Working At Home: Stress Factors You Didn’t Expect and How to Deal With Them

December 11, 2012 by ·

You started working at home for the flexible schedule, to be your own boss and to (hopefully) feel less stressed by your work. So why do you find yourself working long hours and feeling more stressed than ever?

While working at home has some serious perks, it comes with a whole new set of stress factors you may not have anticipated. Just as with any job, you have to learn how to manage your stress to be successful.

Tight Turnarounds

When you work at home, clients must think you have all of the time in the world, because they insist on deadlines that seem impossible. The daunting amount of work you have due far too soon is enough to have anyone biting their nails.

To manage this stress factor, spend time every day making a to-do list of the most important things that need to be done. Also, avoid taking on more work than you can handle, because you’ll just cause more stress if you do. So tell that online college you only have time for one tutoring session, or whatever the case may be.

photo credit: scottchan

Distractions

Getting work done at home can be difficult because other people, maybe even yourself, have trouble understanding when you’re at work and when you’re not. Your family may be tempted to talk to you or you may be tempted to watch television or chat on the phone. Before you know it, the day has gone you got nothing done. Talk about stress!

To mend this problem, it’s a good idea to set up a schedule so family members know when you’re working and shouldn’t be disturbed. Working in an office-like setting can help you stay focused as well. Instead of propping up on your couch with a lap top, try setting up a desk in the corner of a room and designate it as your work area.

 

Crazy Schedules (or the Lack of One)

The flexible schedule that lured you in to working at home can soon turn into your biggest cause of stress. Without designated working hours, you may find yourself working long hours and feeling like you can’t stop working. This takes a toll, but can also damage personal relationships causing – you guessed it – more stress.

To avoid this problem, you have to learn when to stop working. A schedule is a good idea for this as well. You don’t have to work nine to five, but it is a good idea to decide when you start and stop working every day so you’re not tempted to keep going and going. And when time comes to stop, completely disconnect from your work. It will be there tomorrow and you’ll have a fresh perspective.

 

Michelle is an aspiring writer who currently works for a military friendly college. When she’s not working she loves writing about anything and everything and blogs as much as she can. She loves that blogging allows her to share her writing with an unlimited audience.

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Some of the Benefits of Working From Home – The First Five

November 12, 2011 by ·

I love working from home. I would much rather work at a desk in my own house making more dollars at home than in an office somewhere downtown. Here’s just some of the reasons I think working from home has major benefits.

 

1. The Clothing Allowance – If you work in an office or in a storefront, chances are pretty good that your bosses don’t want you coming to work in jeans and a golf shirt. Right? How much money do you spend each year on buying clothing for work? $200 a month? $400?

Work at home and you can reduce that amount to $100, if that. You shouldn’t be sitting at your desk wearing your old holy sweatpants and your stained sweatshirt, but you don’t need to be decked out in a suit or dress either. A pair of khakis with a dress shirt works just fine. It’s comfortable, looks good if you need to meet with clients and it will cost you a fraction of what a three piece suit would cost.

 

work at home, work from home, self employment, more dollars at home

 

2. The Commute – What is there to say here? You don’t have to drive to the office every day. You may need to meet with clients, but you won’t have to do that every day. If you’re so successful that you do have to meet with clients every day, thank your goal-focused mind and know you’re making more than the fuel you’re using. Work from home and save a lot of maintenance costs on your vehicle too. What to do with the time you would have spent in your car commuting? Have another cup of coffee,  help get the kids off to school, throw in some laundry. You get the picture.

 

3. The Office AHole – Yes, we all know one. It seems there is at least one in every office or job site. Often there is more than one. Heaven forbid, the AHole has the bosses ears. Working from home means you don’t have to work with the AHole anymore. Unless you are the AHole. If that’s the case, you SHOULD work from home and spare everyone else a lot of grief.

 

family, working at home, self employed, more dollars at home

 

4. Day Care Costs – If you have a baby or young kids, working from home means that largely, you can arrange your work schedule around your children’s needs. What can be better than that? If you work outside the home and have young kids, have you worked out the actual, true, honest to God costs of working out? Are you sure you are making any money? Start tracking this and answer the question. You may be surprised how much it is costing you to leave every day to go to work.

 

5. Better Relationship/More Involvement with your Children – This is never a bad thing. Arranging your schedule around the needs of your children means you can spend time with them, looking after them. Work when they are down for naps. Take the older kids to ball practice and actually stay and watch them play. Sit down and work again in the evening after you put the kids to bed.

 

There you go – there’s 5 great reasons to try to work from home. I’ll post more benefits and if you have tips, leave a comment and I will add them. Let’s work together at moredollarsathome.com and ummm, well…make more dollars at home!

 

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