How to Cope with the Stress of Self-Employment

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We’ve all heard the freelancer boast, “I went to work in my pajamas today” or “Since I started working from home, I’m able to spend more time with my family.”

Just as these are all wonderful and true, there are plenty of reasons for the self-employed entrepreneur to encounter terrific amounts of stress. Sometimes more than if they worked for a high-powered company.

Aside from the stress of having to find new clients and new jobs, freelances often experience stress because jobs come in crazy, sporadic bursts. One day your schedule is almost empty, and the next day it seems like you can barely keep up.

Ladies, would appreciate your comments on this subject if you are self employed and how you are coping with looming deadlines.

My blog : http://shenthilranie.com/

Tags: business, employment, home, management, self, stress, time

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Permalink Reply by Prerna Malik on September 23, 2009 at 1:40am: Wow.. You are so right.. I face a lot of stress being a work at home mom.. People , especially, my former colleages think I have it all and while in many ways, I do, it can still get incredibly tiring and frustrating to juggle everything. What works for me is effective time management and planning. I have daily and weekly schedules, master lists of things to do, cleaning schedules and micromanage quite a few things. I know it sounds crazy but it makes my life simple to just look at a list and go through things to do.
Plus, I've learnt to say "no". Yup, its tough but once you do it, it is quite easy :-)
Do check out my blog where I share plenty of such stuff!!
Prerna
The Mom Writes; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Traffic diva on September 25, 2009 at 1:36am: Dear Prerna,

Thank you for the comment. You have a very nice blog and all the best with it! I loved reading your posts.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Holly Ord on September 25, 2009 at 4:53pm: I have worked from home for my entire adult life (I have PTSD from childhood and am mentally unable to work outside of the home) and you are so, so, so right when it comes to the amount of stress we encounter because we work from home.

Just like you said, work does indeed come in sporadic bursts. One day you have no jobs at all and you're staring at the calendar wondering how you're going to pay your bills and the next day or week, you have too many jobs and you can't keep up no matter how many all-nighters you attempt to pull. When it comes to having too many clients, you really need to learn how to pick and choose clients you can work with immediately, while still leaving the door open to other clients you aren't able to accommodate now, but don't want to lose the job completely. Hindsight is 20/20 after all.

It's also a little infuriating when your partner or husband sees you working, but to them it looks like you're just "playing online" or they don't understand what you do every day and think you just sit there and rake in the cash. I've had this conversation once or twice, haha.

-Holly
Woman Tribune; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jessica Callahan on September 25, 2009 at 9:01pm: Wow ... I have actually never considered that!! I guess I have it TOO easy!! I hope that all of you get some down time and a break that you definitely worked hard for & deserve!

I sincerely wish everyone the best!!!! Have a great weekend & take some time for yourself! You DEFINITELY deserve it!!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Robin Tramble on September 29, 2009 at 6:45pm: This is a great post. As there are wonderful benefits to being self employed however, there
are many disadvantages and the key is to be real and acknowledge this.

One thing that helps reduce stress believe it or not is to keep good company. Yes,
the discussions such as these and surrounding yourself with like-minded women helps
to reduce the stress and overwhelm because you glean from the experiences of others
and realize you are not alone in your thinking or how you're feeling.

So much that could be shared on this. Another thing is to make sure you allowing for
self care. One of my building blocks for Empowerment includes Total Wellness which
includes self care. Aerobic activity for one can increase the oxygen that flows to your
heart and muscles which does wonders in helping you feel better.

Besides if we don't feel good we communicate negative messages to our subconscious which
only serves to sabotage our success.

Robin aka @Empowermentdiva

Read empowering words here:
Women's Life Empowerment Blog; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Zaria Garrison on September 30, 2009 at 6:12am: Currently I'm looking for some legitimate work at home jobs. In the past I worked as a customer service rep for westathome.

The most frustrating thing about it for me, was that my family and friends didn't consider what I did "work". I constantly got phone calls interrupting me asking me to "pick up so and so at school" or "go to my house and wait for my package." LOL I also missed having adult interaction. I love my son but having only him to talk to got to be pretty boring.

I cured that by joining a lot of message boards and talking to strangers. LOL

But overall the ease of being at home when my son came in from school, being able to start dinner at a normal time, and just not having the stress of a commute far outweighed all of that.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Holly Reisem Hanna on October 6, 2009 at 12:41pm: Hi Zaria,

Nice to meet you! I have a list of some companies that hire home-based employees, as well as many different work at home ideas on my blog. I'd be happy to help you with your work at home search, if you need assistance.

Holly Hanna
The Work at Home Woman; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Holly Reisem Hanna on October 6, 2009 at 12:48pm: How funny, I just finished writing a blog post on this subject... will be published tomorrow.

I work at home as a Social Network Liaison, as well as I publish The Work at Home Woman. I recently had to modify my schedule and work habits to ensure that I was putting my family first. I started by cutting back on my hours and enrolling my two year old in a mother's day out program. I have also started scheduling times for email as well as prioritizing tasks.

Nice to connect with you ladies!
Holly

The Work at Home Woman; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Zaria Garrison on October 12, 2009 at 4:31pm: Thanks Holly. I am going to your blog and check it out now.

Holly Reisem Hanna said:
Hi Zaria,

Nice to meet you! I have a list of some companies that hire home-based employees, as well as many different work at home ideas on my blog. I'd be happy to help you with your work at home search, if you need assistance.

Holly Hanna
The Work at Home Woman; ▶ Reply to This