How to reduce the stress of freelancing

If you feel like you have too many things to do and not enough hours, the key may be to learn how to work smarter instead of more. There are many different time management styles and systems, and often finding one that suits you is a matter of trial and error. However, there are a few things that are common to most of them:

• Avoid distractions. Turn off the phone, close the door and tell everybody that even if you are working from home you are still working, and not available for a chat or to run errands.


• Divide big tasks into smaller tasks, and plan your day accordingly so you can focus on one task at a time.


• Group similar tasks together and create your daily schedule around the time of the day you feel more productive.


• Remember to rest regularly. If you are working from home you can try to incorporate a walk to the park or running errands as a break from sitting at the computer.


• Keep things tidy. If your desk and computer are a mess you will waste time trying to find things you need. The same goes for your hard drives and storage systems

To put your self employment ideas into action, you need to understand the legal requirements and the paperwork you are expected to product, as it can be surprisingly time consuming. Not to mention boring, unless you are an accountant. Being a business owner involves much more paperwork than your average 9-to-5 job. You will need to do your own taxes, your own expenses reports and if you have a company you will need to fill reports for it as well. Leaving all your paperwork for the last minute is in most cases a sure recipe for a few stress filled days. Missing deadlines can also cause you monetary stress like late payments or late filling fees.

To avoid all of this it is better to schedule a couple hours a week to do your business related paperwork, check out potential grants or legislations that affects you and make sure your bank records are accurate. Unless you love staying awake until 5am filling 20 different tax forms do yourself a favour and avoid leaving everything for the last minute.

Working for yourself means that finding new clients sometimes can be a big drain on resources and you may be tempted to just work for anybody who comes your way. However, difficult clients are a sure way of raising your stress levels to the roof. With difficult clients I do not mean those who are demanding, or projects that are technically challenging. I mean those that ignore deadlines but complain if you cannot finish in time because they did not give you feedback, those who have ever expanding lists of requirements and dangle the payment in front of you like a carrot or those who just disappear before paying but after receiving your work.

To avoid client related stress, or at least keep it to a minimum, do not start work if you do not find the client trustworthy, even if that means having to refuse a seemingly good project. This includes people who refuse to sign a statement of work or want you to work for weeks before deciding if the work is good enough to be paid for. As a small business owner you probably lack the clout and the means to chase an unpaid invoice in a different country, and you should not be risking your business income by working with risk people.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

A common cause of work related stress is setting up goals that are impossible to achieve. Pushing yourself is good, but too much of it and you can end up sick in bed due to stress. A freelancer does not have the luxury of a third party scheduling his work, and if you work from home it is easy to keep on working longer and longer hours. The best way to reduce your freelancing related stress is by setting up a reasonable work schedule and sticking to it.

Of course sometimes it is necessary to work longer hours to finish a project on time, but if that is becoming the norm you will need to reconsider how you work. If you need to work 12 hours a day to pay the bills you may want to consider increasing your rates or finding new ways of adding value that require less of your time. On the other hand, you may benefit from using time management techniques such as the Pomodoro technique to increase your productivity and accomplish more in less time.

Working non stop for 10 hours a day is not good for either your health or your stress levels. Many freelancers who work with a computer end up suffering from Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) that can be costly both in terms of work lost and your health. You can use a timer to remind you to take a break from your computer every hour. Take five minutes to walk to the window, stretch your legs and let your eyes relax and you will prevent your stress levels soaring.

The best way to reduce stress and improve your general health is by exercising at least two or three times a week. Even going for a walk at a quick pace or doing some stretching away from your computer every hour will go a long way towards helping you feel better and less stressed. An alternative is to use game systems such as Wii Sports or Xbox Kinect to exercise indoors.