Start with things you can do to simplify and optimize your business and make more space to be present for your life and wellbeing.
The mindset work comes after because it can actually be dysregulating to suddenly have free time and not fill it with more work. That's hard on the nervous system because working constantly has become a habit. Creating new habits, learning to regulate your nervous system, and understanding why you were filling time with work to begin with (and where your self-worth might be wrapped up in your business) becomes the next step.
For now, start with these practical steps so you can have a physically cozier business. The mindset shift will follow.
Meet Jessica Sealey
Jessica is the Cozy Coach for success-driven women who are ready to slow down without giving up their big goals or ambitions. Through her signature blend of cozy living, self-care, nervous system regulation, and spacious business strategy, she helps ambitious women reconnect with themselves, find more time to pour into their OWN cup, create lives they actually love, and romanticize the everyday… all while making space for family, freedom, and fun.
Follow Jess @thecozycoachjess
