Many people feel that once they are out of the rat-race, stress will be a thing of the past. If you are one of those who believes that the only reason for your stressed out life is a difficult boss, the long commute between workplace and home, office politics or difficult to manage projects, then you should think again.
Even when you are managing a home-based business or working from home as a freelancer, there are bound to be moments of stress that you will need to handle. Sure, the stress will come in different forms, but there will absolutely be stress.
Here are a handful of things that you should at least be aware of.
- Change: Some of the initial sources of stress pertain to managing the change. Handling the feeling when realization dawns that you no longer need to get up early and get ready for work may not be as easy as it seems. It is possible that you may enjoy the flexibility and the freedom to a large extent. However, the same feeling will become a routine and you may start to miss certain aspects of work that you enjoyed earlier.
- Business finances: As the capital set aside as investment for the initial months depletes, you may start to worry about the revenue and subsequent profits that you will make. Until the time your business becomes stable, you may need to live with such an ambiguity for a certain period of time.
- Free time: Since you are now working from home, everyone will expect you to flexible and available when they need you. Friends may call during business hours, your children may expect you to drive them to a friend’s party, your spouse may expect you to run to the grocery store, and your aunts and uncles may feel that they can call upon you at any time of the day.
Setting expectations of family and friends is extremely important to ensure the smooth running of your home-based business. It is critical they understand that even though you have started working from home, the efforts involved in making it a success are by no means meager or guaranteed. The more serious you are about setting the rules about timings, the faster your friends and family will understand and internalize that you mean business.
On the other hand, if you are convinced that your stress is making you lose productivity and focus, you should take certain steps to counter the effects that high stress can create. Here are some suggestions:
- Organize Life Better: Organizing all aspects of your life can help you achieve much more than you would think. You may feel that you are going back to the office routine where you freeze all aspects of your day. However, it is important that a discipline be maintained even when you work at home. The only difference is that while you work from home, you do not need permission to make a change in schedule when required.
- Accept the Reality: If you have done your planning for the home-based business, then you have a clear idea of what you can expect. Even if you have erred on the assessment, look at the positive aspect of the scenario and move ahead. It is what it is now what can you do to alter it?
- Time: If will be very easy to spend 15 hours per day in your home office. This is not particularly good for family life. Make sure that you take the time to do the things you enjoy. Spend time with your family and friends. Go for a massage once in a while.
- Health: Make sure that you make the effort to remain fit. If you have chosen a desk job as a work-at-home business, you may find that you need to sit for long periods of time. Maintaining good health and remaining fit is extremely important to combat the challenges that the new venture throws at you.
- Meditate: One of the best ways to combat stress is to take deep breaths and relax. Mediation helps in clearing your mind of the various thoughts that crowd it at times. Once you start on this path, you will realize that meditation not only helps in de-stressing but also in creating a positive environment around you.
- Resilience: Of all the various aspects, being resilient and flexible in all situations can help you in fighting the stress game. Bouncing back in the face of failure is probably what can charge you towards achieving more.
Written by Vishal P. Rao of Work at Home Forum.
