Those of us that are lucky enough to be home-based professionals get many wonderful things from our work. Unfortunately, we can also get stressed. Many home-based professionals are entrepreneurs, and this adds its own additional responsibilities and stresses. Sometimes it is easy to sail along, getting work done on time and getting paid according to schedule. There are other times, though, when things pile up all at once or they do not go as we had planned.
When this happens, we do not have the luxury of being able to pass the problems off to someone else. The invoices that you desperately need sent out so that you can have money to pay the bills are not going to be generated by Joe in accounting. If you are a one-person operation, you have got to take time out from you work to be “Joe from accounting”. Also, Lisa in customer service is not going to answer those emails and phone calls because she does not exist either. That’s your job, just like it is your job to chase down the clients that do not pay the invoices after you somehow find the time to generate them and mail them out. It is all you, all of the responsibilities of running your business. Of course when the day comes that your business is recognized as the shining success that you know it can be, you can take the credit for all of the hard work that went into earning the praise.
So, if each of our businesses has its own unique types of stress associated with it, what are we to do? There are many different ways in which we can release stress, and some of them work great for some people but not for others. Things like breathing deeply, imagining a pleasant scene, or doing something physical like walking or running are a good way to alleviate the physical and mental tension that can some from being stressed. Calling a friend to chat can be helpful too, as long as it is a good time for them to talk and you do not constantly call the same friend to unload. It also goes without saying that you should be the listening ear when that friend that you called runs into their own stress and needs to talk. Sometimes you may find that the stress is linked to an actual problem that needs solving. When this happens, try to remain calm as you think about the possible ways that you could tackle the seemingly impossible situation. Once you figure out a way to handle the situation and take action to do so, you will be feeling much better very soon.
How do you handle the stresses of your home-based business?