If
you're going to be self-employed and work from home, you're going to have to be
the type that deals with stress rather well. Not like this morning, when I was
ten minutes away from launching a client's blog and my internet went down. Poof.
Gone. Vanished. I was not the bastion of serenity I should have been. Far from it.
Whatever they say about losing your cool and how it
affects your physical and mental well-being for the worse, every once in a
while you're bound to blow your top. As far as I see it, life is balance and
never is just as bad as always. Or maybe ''everything in moderation'' is a
better way to put things.
But if you're going to work from home, you're likely
going to have that added pressure every once in a while because everything is
riding on your shoulders. Your best bet is to be in the practice of dissolving
stress on a regular basis. You'll not only improve your health, your work from
home venture is more likely to last longer.
Tips for making your business last longer:
Have
an exercise routine. Every day, thirty minutes at least.
More is better. You'll say you don't have time and there may be days when you
don't. The rest of the time, make
time. And I don't mean thirty minutes of strolling down to the end of the
block. Get on the exercise bike and break a sweat. You need to be huffing and
puffing.
Take
breaks in the right place. It's easy to push yourself to the
limit when you work from home. The general advice is to take ten to fifteen
minute breaks but don't do it at the desk where you work. Step outside for few
moments. Walk down to the end of your drive and check the mail. When it's time
to eat, don't eat at your desk, either. Keep your work area for work and only
work.
Laugh.
A lot. Laughter truly is the best medicine. I highly
recommend renting stupid, silly movies that crack you up (or at least leave you
light-hearted), watching comedy routines or a box set of your favorite comedy
show. Sit down and really watch them. Do nothing else.
Most tips for making your small business last longer
have to do with cash flow and taking advantage of tax write-offs-- and those
are good tips. But if you're health isn't where it should be, those types of
things just aren't going to matter all that much, now are they?
