You may have heard the term freelancing a lot these days and wondered what exactly it was. In a nutshell, freelancing is when a person works for various companies at the same time without a long-term commitment to any one of them. It is also a chance to earn more than someone who works exclusively for a single entity.
Freelancing is being able to work on jobs that you choose and to do it on your own time. It is also being able to live a life outside of the confines of an office cubicle and to work on the road. A freelancer is basically someone who is self-employed. As great as freelancing may sound, it has its challenges too.
Freelancing requires a lot of discipline and patience. It also requires that you know how to manage your time and to balance all of your clients for you to meet all your deadlines and commitments. Specifically, the biggest challenge to being a freelancer is in managing the stress that comes with it.
Sure, you might say, I’d take the stress any day if I were to earn four times what I earn now and can work in my pajamas at home. What you might not realize is that the stress one gets from freelancing can come from many different avenues. This includes the stress that comes from not getting paid on time, not meeting deadlines, not having holidays off due to obligations, and needing to manage everything yourself.
With freelancing, you can earn as much as 4 times what a single employer person does, but it can also mean getting 4 times the stress as well.
How can you manage stress as a freelancer? Here are some tips that can prove to be helpful:
1. Sleep, sleep, sleep.
One of the best perks of freelancing is you can hit the sack when you want to or need to. Sleep is very restorative and can help relieve stress.
It does not matter whether you take 20-minute naps between tasks or sleep two hours at a stretch to get your mojo back. Sleep when you feel stressed and drained, then wake up refreshed and ready to tackle that next task without all that stress riding your back.
2. Get some exercise
Yes, you may have heard that when you exercise, endorphins are released, and endorphins are called the happy neurotransmitters. According to Web MD, when endorphins are released after a run or walk, you get a feeling of euphoria. It also acts as a natural painkiller. Exercise also helps reduce cortisol, which is one of the stress hormones in your body.
3. Ingest stress-relieving supplements
There are a lot of supplements that can actually help lower stress and relieve anxiety. These include magnesium, vitamin-B complex, theanine, and omega-3. Some of these you can get from natural sources, like green tea, fatty fish, and fruits. Others you can get by drinking vitamin capsules that carry these minerals and vitamins in them.
4. Make sure to take breaks
It does not matter if you have a deadline breathing down your neck. Not taking breaks just to finish that last page or sitting long hours at your computer to get things done ahead of time will only work against you and not for you.
Therefore, take a 15-minute break every hour. This is crucial to your health and it helps keep stress at bay. It is also one of the things you need to do to prevent problems like carpal tunnel syndrome and disc damage.
5. Meditate
Yes, this actually works and many people swear by its restorative and stress-relieving powers. According to Healthline, meditation not only helps control stress but it also helps those with anxiety, improves your attention span, and can actually decrease blood pressure.
To start meditating, you don’t need special equipment. All you need is a meditation technique to use, find a quiet place, and begin. The best time to meditate would be at the crack of dawn when everyone else is still asleep and the world around you is silent.
6. Listen to music
The key here is to listen to music that you like and to music that soothes you. It does not matter if it’s classical, jazz, ballads, or some other genre that gets you to relax as long as it has a slow tempo. Listening to slow music can actually calm your nerves and quiet your mind, according to the University of Nevada counseling services.
7. Read a book
Reading is actually one of the most effective stress-relievers around. In fact, according to a University of Sussex study, it works better than drinking tea or other relaxation methods since it has been seen to reduce stress by up to 68%. Of course, there is a catch here. You need to avoid stressful reading materials and to choose something that you enjoy or something upbeat and positive.
These are just a few of the things you can do to relieve stress as a freelancer. Other freelancers swear by other methods that help them cope with stress, such as going out for a walk, talking with someone, and even washing dishes. The key is in finding what reduces stress for you and using it when you need to.
Aaron Smith is an advocate that acknowledges the importance of family health and welfare. He guides families to the best health services near Ipswich Road, such as GP doctors, pediatricians, and contraceptive experts. He also blogs about vital health care info, such as Medicare and bulk billing.
