Work From Home Jobs- Dealing with Stress

23. Oct, 2009 2 Comments

42-15650320 Making THE MOVE (Transitioning from working for someone to being your own boss)

Many people who are not happy working for someone else would love very much to quit, but do not have the guts to do it. So what happens? Undue stress. I know every situation is different and depending on the circumstances, you may not just be able to quit right away—but stop the excuses and just do it. Work from home jobs will allow you the luxury of creating your own hours and schedule so the only one you have to speak for is yourself. Come up with a plan and then do it. Many times we make excuses because of fear—FEAR is a killer! A killer of dreams. Sometimes alittle pressure is what is needed in order for us to just do what we would like to do. I can relate to all of this. My family and I have always been used to a two family income and if I were to up and quit my job, it would really put a strain on us. My mom called me crazy and my husband wasn’t too pleased in the beginning. But I had to stop living in fear and just live out my dreams of being my own boss. I would always start a home-based business and then quit when it got too difficult. Well—I had to prove to myself that regardless of the pattern I have shown in the past—I’m going to go ahead and make “the move” and not quit when times get difficult.

Stress from Being the Boss

Who said there would be no stress with work from home jobs? Well—whoever said it, lied. People choosing to work from home tend to have more stress than someone working for someone else because everything is on your shoulders now. You are counting on you and so is your family. This can be a very heavy load for one person to bear. I can speak for myself very well. I have a daughter who will start high school in a year and a daughter in grade school. Both of my daughters are very active in school (which was one of the determining factors for me quitting my job in the first place). We have two dogs and a house to maintain. I probably get up earlier now than I did at work to start my morning on the computer. I may cook some breakfast for the kids before they go to school and then I have to make sure the dogs are taken care of. Before I pick up the kids, I need to make sure that dinner has been cooked. Hopefully through all of this I have stayed on task with my work goals. This can be alot for someone who just left a job because of the stress. And after all of this—depending on your spouse, you may have to explain why you didn’t make any money this month.

Coping with Stress

Okay—working from home really isn’t that bad to me and as a matter of fact, I’d rather deal with the work at home stress than workplace stress any day. Okay—here’s how you can cope.

· Exercise – Make sure you get in plenty of exercise. This will actually increase certain hormone levels that help to bring down stress levels. I actually like to run and have signed up to participate in a marathon. I think my practice runs are exercise enough!
· Take a break – Get away from the computer from time to time and get your mind off of it so that when you come back to your work—you’re refreshed and ready to do some more. Don’t get burned out from consistent work with no breaks.
· Sleep – Your body needs a certain amount of sleep every night. In the beginning of my online marketing business I noticed that sometimes I would get 3 or 4 hours of sleep and some nights I wouldn’t go to sleep. I was so determined to get work done and bring income into the household that I didn’t realize that it was affecting my sleep patterns. No sleep will cause undue stress to the body and a weakened immune system.
· Don’t lose yourself – sometimes work from home jobs will take up so much time that you have forgotten how to be you outside of working. Go out with some friends, take a vacation or get a massage. This will help to prevent monotony and burnout.
· Counseling – You may need to seek counseling to pin point exactly where the stress is coming from and your counselor will come up with some suggestions on ways you can manage it.

Possible Consequences of Stress

· Unhealthy relationships at home
· Inability to sleep well
· Can cause you to gain weight (which can cause high blood pressure and diabetes) or lose weight
· Weaken immune system (which can cause illnesses and headache)
· Heart disease
· Depression / mental health issues
· Cardiovascular disease
· Death

Please reference the American Heart Association for more information regarding stress and it’s consequences.