For most people, the idea of working from home and setting their hours and workload is a dream. If you’re someone who has already taken that step, you may find that the realities of remote working are slightly more stressful than you anticipated.
The benefits of being a remote-based worker are enormous; however, it doesn’t mean your job is stress-free. If anything, you can find it more hasslesome than ever when you need to strike a balance between work and life and constantly searching for new clients, leads or sales.
As a remote worker, it’s important that you de-stress during and at the end of a long working day, even if you’re based at home. Here are four useful tips that will come in handy.
Don’t Embrace Liberation
Not having an office or a boss to answer to is liberating. So, the idea that you shouldn’t fully embrace this perk of the job can be confusing. After all, it’s the reason you decided to make the switch to your current routine. I know it’s one of the things I love most about being my own boss! However, you can have too much of a good thing. Flexible working hours, for example, can slip into an unhealthy schedule that impacts your sleep patterns. When this happens, you’ll be more stressed and suffer from burnout quicker.
The key is to create a semi-flexible schedule that you stick to more often than not.
Create Shortcuts
Don’t see the word “shortcut” as a dirty phrase. Yes, cutting corners is a bad habit that will lead to terrible customer experience and a drop in the brand’s reputation. But performing tasks more efficiently isn’t immoral. It’s a way to condense your to-do list so that you have more time to focus on other areas of the business. Https://www.templafy.com is an excellent place to start as it provides help with document templates, or you can outsource troublesome jobs altogether.
One “shortcut” you can take is to outsource tasks to other people. The Lead Generation Company is a handy tool if you don’t know where to start regarding outsourcers.
Eliminate Distractions
Part of the hassle of working from home is learning to understand your limitations. The Independent reports that the average attention span for British adults is under fifteen minutes, which may come as a surprise. Therefore, the more distractions in your workspace, the more likely you are to be unproductive. Not completing vital jobs is stressful, so there’s only one solution – remove the triggers!
A healthy home office should contain nothing that will harm your concentration levels. Yes, that means no TV or mobile devices if you glance at them every five seconds! Some days, when I’m not feling very worky I find myself scrolling socia media more than usual. When I catch myself procrastinating in this way, I will put my phone on the other side of the room where it’s out of reach, out of sight and more importantly, out of mind. Doing this help eliminate the distraction and reduces the desire to want to procrastinate.
Say No
Whether you’ve worked from home for ages or are only just getting into the swing of things, you’ll quickly realise that people think they can lean on you for their chores. Rather than going to the post office after work, a loved one may send a parcel to your house because they know you’re in to collect it. Although helping out a friend or family member is gratifying, making their life easier doesn’t help you. As mean as you may feel, learning to say no will be a huge benefit when it comes to dealing with stress as a remote worker. Of course, if it’s something important, you have the flexibility to shift your priorities.
However, when it comes to the little things, you need to learn how to say no. Otherwise, you’ll never get anything done! Working remotely means you have to be accountable for your own actions. It really is a beautiful and liberating experience!
By setting boundaries such as saying no and eliminating distractions, you can make sure that your experience as a freelancer or remote-working entrepreneur is a wonderful, stress-free experience!