AI as Self-Care: What Small Business Owners Need to Hear Right Now
- Jan 23
- 4 min read
Using AI Is Self-Care, And I Finally Understood Why
We talk a lot about AI as a productivity tool. A business accelerator. A competitive advantage.
But can we talk about AI as self-care?
Because that's what it became for me this week, and I think it's a conversation that more small business owners need to have.
The Night Before
Picture this: I had several speaking engagements lined up for January. Exciting opportunities to share what I love, helping entrepreneurs use AI with clarity, confidence, and care. But there was one problem.
I needed marketing materials. A flyer. Something professional and on-brand that I could share with attendees, something that represented my business well.
It sat on my to-do list. For weeks.
Why? Because I ended 2025 with a health scare. I started 2026 anxious, waiting for test results, trying to hold it together. My creative energy was gone. My usual drive to knock out projects? Missing. I wasn't even reaching out to my team for help, I was just... stuck.
The flyer haunted me. Every time I thought about it, I felt the weight of weeks of worry and overthinking.
Then came the night before my first speaking engagement.
The Breakthrough
Something clicked.
I sat at my desk and had a very direct conversation with myself:
Marline, you are the AI queen. You are the resource queen. You literally TEACH people how to use AI. What are you doing? USE YOUR OWN TOOLS.
So I did.
I pulled up my tech stack. I communicated clearly with my AI assistant about what I needed. I leveraged tools I teach others to use every single day.
And in 15 minutes, I had a flyer I was genuinely proud of.
Professional. On-brand. Polished. Done.
What took me weeks to worry about took 15 minutes to solve.
That's when the realization hit me like a lightning bolt:
This wasn't just productivity. This was self-care.
Why AI Is Self-Care for Small Business Owners
Let's be real about what it means to run a small business or micro-business.
You wear all the hats. Marketing director. Accountant. Customer service rep. Content creator. Strategist. Sometimes, even IT support.
And when life happens, health scares, family emergencies, mental health struggles, unexpected challenges, those hats don't disappear. The work still needs to get done.
That's where the mental load gets heavy.
Self-care isn't just bubble baths and meditation (though I'm here for both).
For entrepreneurs, self-care is also about:
Reducing cognitive load so you're not carrying every task in your head
Working smarter when you don't have the energy to work harder
Giving yourself permission to use tools that lighten the burden
Preserving your mental and creative energy for what matters most
Choosing progress over perfection when perfectionism is paralyzing you
When I used AI to create that flyer in 15 minutes, I freed myself from weeks of stress. I gave myself permission to move forward. I honored my own limits while still showing up for my commitments.
That's self-care.
The Lesson I'm Teaching My Community
Here's what I learned through this experience:
You can't pour from an empty cup, but you can use better tools to refill it faster.
As small business owners, we often think self-care means stepping away from work completely. And sometimes it does! Rest is essential.
But sometimes self-care means working in a way that doesn't deplete you.
It means using AI to:
✨ Automate the repetitive tasks that drain your energy
✨ Generate first drafts, so you're editing instead of staring at a blank page
✨ Organize your ideas when your brain feels scattered
✨ Create content when your creative well is dry
✨ Move projects forward even when you're not at 100%
This is exactly what I teach in the 3T Framework (Transform, Train, Tool Up):
Transform your mindset about what AI can do for you
Train yourself to communicate effectively with AI tools
Tool Up with the right tech stack for your specific needs
And when you do this? You're not just building a more efficient business. You're building a more sustainable one.
What Happens Next
I'm teaching my community exactly how I created that flyer.
At our next Office Hours (happening next week in the Get Equipped Academy), I'm walking through the entire step-by-step process:
The exact tools I used from my tech stack
How I communicated with AI to get on-brand results
The workflow that took me from overwhelmed to accomplished in 15 minutes
How you can adapt this process for YOUR business needs
I've already shared the tools in our community group. Now I want to SHOW you how it all comes together so you can replicate this for yourself.
Because here's the truth: You don't have to figure this out alone.
An Invitation
If you're a small business owner who's tired of feeling overwhelmed by technology...
If you want to use AI but don't know where to start...
If you're already using AI but want to level up your skills...
If you believe that growing your business shouldn't mean sacrificing your wellbeing...
Join us in the Get Equipped Academy.
This is where entrepreneurs learn to use AI with clarity, confidence, and care. It's where we transform overwhelm into empowerment. It's where you'll discover that AI isn't just about doing more—it's about feeling better while you do it.
We meet for Office Hours. We share resources. We support each other. And most importantly, we learn together how to build businesses that work for us, not against us.
Final Thoughts
That flyer represents more than a marketing piece to me now.
It represents what happens when we give ourselves permission to use the tools available to us. When we stop trying to muscle through everything alone. When we recognize that working smarter IS taking care of ourselves.
So yes, I'm the AI educator who forgot to use AI for a few weeks.
But I'm also the entrepreneur who remembered just in time that the tools we teach others to use? We need them too.
Maybe even more than anyone else.
AI is self-care. And you're allowed to need it.
Marline Paul is the Founder and CEO of Enilram Creative Solutions, a certified woman-owned small business focused on AI education and business strategy. She helps underrepresented entrepreneurs leverage AI with clarity, confidence, and care. Connect with her in the Get Equipped Academy or follow ECS Insights for more resources on AI-powered business growth.
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