Is Stress Getting You Down?

Unfortunately, there are many times in our lives when stress creeps in and causes great angst.  Life is busy and work, kids, school and responsibilities can seem overwhelming at times.  Do you feel stress getting you down?  Here are some tips to help deal with stress and its after-effects.

Stress has become a major cause of anxiety and panic attacks.  If not dealt with, it can have an incapacitating effect on your life.  More often than not, most people with A-type personalities are prime candidates for stress induced symptoms.  The perfectionism they seek in everything they do never quite measures up to their expectations. This is not a perfect world; and it’s time those who live in it realize they aren’t perfect either. 

Most people deal with stress in different ways; either they ignore the initial problem which caused it; retreat within themselves, or fall apart. However, those who recognize the signs nip it in the bud before it completely takes over.  Using simple exercises can relieve the onset of stress.  For example: While sitting at your desk at work, breathing exercises can bring you back to a calm state.  Going outside for some fresh air also helps.
Walking or running for 20 minutes can release endorphins which relieve stress. Listening to classical music lowers the blood pressure, and brings calm within.

Sometimes, however, stress reveals itself in other ways.  Lightheadedness, an inability to focus, feelings of pressure and palpitations are all symptoms of stress.  Moreover, continued stress can produce anxiety, panic, and the fright or flight syndrome.  Here is one such case of how stress can simply overwhelm and, in some cases, debilitate.  A secretary was called into her administrator’s office, which was quite large and comfortable. As she was taking dictation, she suddenly found it hard to breathe; began to lose focus; and a queasy feeling in her stomach ensued.  She could no longer concentrate on his voice, and ran out of the room. 

Unbeknownst to her, she had just experienced an anxiety attack brought on by stress.  However, while there was nothing stressful going on at the time, she later identified the cause.  An unpleasant thought had entered her mind while she was taking dictation, causing fear to take over forcing her to flee the office.

Upon further examination, it was determined the stress in her home life simply became too much, and filtered its way in to her work day.

If stress is getting you down, examine the cause.  Determine the origin, and discuss it with a professional or a loved one.  Stress, if not acted upon, can cause serious health problems.  Avoid it at all costs, if you can.

Finding Enough Hours In The Day

I’m guessing that it took you about a week to find out that there just aren’t enough hours in the day when you work from home and still take care of your family. Your list of things that need to be done seems to be getting longer each day. Here are a few things you can do to get more done in less time. Give them a try and see if there aren’t enough hours in the day after all.

Avoid Productivity Killers
We all have some things that just kill our productivity. This could be anything from having a radio or TV playing while we try to work, to having too big of a to-do list or knowing there is still something on the list you just don’t want to have to do. Find those things that kill your productivity and do your best to get rid of them. Find a quiet place to work or adjust your to-do list. Do whatever it takes to keep you motivated and productive.

Prioritize
Before you start any work, take some time to determine what is most important and most urgent. What will make the biggest difference to your bottom line. Grab a pen and prioritize what you need to get done today and then sort by importance and urgency. A great way to do this is to number the items on your list 1 being the most important, 2 the next important one, etc. Then just work your way down the numbers until you run out of time. This way you know the most important things keep getting done, no matter what. 

Automate
Periodically take a look at what you are doing and see if you can’t automate some of those tasks. There are all kinds of software available that will make your life easier. Set up a helpdesk for customer inquiries and use a shopping cart to have electronic products delivered automatically.

Outsource
If you can’t automate it, see if it you can outsource certain tasks. Anything that’s repetitive, or that you simply don’t enjoy doing is a task that can potentially be outsourced. It may be worth paying someone $10 an hour to take care of those tasks if it allows you to focus on higher paying work, or growing your business.

Work at Home Mom Summer Survival Guide

by Sherry Frewerd

Working at home during the summer creates challenges for the WAHM. As the summer begins, there’s a lot to keep the kids entertained and give Mom time to work on her business. As the summer progresses, however, choruses of ‘Mom I’m bored’ ring out, causing otherwise mild mannered Moms to throw up their hands in complete desperation; right before they start planning an escape route.

Moms can’t escape for too long however, and kids have an uncanny knack of finding the hiding spot anyway. So what can you do to keep your business in tact during the summer months when the cherubs are effectively running the show?

How flexible are you? No, I don’t mean can you play a mean game of Twister while baking a pan of blueberry muffins, but rather, how willing or able are you to adjust your normal work at home day to meet the ever changing demands of tireless children?

Leslie Spencer, founder of http://hbwm.com , suggests using a laptop with a wireless internet connection. You’ll be a mobile mom, able to take your work anywhere your kids go.

Planning and preparation will make your life less stressful. Before summer vacation begins, do some research to find local youth programs being offered and enroll your kids. Make lists of ‘things to do’ and have ready all of the needed supplies so your school age kids can entertain themselves.

Be realistic. Come to terms with the fact that you may not be as productive during the summer, and schedule your work to make the best use of your time.

Summer challenges for WAHMs do not have to cripple your business. Find local groups and activities for your kids to participate in and remember, time with your kids will pass all too soon, and summer vacation is just one part of WAHM life.

Article Source: Lady Pens

Balancing Work and Home Life

One of the hardest skills to master when you are working from home is to find a good balance between work and home life. Since you are working in the same place where you play with the kids, cook dinner and do your housework, it’s hard to separate the two. That’s when you end up doing laundry when you should be finishing a report, or spend your evening working because you walked over to check your email.

One of the best things you can do to balance work and home life is to define your workspace. Set up a little home office of sorts, even if it’s just a bedroom corner. Having a defined space will make it much easier for both you and the rest of your family to determine when you’re working and when you’re “just Mom”. If you can set up in a room that allows you to shut a door, even better. It will keep distractions to a minimum and makes it easy for even the youngest child to know that Mommy is working and shouldn’t be disturbed.

Setting a schedule of when you work and when you are available for the rest of the family is another great tool. Sit down with your significant other and come up with a few blocks of time each day or week that you can work uninterrupted. Sure you may need to check email or take care of some simple tasks outside of those blocks of time, but having a few hours each week when you can expect to work uninterrupted (while hubby takes the kids to the park or plays with them) will allow you to get the majority of your work done. At the same time, set aside some time to be spent with just the family. Don’t forget to give yourself one or two days a week off from working at home – yes, that means no email or instant messaging. Once you have a schedule in place, do your best to stick to it.

Set some rules for the rest of the family. Make sure they know this is serious work you are doing and that you expect their support. For example, if the rule is don’t bother mom while she’s working unless it’s an emergency, don’t let them interrupt you to find out what’s for dinner. If you stand your ground on your work rules, they will quickly become habits for you and the rest of the family, making it easier and faster for you to get your work done.

Don’t forget to reexamine every once in a while if you are still achieving a good balance between work and home and adjust accordingly

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