‘Remember that stress doesn’t come from what’s going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what’s going on in your life’
Thus, it’s important to keep track of thoughts. Have a look at these 5 Stress Management Tips for Freelancers.
Find a hobby
Find something that you love and turn it into a hobby. Having a hobby is quite therapeutic and gives your mind a rest from the daily hustle-bustle. Having a hobby gives you something to look forward to every time you take a break from work. Try to have a workspace and a personal space. It is very important to define these spaces because you should get out and practice your hobby. You can even join various groups on social media or join your friends to learn a new hobby.
The 80/20 principle
The 80/20 rule is also known as Pareto’s principle. It stats that 20% of your actions yield 80% of the desired outcomes. This a great guideline, and following it will help you reduce stress as a freelancer. The idea behind this rule of thumb is to stop trying to do everything. Instead, try to focus on your core tasks and get closer to achieving your goal. So, if a task is taking way too much of your time, then it should not be a priority. Or try to break it down into tinier tasks (which we will discuss next) and focus all your energy into completing without thinking of the tasks in the queue.
Batching your workdays
This is another great technique to work in a stress-free environment. If you have not heard of this technique or are not familiar with batch working, the concept simply is to break your tasks into steps and then commit to getting done with your tasks in that particular order. So let’s say that you need to write blogs. Your first step will be to research those topics and keywords and then start writing. This helps you stay productive and organized. You can also limit your client to work on certain days and commit to other projects.
Staying organized
The environment that you are physically in also is a contributor to stress. To reduce the work stress as a freelancer, you must stay organized. This means frequently cleaning up and declutter your workspace, home, schedule, and mind. The physical state of your home and workspace highly influence the state of your mind. So if your work table is a mess, you might not be able to focus on the tasks. Therefore, it is important to have your environment well-managed and under control.
Getting into a good sleep cycle
Your food and sleep cycle also have a great influence on your stress levels. If you have unhealthy eating habits or eat a lot of junk food, you are more perceptible to stress. Similarly, if you sleep too little or way too much, it can have adverse effects on your body and mind.
Mostly when we feel stressed, we tend to eat more. Similarly, we stay up late in the night, stressing about work and end up sleeping late into the next day. So, get started on a healthier diet, mainly consisting of organic and clean foods. Also, regulate your sleep cycle to make sure that you are getting just the right amount of sleep. See you in the next series of how to get started with freelancing.
